Nancy G.
I cannot believe that I am now 3 months post op. It took me two years to get to this point. After the initial consult and seminar, I got my preapprovals, psych evaluations and hit a brick wall. I got a new job and new I could not take time off from work for a year. Meanwhile the weight kept piling on until I got to a 55.5 BMI. So I dragged my heels for a while. Then I found out my insurance required a 6 month supervised diet. OK started that with my doctor and got to month 6 only to discover he had not kept good enough records every month so had to start all over again!
Finally got my 6 month diet done. Then I herniated 2 discs in my neck and took 3 months FMLA leave. So much for time off for WLS surgery. I waited a few months and then submitted my papers for approval. I had to get another round of cardiac clearance, a clearance from my pulmonologist and then they discovered that I was 4 units short of blood! This almost delayed my surgery. So after 2 eight hour days of getting blood and many talks with my surgeon's office I finally got the "go" approval two days before my surgery was scheduled. I had already been doing my liquid diet and was so psyched I did not want to cancel at that point.
I was so psyched for this surgery. I was like a kid at Christmas. I could not sleep the night before surgery. I got to the hospital April 7 to check in and when they weighed me I found out I lost 40 pounds on my preop diet! I had to get on the scales twice to believe that one! I had surgery on Monday. It lasted only 2 hours. 1 hour preparation and 1 hour for the actual surgery. When I woke up in recovery I could not believe the pain! Finally it subsided after they loaded me with pain meds, wrapped me in a binder and gave me a pillow to hug. I was up and walking later that day.
My neck was killing me and I wondered how they had me positioned during surgery. It was only a few days later that I discovered the more I walked the less my neck hurt that I realize the gas had settled in my neck and was causing it to hurt!
I left the hospital on the morning of the third day. I went to my sisters house. She only lives 30 minutes from my surgeon where I live 1 1/2 hours away. I stayed there a few days. One of my great nieces really pulled my heart strings when I arrived at my sister's house. When I sat down, she came and covered me with her favorite blankie! She is 4 years old. Maggie also loved helping me eat my jello. I had found 1 ounce containers and my sister had made jello in them. Maggie had 4 containers to every 1 I struggled to get down. My sister had a hard time keeping jello made!
I came home 6 days after surgery. I was so glad to be home. I could not wait to sleep in my own bed! It was good to see my babies (cats). But I did not realize just how much it hurt to bend over and cleaning litter boxes was a huge challenge! So was getting food bowls filled and placing them on the floor. A chair in the kitchen has become my best friend.
I have done extremely well since surgery. Only one minor complication. My largest incision got a seroma (fluid pocket) under it 5 days after surgery. That incision leaked for 6 weeks before it closed up. Such a nusciance. So far I have not dumped. My surgeon is really strict so I think that is part of it. I am still on pretty bland foods ... cottage cheese, yogurt, soyburgers, shrimp, mushed veggies, soup, beans, canned fruits, deli meats and sf popsicles which I cannot live without. I have been really good and not tested the waters. So far so good.
