Surgery Update & Pictures

Today is the first day I have had to update my blog & let everyone know how my surgery went on Monday.

I was scheduled to be at St Marks Hospital at 10:30AM. I left my house around 8:00am to pick up my friend Helen Bull so she could go with my father and I to the hospital. My father came to pick me up around 9:45am. I was anxious to get there so that I why I had my father pick me up early, even though I only live 15 minutes away from the hospital.

We made it to the hospital around 10:10am. We headed up to the 4th South Ambulatory Surgery Center. The nurse advised us that we were a little early and to wait in the waiting room. We only had to wait a few minutes when one of the volunteers came out to get me. He walked me back the room I would be staying in before surgery. He gave me gown and advised me to change. The gown he gave me was either made out felt or paper, I thought it was going to rip. The gown was very big which I was grateful for. I climbed into bed and waited for the nurse to come and speak with me.

One of the lab technicians came in & drew a vial of blood as a percaution in case they needed to get blood from the blood bank. Then we all waited for the nurse to come in. Dad, Helen and I had a bet going to see how long it was going to take before I actually headed down to surgery. Dad bet 11:30AM, Helen bet 12:30AM and I bet 2:00pm. Hospitals are notorious for taking a very long time and most of that time is where we sit around & wait. The nurse came in to my room around 10:30am. She had a lot of questions to ask me to get me admitted for surgery. I would have to admit that I was a little bit nervous.

Not long after the nurse got finished a guy for the pre op area came up to get me. At this time it was around 11:30pm. He rolled my bed onto the elevator and took us down to the 2nd floor. Dad & Helen followed until we got the end of hallway and the guy said this where we would have to say our goodbyes. I gave a hug to Helen and Dad and said goodbye. Dad made sure before we left that he informed me that he won the bet. The guy who was pushing my bed asked what kind of bet we had going so I informed him and he just laughed & laughed. He pushed my bed down to the pre op area where I waited to see the Anesthesiologist to get my IV & sleeping drugs.

As I was waiting to see the Dr, I started to panic & got freaked out that I would be going into surgery. I was so nervous that I started to cry. By the time the nurse & Anesthesologist came I got myself calmed down. By the way I forgot to mention that my anesthesologist was a very, very cute man. I thought about asking him out but then decided against it. Once the anesthesologist got my IV in he gave me some kind of medicine to relax me. He joked that it was LSD he was giving me but its hard to believe. Once he gave me my medicine he rolled me into the operation room. He warned me that the OR would be very very cold which it was. They parked my bed next to the operating table and asked me to slide over onto the table. The nurses started to tie down my feets & arms which freaked me out, but they advised me this was a precaution they took to make sure I didn't fall off. As soon as I laid down the anesthesologist put an oxygen mask over my face and asked me to take two deep breaths. That is the last thing I remember.

The next thing I know is I was hearing voices. I didn't open my eyes but from the sounds of it I was in the post op room. I remember telling the nurse that I couldn't breathe & they put another oxygen mask on my face. I remember I kept raising my hands for some reason. The nurse kept telling me that I was okay and the surgery went well. I guess I was fighting her a lot because she kept saying, Rebecca, you are just fine! All I can remember is that I was not comforatable and the pain was intense. The next thing I remember the nurse took off my gown and put on a new gown. I still didn't have my eyes open at this time, I was just hearing of all of this. The next thing I know there were 5-6 guys around me and they rolled me to one side and slid a plastic board under me and then rolled me on the other side. They were transporting me from the post op bed to a new bed.

The next thing I remember is being rolled into my room. I finally open my eyes at this point in time and saw Dad, Peggy & Helen standing outside my room. I remember everyone being in my room but I was pretty well out of it that I don't remember much more than that. I remember feeling very hot & sweaty. I felt like crap. I didn't realize that the dr had pumped my stomach full of air so he could have room to do the surgery. I was in a lot of pain & sick to my stomach either because the pain meds or the anthesia. This was a hard night for me and didn't sleep very well. I had to wait 3 hours for the nurse to come & give me additional pain medication. They did let me drink 1 ounce of water an hour a couple of hours after surgery. Here is a pictuer of me not doing so well.

My good friend Deedre' stayed with me that night until 10:30pm. She made sure to keep reminding the nurse that I needed my pain medicine. They had me on a pain pump that was giving me morphine but it wasn't cutting the pain, so they finally gave me Tordol which worked like magic. I didn't like how the morphine made me feel. Once I got the Tordol I was good for most of the night. I had an air bed that would redistribute the air every time I moved. The redistributin of the air sounded like a jet taking off. So you can imagine how difficult it was to sleep. Thank goodness Deedre' let me borrow her ipod which came in very handy and I was able to sleep.

What a difference a night made? I felt so much better Tuesday morning. The only time I felt the pain was when I went for my walks or got out of bed. I made sure to get up every two hours to go walking so I wouldn't get blood clots.

Tuesday afternoon they brought my first meal after surgery which consisted of green jello & chicken broth. I was allowed to have 1 ounce of each for lunch. Up to this point I was just drinking water. I made sure I savored each one slowly. They tasted so delicious. Here is a picture of how much I am allowed to eat at each meal. I know it doesn't look like much but my new stomach is only 2 ounces so that is all I can hold.

I was supposed to go home Tuesday night at 6pm but the nurse was concerned because some of vitals were not where they like them to be. My doctor gave me the option to stay or go home, he felt that I would be okay if I wanted to go home. After talking to my family I realized that it wouldn't hurt to stay one more night. I was nervous about going home and dealing with all of the changes that had just taken place.

I am glad I stayed Tuesday night. Wednesday morning I woke up feeling much better & my vitals were where they needed to be. The nurse took me off my morphine drip & gave me a prescription for Loratab. They even let me take a shower before I went home. The shower made a huge difference, I felt like a normal human being. My step mom Peggy came to pick me up around 12:30 when they discharged me. I was glad to be home and to be able to sleep in my own bed. I only needed the pain meds to sleep on Wednesday night.

I feel terrific. I am surprised how much energy I have. I thought I would be tired and have to stay home. I was able to get out yesterday and do a little bit of grocery shopping for the new foods that I started today. I can now choose from yogurt, cottage cheese, cream soups, & string cheese. I can only eat 2 ounces at each meal, but its nice to have other options. I stay on these types of foods until Sunday. Monday I get to introduce different foods.

Today I went to the see Ice Age with my dad & step mom. We just got done with our BBQ for Pioneer Day. It was hard for me to eat my 2 ounces of yogurt & cream of chicken soup while the rest got to eat on chicken, steak & salads. I'm sure with time it will get easier. I did just have surgery on Monday so I figure I just need to give myself some time.

I am so glad that I did the surgery & that I am recooperating very nicely. I can't wait to see what happens in the futuer as the weight comes off.