SURGERY DAY- 11-4-09

I had to be at the hospital to check in at 9:30am.  My Mom flew in the day before so we got the kids on the bus and left for the hospital.  Once I checked in I had to have some blood drawn to type my blood in case I needed a transfusion while I was at the hospital, as well as a pregnancy test.  Then  I was taken to the pre-surgery area to be weighed (326), asked to strip completely and put on a hospital gown and paper booties on my feet and to have a nurse take my vitals and go over my history with me.  My surgeon had an emergency surgery to perform so I was pushed back about an hour.  Mom was allowed to sit with me until the surgeon was ready for me.  He came and talked to us and answered my Mom’s questions.  Unfortunately when it was time for put in my IV the nurse blew out two of my veins (so much so that I still have huge bruises on my arms) and the anesthesiologist had to come put my IV in.  Once in the operating room (warning: it is freezing in there!) I was out pretty quickly and the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery area being asked how my pain was.  I was hooked up to a pain pump that dispensed pain medication with a touch of a button and you could hit the button every 15 minutes.   After I was awake they took me to my hospital room and I was lucky enough to have a room to myself.  My Mom was waiting for me in my room by the time I got there.  Once in the room they put pressure stocking on my legs and strapped me into this device that sort of feels like a blood pressure cuff that gently squeezes on the legs to help prevent blood clots.  I also had several shots in my belly to help with the prevention of blood clots as well.   They put the catheter in while I was asleep so I didn’t even notice it.  No food or drink was allowed on the day of surgery but they did bring me some tiny sponges on a stick and a pitcher of ice water to swab my mouth and lips with to keep them from drying out.  I slept a lot on this day.

ONE DAY POST OP – 11-5-09

Today they removed the catheter and the pain pump.  First thing in the morning they had me see if I could stand up and luckily I did it in one try.  The pain was not too terrible but it certainly was uncomfortable.  Later on in the day I was allowed to shower and change into my own pajamas and then walked around the floor.  After I got back from my walk they gave me liquid pain medication and I promptly took a nap!  I was able to eat at this time.  My meals were 1 ounce of chicken broth and 1 ounce of jello. It took me an hour to eat it.  My Mom went home to take care of the kids and my friend Scott came up to the hospital to stay and help me out.

TWO DAYS POST OP – 11-6-09

When the doctor did his rounds in the morning he told me that I was going great and could go home today.   They ended up not getting around to releasing me until late afternoon so the day consisted of taking a shower, walking around the floor three times and eating my chicken broth and jello.  They sent me home with some liquid lortab for the pain.

AT HOME

I have followed my diet plan from my doctor and my nutritionist and have been doing really well.  I did however somehow pull a muscle in my lower back which has made moving around painful.  I am once again on lortab for pain and also a muscle relaxer.  I go back to the doctor this coming Monday to start some physical therapy to help work out the spasms in my back.  I also ended up with a kidney infection and am on antibiotics for that.  So far I have lost 33 pounds since surgery and I am very happy with the pace of the weight loss.  I am sure if I was able to move around more I would lose faster but I am limited to walking right now until the pulled muscle heals.  It does get a little bit better each day though.