brownblonde
I'm Sleeved
May 27, 2010
I'm going to try to get this down while I feel mildly comfortable.We left for Denton on Monday around noon. Dad decided to go with us, so there was mom, dad, Blair, and me. We got to McKinney and my sister's house. Windy, my older sister, is the skinny mini. She got home and we got to play with my niece, before going out to a "last supper"--a steak dinner. My skinny sister had made us a cake (so sweet!) so we had that for dessert.
On Tuesday, we awakened early so we could get breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We then headed over to Dr. Stewart's office. My sister and I were both having gastric sleeve, another person was having RnY, and another DS. My biggest complaint is that they had kind of "rounded off" information for all of us which made it rather confusing. I would have preferred they take the time to clarify the specifics for each surgery, or not tell us any exact time, period. For example, they said "the two days in the hospital" which confused me because I was expecting 1 day for us VSG, which was correct. Also, I felt like the surgeon suddenly threw things at me. I like to be my own advocate when it comes to my health. I research things thoroughly, and like tot think I know what's going on with my own health. I did know from the ugi that I supposedly had a hiatl hernia and acid reflux. However, because the PA for the UGI said that 80-90% of people have a slight hiatl hernia, I wasn't concerned because it sounded like a liberal diagnosis. Also, he only "saw" acid reflux when he had me down and asked me to cough. What really shocked me, though, was that the surgeon apparently wanted to take out my galbladder because I supposedly have gallstones. Ummm...when was he planning on telling me? The day before a self-pay surgery: not cool. Not to mention, I couldn't even tell you what the symptoms of gallstones are because I've never had them! Totally unnecessary. I don't care that it's likely that I'll have gallstones in the future--I don't want to add any risk to my surgery, or cost for that matter. We then went to the hospital to have xrays and blood work. It was becoming real and frightening. I learned that we could actually have lunch (phew!) and so we had Pei Wei. My day instantly got better. We went back to my sister's house, Blair and I took our measurements, and I got a large glass of iced tea and watched Biggest Loser. Too bad Okie Daris didn't win. But Michael did awesome although I wonder if he'll regain.
We learned Wednesday morning that my granddad wasn't doing well. That isn't exactly what I wanted to hear before going in myself. I might go in to this later, but the most traumatic part of surgery was that I had to remove ALL of my clothes, save for a gown, and then deal with the thought that drs would be dealing with my unclothed body whilst I was unconscious. Sure, they drape it, but who drapes it? I had a serious panic attack due to this. I know I have some body issues, but I cannot tell you how horrible, meek, and afraid this made me feel. No amount of "oh you'll be out, honey" can help that! I can't talk about this anymore because just typing it is making me panicky again.
They quickly started my IV, which was painless, and gave me my heparin shot, which was painless. I do remember them being very bossy when they got me into the room, and then again when I was in recovery. Recovery was AWFUL. People say you don't remember things--bullshit. I remember them having oxygen on me and not letting me take it off. I know they are all trained and everything, but I also know myself. Oxygen has always initiated asthma attacks for me. Something about the forced air. Of course, something as minor as cologne can cause me to have an attack. As soon as I could get that damn oxygen off, I did.
Respiratory therapists are EVIL. E-V-I-L!!!! She made me pull myself out of bed with NO help. Not cool. Not cool at all. That freaking hurt. After that it got better but I think she could have at least helped me that first time. I was pretty heavily drugged the first couple hours, but after that I remember things pretty well. I called all of the people I was supposed to call, etc.
My sister and niece showed up with a present (isn't she just the sweetest)! She got me a sippy cup, some baby food (I had told her I could eat some of the fruit purees), a new frame for a picture of the "new" me, a headband, baby water bottles (I told her I couldn't drink too much). It was just too sweet, and my niece was such a doll--I was so sorry to not feel very with it. Blair had come out of surgery, and from the beginning she was having a much harder time than me. She kept telling everyone that she couldn't breathe.
Most annoyingly, the IV had me up and to the restroom every couple hours. Didn't sleep that well, but I wasn't that tired. I clothed myself and walked around by Thursday morning. My parents missed the doctor (who explicitly told us he'd be around at noon...not 9 o'clock). We then found out my granddad was taken to the ER. At this point we still aren't sure what the prognosis is. He had kidney cancer and so they removed one kidney in February and have been doing radiation. I can't imagine it'd be more cancer as he's been under such close watch and a CT scan every day he has radiation. I'm worried it might be kidney failure or congestive heart failure. We are all very close to my grandparents so we left the hospital early, and without any more pain meds (bad idea). We made the four hour drive, and our plan was to just drop in to make sure my granddad was okay, then get our meds and get home. But Blair was feeling awful so I went with my dad--but I had the prescriptions. Yeah, it was a big mess, and I was starting to wear out too--I didn't have any pain meds from 8am until about 3pm. Blair has just not been doing well at all.
I finally had my pain meds and have been feeling better. My bed is like a rock, and way too low. I'm worried about Blair, I'm worried about my granddad. I really hope we don't have to take Blair to emergency--we're self-pay so insurance won't cover it, plus our doctor is 4 hours away in another state. My dad is about to lose his mind between us two girls and his dad. Prayers are appreciated. I'm hoping granddad just has a bad infection that can be cured with good drugs. And maybe Blair just has a low pain threshold and needs to remain drugged for a couple days.
In sum: YES, IT HURTS. I can't believe I bought into the people who said they felt fine after a day or so. I definitely feel like I've been beaten, and my insides are hanging around. When I first take my pain meds, I feel fine, but right now, 2 hours after medicine, I am feeling it again. Immediately after, the biggest thing was my throat. I must have had the worst anesthesiologist because I could hardly breathe in, my throat hurt so bad. Thank God they brought my some sugar free hard candies! I would really recommend you bring those with you in case they don't have them for you. I really enjoyed the candies more than the mints. The ice was awfully good, too. I least expected to be so hungry. I am SUPER HUNGRY. Like, rawr, rawr, I'm your stomach and I must be fed, hungry. This is not head hunger, it is physical and it is different from incision/inside pain. I'm freakin hungry. In fact, it's to the point that I asked my surgeon if he was sure he removed the correct thing.
Well, that's all I feel like sitting up and typing now. Forgive my spelling errors and bad sentence placement--blame it on the drugs. And please pray for my granddad and sister.
