...and unfortunate surgery #2
Posted 11-14-2008 at 09:12 PM by Tisi'sFace
The weird burping noises that I had been hearing before started happening again, only this time more often and much louder. It was not painful at first, just really weird and kind of annoying. I turned to my trusty TT Forum to see if I could find any posts that sounded like what I was going through and couldn’t really find anything so I posted a thread myself. I got some responses fairly quickly and most assured me that sometimes your stomach makes weird noises and that I should get used to it and not worry about it. I tried to do this, but then it started to actually hurt, a lot. I then decided that this must be what dumping is and it was happening to me because the liquid Tylenol had corn syrup in it. So, I writhed in pain for about two hours. Jason tried to help me and he would rub my back and ask me what he could do for me, but there was nothing he could do. I thought I just had to wait out my “dumping episode.” So, I tried to. But the pain became so unbearable, I finally stuck my fingers down my throat to make myself throw up in the hope that I could get the Tylenol out of me and that would mean that it was over. I felt a lot better after I threw up. (Keep in mind that I was on a full liquid diet at this point, so not much came up.) I fell asleep on the couch and woke up about 30 or 45 minutes later. I was going to go lay in the bed and took a sip of Propel as I was on my way, but low and behold, the pain and noises came back again. So, I writhed in pain/cried/made myself throw up the non-contents of my tiny little pouch for another three hours. Jason was asleep this whole time, but at about 3:30/4:00 am, he heard me and came out to see what the hell was going on! When I saw him, I told him that he needed to go into the kitchen or wherever and find something that he could use to kill me. He gave me the look he would give me when he knows that I am being a smart-ass. I told him that I was not kidding in any way, shape, or form and that I would appreciate it if he would just do what I am asking of him. He told me that it was time to go back to the hospital. (Probably a better option, don’t you think?)
The only position that was even slightly bearable was on my knees leaning over the side of the couch, so I am sure you can only imagine how unbelievably uncomfortable the car ride to the hospital was. That was a very long ten minutes for me! We got to the hospital and there was no one waiting being that it was 4:00 am on a Tuesday morning (thank god!) We went through the whole checking in process and after what seemed like forever, they brought me back to a room. They gave me some pain medication and I am sure did some other things, although the experience is a little clouded for me due to the considerable pain. They had asked me if I called my surgeon and I let them know that I had left a message at the emergency number that I had for him, but I never heard back. They tried to reach him as well, but had no luck so they eventually decided to admit me back into the hospital because they were not sure what they should do with me. So back up to the fourth floor I went. They must have given me a considerable amount of pain medication because I can recall dozing off somewhat. I told Jason to go to work after they had settled me back in my room because there was no reason for him to sit around and wait for answers when I could just call him at work once I knew what was going on.
So for whatever reason, they wouldn’t give me the pain medication on the fourth floor as regularly as they had given it to me in the ER, so my pain was coming back pretty strong. I begged and begged them to give me something, but they said that without doctor’s orders they were unable to give me pain meds any sooner than every four hours. So, apparently they wanted me to die! They were finally able to reach my surgeon and he authorized every two hours. He was unfortunately at another hospital in surgery, so he wasn’t going to be able to come over to see me for a couple hours. (BTW-he had his pager on vibrate and it fell under his bed when he went to sleep the previous evening, so that was why no one could reach him.) My bariatric clinic is across the street from the hospital where I was, so he did send his colleague over to talk with me about the test they were going to do in the meantime.
Before Jason left for work, he called my mom, my aunt, and my sister to let them know what was going on. He was able to reach my mom and my aunt and they both wanted to come up, but I insisted that they go to work because it didn’t seem necessary for them to be there. He wasn’t able to reach my sister, so he left her a message. The pain meds that I was authorized to get every two hours were starting to wear off after about an hour. A nurse had come in my room for some random check and I asked her when I could get another dose. She told me the time and I realized that it was about 45 minutes away. I am not a baby when it comes to pain; I mean I gave birth with zero drugs, so I have a pretty high tolerance. When I looked at the clock and realized I still had about 10 or 15 minutes left to wait, I just started to cry. I knew that they weren’t going to give me the meds a moment sooner than they were supposed to, and the pain became unbearable. Worse even than the previously mentioned childbirth with no drugs! So, while I was crying harder than I think I have ever cried in my life due to pain, my sister called. She had just heard the vague message that Jason had left her and she needed to know what was going on. So, her baby sister answers the phone crying her eyes out and when she said that she was going to come to the hospital, I was unable to tell her not to. Thank goodness she was there for me for the events that were about to transpire!
My surgeon’s colleague came in and let me know that they were going to do a CT scan to see if they could figure out what the problem was. After they completed that, my surgeon was there to inform me that I had an intestinal blockage. There was no way to tell from the CT scan what the blockage was, all they could tell was that it was blocked. He let me know that they would have to perform surgery again, but that they wouldn’t be able to do it until the next day because they needed to get me cleaned out first. Now this is the part that makes me a little nauseous to even think about it…
They brought me down to radiology to have an NG tube put in. Just in case you aren’t aware of what that is, here are the details. (If you don’t want to know what it is, skip this paragraph.) They stuck a fairly large tube in my nostril, down through the back of my throat, and into my stomach and intestine. They then hooked this tube up to a sucking machine (sorry, don’t know the technical terms) and it sucked out all of the contents of my stomach and blocked intestine. This tube was put in the afternoon of Tuesday, October 21st and did not come out until 2:00 pm on Wednesday, October 22nd while I was under anesthesia for my second surgery. About 500 cc’s of crap was suctioned out of me in the 24 hours that this awful tube was in me. I had to sleep with the tube in, which was not comfortable. But even worse, because the sucking portion of the contraption was attached to the wall, in order for me to go to the bathroom, they had to disconnect the tube. The connection site was fairly close to my nose and I will say that the smell of the contents of my stomach that had been in there for days was not pleasant. The experience overall I think would best be described as unpleasant, wouldn’t you agree?
While this probably should be the least of the concerns, it was a big deal to me. I had tickets to go see the New Kids on the Block on October 21st, and had to miss it due to this whole ordeal. Grand scheme of things? Not such a big deal, but sucky, nonetheless!
So, on Wednesday, October 22nd at 2:00 pm, I went in for my second surgery. They found that a staple that had come loose and attached to some fat in my colon caused the blockage. Because of this, everything that I was eating or drinking would not pass through and just backed up until it started to become painful. My surgeon has been performing these surgeries his entire career, which began in the 70’s. He has done over 1,200 surgeries and has NEVER had a complication like this. How lucky am I, right?
I went home on Thursday, October 23rd and have been doing very well since. This entry is getting a little long, so I will check back in this weekend to do another post about how I have been doing and feeling since I have been home from the hospital.
Until next time…
The only position that was even slightly bearable was on my knees leaning over the side of the couch, so I am sure you can only imagine how unbelievably uncomfortable the car ride to the hospital was. That was a very long ten minutes for me! We got to the hospital and there was no one waiting being that it was 4:00 am on a Tuesday morning (thank god!) We went through the whole checking in process and after what seemed like forever, they brought me back to a room. They gave me some pain medication and I am sure did some other things, although the experience is a little clouded for me due to the considerable pain. They had asked me if I called my surgeon and I let them know that I had left a message at the emergency number that I had for him, but I never heard back. They tried to reach him as well, but had no luck so they eventually decided to admit me back into the hospital because they were not sure what they should do with me. So back up to the fourth floor I went. They must have given me a considerable amount of pain medication because I can recall dozing off somewhat. I told Jason to go to work after they had settled me back in my room because there was no reason for him to sit around and wait for answers when I could just call him at work once I knew what was going on.
So for whatever reason, they wouldn’t give me the pain medication on the fourth floor as regularly as they had given it to me in the ER, so my pain was coming back pretty strong. I begged and begged them to give me something, but they said that without doctor’s orders they were unable to give me pain meds any sooner than every four hours. So, apparently they wanted me to die! They were finally able to reach my surgeon and he authorized every two hours. He was unfortunately at another hospital in surgery, so he wasn’t going to be able to come over to see me for a couple hours. (BTW-he had his pager on vibrate and it fell under his bed when he went to sleep the previous evening, so that was why no one could reach him.) My bariatric clinic is across the street from the hospital where I was, so he did send his colleague over to talk with me about the test they were going to do in the meantime.
Before Jason left for work, he called my mom, my aunt, and my sister to let them know what was going on. He was able to reach my mom and my aunt and they both wanted to come up, but I insisted that they go to work because it didn’t seem necessary for them to be there. He wasn’t able to reach my sister, so he left her a message. The pain meds that I was authorized to get every two hours were starting to wear off after about an hour. A nurse had come in my room for some random check and I asked her when I could get another dose. She told me the time and I realized that it was about 45 minutes away. I am not a baby when it comes to pain; I mean I gave birth with zero drugs, so I have a pretty high tolerance. When I looked at the clock and realized I still had about 10 or 15 minutes left to wait, I just started to cry. I knew that they weren’t going to give me the meds a moment sooner than they were supposed to, and the pain became unbearable. Worse even than the previously mentioned childbirth with no drugs! So, while I was crying harder than I think I have ever cried in my life due to pain, my sister called. She had just heard the vague message that Jason had left her and she needed to know what was going on. So, her baby sister answers the phone crying her eyes out and when she said that she was going to come to the hospital, I was unable to tell her not to. Thank goodness she was there for me for the events that were about to transpire!
My surgeon’s colleague came in and let me know that they were going to do a CT scan to see if they could figure out what the problem was. After they completed that, my surgeon was there to inform me that I had an intestinal blockage. There was no way to tell from the CT scan what the blockage was, all they could tell was that it was blocked. He let me know that they would have to perform surgery again, but that they wouldn’t be able to do it until the next day because they needed to get me cleaned out first. Now this is the part that makes me a little nauseous to even think about it…
They brought me down to radiology to have an NG tube put in. Just in case you aren’t aware of what that is, here are the details. (If you don’t want to know what it is, skip this paragraph.) They stuck a fairly large tube in my nostril, down through the back of my throat, and into my stomach and intestine. They then hooked this tube up to a sucking machine (sorry, don’t know the technical terms) and it sucked out all of the contents of my stomach and blocked intestine. This tube was put in the afternoon of Tuesday, October 21st and did not come out until 2:00 pm on Wednesday, October 22nd while I was under anesthesia for my second surgery. About 500 cc’s of crap was suctioned out of me in the 24 hours that this awful tube was in me. I had to sleep with the tube in, which was not comfortable. But even worse, because the sucking portion of the contraption was attached to the wall, in order for me to go to the bathroom, they had to disconnect the tube. The connection site was fairly close to my nose and I will say that the smell of the contents of my stomach that had been in there for days was not pleasant. The experience overall I think would best be described as unpleasant, wouldn’t you agree?
While this probably should be the least of the concerns, it was a big deal to me. I had tickets to go see the New Kids on the Block on October 21st, and had to miss it due to this whole ordeal. Grand scheme of things? Not such a big deal, but sucky, nonetheless!
So, on Wednesday, October 22nd at 2:00 pm, I went in for my second surgery. They found that a staple that had come loose and attached to some fat in my colon caused the blockage. Because of this, everything that I was eating or drinking would not pass through and just backed up until it started to become painful. My surgeon has been performing these surgeries his entire career, which began in the 70’s. He has done over 1,200 surgeries and has NEVER had a complication like this. How lucky am I, right?
I went home on Thursday, October 23rd and have been doing very well since. This entry is getting a little long, so I will check back in this weekend to do another post about how I have been doing and feeling since I have been home from the hospital.
Until next time…
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