life change -- Long
Six days; not a long time but, when you are recovering from surgery, time does seem to drag by.
What surgery did I have you? You may ask. In layman terms it is called a Gastric Bypass or weight loss surgery. Now for those of you that have that horrified look on your face just relax for a moment and hear me out.
I know all the risk factors that come with this surgery. I know some have even died after having it performed on them. This is not a procedure I wanted nor did I jump into it fool heartedly.
I’ll start be telling you a little about myself. I am a male, 46 years old and as you have guessed I am overweight. Some would call me fat but only if they had room to run. You see, while I was weighing in at 350lbs, I had a 6’3” frame. With a 54” chest and a 50” waist I’m not a small man by anyone’s measure.
If I had any weak points it was my knees and ankles. I had problems with sprained ankles since I was a teenager and by the time I was in my early 20’s I had both of my ankles reconstructed. I was just getting out of the military at the time and I was holding my weight around 200lbs. About the age of 25 I quit smoking and put on 50 lbs. I kept active and my weight stayed close to 250lbs well into my late 30’s with only an occasional turned ankle to cause me worry.
As they say things do catch up with you and by the time I hit my late thirties I was having knee pain. Nothing real bad but still pain I had to deal with. I have a history of knee problems in my family. My father is now in his seventies and has had both of his knees replaced. After awhile I noticed I was slowing down becoming less active and the knee pain was becoming worse. My weight had risen to an all time high of 350lbs. I went to an orthopedic Doctor who, after an MRI, told me I needed surgery to remove a torn meniscus or cartilage. This surgery went well however, the Doctor told me I have very bad knees with “bone on bone” contact. To make matters worse a year later I underwent the same surgery for my other knee with a similar outcome.
My Doctor then informed me that within 10 years I will need knee replacement unless I permanently take off 150lbs. He recommended this procedure called a Gastric Bypass.
This was several years ago when this was a fairly new surgery and I had to look it up to read information about it. After reading about the surgery and looking at the risk factors I decided to live with the knee pain as long as I could.
For the next two years I took shots in my knees to lubricate them. They got steadily worse causing me to have a severe limp and preclude me from standing except for short periods of time. Some time last year I began to have sharp pain in my left ankle and the Doctor again told me that due to the injuries and weight I was caring I was going to be confined to a wheelchair in a short amount of time if I did not take weight off. I decided to look into the Gastric bypass again. This time, there was much more information and the surgery was becoming more common place. I quickly found that my insurance company Coventry will not cover this surgery unless you prove beyond their skepticism that it is needed. This would mean I needed many letters from doctors. I was told I could be forced to pre pay for the surgery then fight to recover the money From Coventry. Basically, the Doctors told me I had bad insurance if I was hoping at getting this procedure done. Thankfully my employer allows me to choose from a list of insurance providers. At my next opportunity I switched from Coventry to Blue Cross & shield PPO
Trust me when I say this made a huge difference. There was now no problem moving forward with the surgery.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this surgical process it is not a fast track procedure. They make you go through several months of doctor’s visits and testing before you can even qualify to have the operation.
I had to first see a Cardiologist to check my heart. He then ordered a full stress test to make sure I was not going to have a heart attack.
Next I had to set up an appointment to have a scope placed down my throat so they could see if I had any ulcers or other problems. I did. I did not know it but I had the early stages of an ulcer forming. I was required to take a medication for a month then have the scope procedure redone to check on the problem. This time I received the “all clear” from the doctor.
Next Doctor on the list is the pulmonary specialist. He checked me for breathing problems like asthma. He also wanted a full chest X-Ray. He can also order a sleep study to see if you have sleep apnea.
Now comes the Psychologist, to see If I’m nuts. Well maybe a little but I passed
Next up the Nutritionist and Dietitian, to give me helpful advice on what my future diet will consist of.
I also was required to attend a month of group meetings where I was required to keep a daily food journal and make meal plans for after the surgery. It is here that it really began to dawn on me what a big change I was getting ready to undergo.
Some of this is not covered by insurance so there is some cost out of pocket. So
far about $550.00
After meeting with my Primary Surgeon, one more time, I finally got a surgery date March14, 2006.
I got all my paperwork caught up and had a two week wait before the surgery day. They had two rules that would cancel surgery
You must quit smoking a month before the surgery
You cannot gain more that 20 lbs from your first weigh in.
Well I quirt smoking years ago and I had actually lost about 10 lbs. during the wait for the surgery.
Hell Week
I was told that two days before surgery I needed to go on a strict liquid diet.
So the Saturday Night before, I had my last meal. All you can eat Crabs and shrimp!
Starting Sunday morning it was nothing but clear liquids for the next 48 hours, or so I thought.
During the week before the surgery date I was still having second thoughts about having this done. The surgery is extreme. However, I had a great team of surgeons and they perform the surgery using several small incisions instead of slicing you up the middle.
The day of the Surgery arrived sooner that I thought and by 9 am Tuesday morning I was kissing my wife goodbye and shortly after I was taken to a room where I was prepped for the surgery. Everyone was very helpful and it helped to calm my fears and doubts.
The team came in and wheeled me to the operating room then had me slid over to the bed
They keep it cold in there. With in a minute I was under anesthesia and remember nothing more until I hear a nurse telling me to breathe deep and to wake up. I was in the recovery room.
I don’t remember much of this area as I was still out of it for the most part. The only thing you want to do in the recovery room is to sleep and that is the one thing they will not let you do.
Some how I got to a semi privet room and I had the window.
I awoke to find I had 5 sets of wires or tubes hooked to me.
1. One IV for fluids, pain killers and what ever else they want to shoot into you.
2. You have a monitor with about 5 leads.
3. A urinary catheter
4. And a stomach drain tube.
5. An oxygen tube hooked under my nose.
That night they had me up out of my bed and walking this helps to rid your system of the gas they use to inflate the abdomen.
The next morning the Doctor came in and told me the Surgery went better than he had expected This is the time he told me I would be on clear liquids for another 3 days so a total of 5 days on clear liquids. He also said that the nurse would be around this morning to remove the urinary catheter ….. ouch.
Visits from family and friends helped to make my time go by. A few hits of the pain pump helped also.
Over the three days I was in the hospital it was a constant stream of nurses and others who came to poke and prodd me. I was required to get up several times a day to walk
This also helps to prevent blood clots. I was also receiveng shots to thin my blood also helping to prevent blood clots.
On my final day in the hospital The doctor gave me the green light to go but not before someone came in to remove my drain tube.
The drain tube coming out is a pain that is hard to describe. . like a snake in your belly or a balloon that was suddenly deflated leaving a gap for the body parts to fill. It was over in a min. or two
I was then given my final instructions and sent home for one more day of liquid diet.
Looking forward to Saturday when I could start my one month of Mush diet. That is my Term for Puréed food.
The next three days went by fast I’m now eating mashed foods like tuna and Chicken ala blender.
Well I’m back to where I began six days from surgery and feeling well. I’m having some trouble holding by pants up. I have already lost a few pounds with many more to go.
Joe
Last edited by BBD; 03-21-2006 at 06:30 AM..
|
(Passed)
Linear Mode
