ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass and Lap Band® Forum - View Single Post

chilmoe · 09-17-2006, 09:04 AM

Warning this is very long and full of spelling errors.......Okay, Day of surgery Monday, Sept. 11/06 (9/11) - maybe that date was a sign to stay home?...anyway...I drove myself to the hospital, upon arrival to admission as everyone else, I had my temp taken, it was 37.8, she was puzzled, saying that wasn't normal but wasn't a fever either, asked me if i was feeling okay, other than nervous i admitted, i said i have been and am fine, so she shrugged and said okay, then respiratory came in, he did the breathing tests, started asking me are you asthmatic, i said no, asked do you smoke, i said, no, never, he said really, never? I was not doing so well i guess, so the nurse pipes up, she said shes very nervous, so the three of us chalked it up to nerves and they proceeded with everything else for pre-op..and did not pass any of this info onto the Doc. So I have my surgery, leaving my mother's name as emergency contact and someone to contact to after surgery to let my family now how it went (as I was more than 4 hours away from home).....anyway my surgery was less than an hour(and i had open) as my time was 745am and at 859am Doc called my mom, who thought i had died as was not expecting a call so soon, after the panic settled, the Doc told her everything went great, as i had no prior inscions or scar tissue or current gall bladder problems, that checked out well too and the surgery was done and i was in recovery....that's where my story begins. In recovery, I remember waking up and okay the pain was bad, I asked for something for pain, seemed to get something, but it did nothing, not even took the edge off, i asked three more times, each time i felt like someone was there and giving me something. On the fifth time asking (probably over a half an hour) I heard her say to someone, I have given her 4 shots of morphine, i can't give her anything else. Still no edge off the pain, then I felt really funny and went to sleep. I remember being wheeled to my room, I remember fighting really hard to open my eyes to find a clock, as i looked up i saw it was 1130am, my mother-in-law was standing there, she asked me if it was bad, i thought i said yes, i thought i reached my hand to her, off and on i remember nurses coming in, i could hear everything, thought i was responding to their chatter and questions, turns out i wasnt, thought i was moving around, trying to sit up as i was on my back and that hurt to be too flat, turns out i wasnt moving. Next thing i remember someone shaking me, somehow i got my eyes open, someone in blue clothes standing there, says we called pharmacy, they think you had a reaction to the morphine, have you had a reaction before, i said yes, its on file, but it only came out slurred, and i drifted off again, next i remember looking up at the clock at 300pm and feeling someone kiss my hand, i said, mommy? she said yes i am here - I said, and she understood me, You are not suppose to be here (she had major lung surgery in july and should be taking it easy..anyway she said, Doc called me early and I panicked had to see how you were, and your brother needed a ride to red deer for work tomorrow so i came now and will leave tomorrow. I will go now and be back in a bit with your brother, you rest. So i did, and around 530pm they came back, i was able to open my eyes off and on when they were there, i thought i was talking fine, but they kept having to say what was that? and they could make out a bit of what i was saying, so the morphine must have been starting to wear off, and i was able to move my arms a bit, but they still felt so heavy, and my legs, still not much movement, and i was now aware that they were not moving much, i drifted off again until 8pm when the nurses came in and said, okay you have to get up and go to the bathroom -as now i had been lying on my back for 12 hours (this is relevant, you will learn why). So i tried to get up, oh my god, no one prepared me for that one, trying to stand for the first time (maybe cuz i had been lying down so long) but i had no strenght to pull myself up at all and when i got my legs over the bed (yes they moved, but so heavy) i felt stuck, so the nurses pulled me - ouch that hurt, they got me to the bathroom, i felt so shakey - then i went back to bed, and slept , i remember someon taking vitals and asking if i needed something for pain, i panicked and said not morphine, she said no demerol and since i was sick to my stomach with gravol, so i had that throughout the night, at 730am a nurse came in and said time for a shower, that was lovely, very difficut to get up still, but the shower was great, i went back to bed and was feeling better, but had numbness in my thighs (which i still have a bit and am hoping it is temporary, part of the reaction to morphine). I went off pain meds that afternoon, found i was groggy but not sleepy and the pain wasnt any better, so i kept on gravol as needed a couple of times but that was it. I got up for my walk late afternoon, and was heading out the door when the nurse walking in said hold up, doing vitals, so i stood there while she did blood pressure - quite high - pulse - racing, but i didnt feel that it was - and temp - sky rocketing, she gasped and said no walk get to bed, she called the doctor, and within a half an hour the chest xray machine was in my room, doc came in that night (this is day after surgery) and said, there is fluid in my lung. And i would go for a CT scan firt thing tomorrow. Wednesday, Day 3: Wheeled down for CT scan, i get in the room and the lady says, okay on the table, i look, the table cant be more than 6 inches off the floor, i was puzzled, how the h.e double hockey sticks am i going to get on that, i tried really hard and got on - no help, there was two techs and not very friendly - and as i was lying back - ouch - i saw a pillow not to far from head, so i was aiming for that and when i knew i was just about there, i released and went to gently fall into the pillow, one of the techs pulled the pillow, and i crashed down, my back hit the table a bit and i screeched as the pain in my chest and tummy increased for a moment, she said, oh, you have to be flat, i didnt say a word i could hardly breathe at the moment it hurt so much, anyway, they injected a dye into my arm which makes you feel like you have peed your pants, good thing i wasnt wearing any.......when finished, they said okay back in the wheelchair, i said how? ....From lying flat on my back, what seemed to be like being on the floor to getting myself into a wheelchair, but they were not offering assistance, so i wiggled and tried using my leg muscles to squat and pull myslef to a siting, got it, but when i tried to raise up, i started to lose my balance and reached for one of the techs, she grabbed my gown near my chest - where my nose tube was pinned to and yes, yanked a bit and it was pulled a bit, not out but it was no longer positioned where it should be and i was immediately gagging and then puking, i got upstairs and proceed to vomit nearly 6 hours, i explained to a few nurses that it accidently got pulled and its choking me, one tried to shine a flash light up my nose to see where it is, couldnt see, tried a stick on my toungue to see down my throat, i puked again, said they were not allowed to touch it. My doc came in just before 6pm, and says oh you dont look well, i said i had been vomitting all day and not because im sick but becasue i am gagging on the tube in my throat, explained it got pulled, he looked and said, yeah its not even in there right, it can come out now and we will deal with it tomorrow if needed after the leak test, he also told me the CT scan showed phemonia in my left lung and he has no explanation for that. I wanted to offer one, but talking made me gag and puke, so i didnt explain about the morning of surgery with the temp and failing respiratory - i must have had a chest infection then, then with the morphine reaction of being on my back for 12 hours - it must have turned into phenmonia - that was my explanation, but i couldnt get it out. So the nurses came in and removed that tube, that was gross, but i still cant believe how much better i felt instantly and my temp finally started to drop. Thursday, passed the leak test, got my IV out, but then had to start taking the antibiotics by mouth - horse pills, that was hard, without alot of water. I was feeling fine, still off pain meds, handling the pain on my own, thursday night my fever spiked a bit so he wouldnt let me go home as had the fever not gone up i was going home day 5, so saturday since the fever hadnt gone up and my temp was 37.5 he said i could go. I asked about driving, he said law states that you cannot be on pain meds, and that since i have been off since day 2, that was not an issue, but it states you have to be recovered, whatever that means, he said to take it around the block, see how i feel and if its okay then whatever..........he did know i was going back to red deer right? So i had my inlaws who live only 30 mins from the hospital come get me and take me to their place where my van stayed, called my hubby and said i was on my way, he said he would come get me once the kids are done their sport stuff, i said NO, i would be home by then, and if i got tired i would rest, I am surprised at the energy I had yesterday, what the heck was i running on? No food, barley any liquids compared to what im used and i drove straight home, got in and felt tired, sat down for a few minutes and that was it, oh and forgot to mention i had been up since 430am saturday morning, got home at 2pm and finally fell asleep at 1am this morning, only to wake again at 3pm and then slept off and on til 8am - on my couch, in the reclining end chair as i didnt think that i couldnt move around so well on bed, and when i did lay down on it, i got stuck and my hubby had to almost pick me up to get me off, so i think my wall-hugger will be my bed for while. And i still need to be elevated so my chest clears.

okay so that is my story, sorry it is so long, now i have a silly question, did my surgery work? was it done right?
my stomach is constantly growling, and i thought and was looking so forward to not feeling hungry - i am hungry and thirsty all the time
and i take sips, but how often can i take sips, get a heavy feeling when i sip so i stop but that feeling can last for hours and im scared to take more but still thirsty and so hungry - cant eat taking broth, sips too but how often does my stomach pouch empty, i take two sips and feel heavy for hours so i am only getting in 24 sips in a day - that cant be enough or is it for the first week?