One week post-op (LONG)

[Guest guest]

Hi, Gang,I am officially one week post-op (minus a couple of hours) so Ithought

I'd report on my experiences.My husband and I flew from Oklahoma to Durham on

Friday May 5. Westayed at Duke Tower, which is a great place to stay as far as

we'reconcerned. Having a suite instead of just a bedroom is great, andit's very

quiet there. It's only about 10 minutes from either thehospital or Dr. R's

office.We attended the last Saturday clinic, which we both found very useful--

it answered all of our lingering questions, and allayed ouranxieties

(particularly my husband's). Dr. R is very personable; onemight say charming.

His office staff is worked off their feet by allof us pre- and post-ops, and

they do a great job.I met quite a few people, and talked to several. In terms of

distancetraveled, I was " beat out " by three Alaskans and a Wyomingan, so whenI

called the hospital on Sunday to find out when I was scheduled forsurgery, they

told me 3pm. I reported to the hospital at 11am onMonday, and got all signed

in. A final lingering worry was settledwhen the intake person told me that they

had already received the " approval number " from my insurance company.

(Phew!)Having thought about this for a long time, I was very calm about thewhole

thing, and didn't have any pre-op butterflies to speak of. OnceI was introduced

to the nurse anesthetist, things were pretty much " go " and the last thing I

remember was them asking me to scootch overfrom the gurney to the operating

table.I don't remember coming to, which is fine, because my husband told meI had

some nausea and pain. I wasn't really " there " until quite lateon Monday

evening, and I slept a LOT between then and Wednesdaymorning. The nursing staff

took very good care of me -- we have avery good impression of the entire Durham

Regional Hospital complex--and I don't have any complaints at all about

anything. My maintrouble post-op for a few days was my back feeling weak. I

have kindof a bad lower back, and when I sleep at home it's always on mystomach.

Naturally I couldn't do that for awhile, and my back musclestried to go into

spasm from all the lying around. I got up and walkeda bit on Tuesday, and more

on Wednesday. I was discharged from thehospital on Wed. evening and went back

to Duke Tower. took very good care of me once we were in our suite, and

madesure I got all my meds, supplements, and juices. I was REALLY weakfor a

couple of days; I wasn't one of those who went shopping the nextday. I did as

many little walks as I felt like doing, but mainlystuck to the suite and

sipped.We flew back to OKC on Saturday, and in spite of being exhausted fromthe

trip, I felt more like myself than I had all week. I'm stillpretty tired, and

run out of oomph quickly -- no stamina yet -- butthe good news is that since the

first day post-op, when I had theshoulder pain from the gas, I haven't ever been

in pain and I havetaken no pain meds. My incisions have never been more than a

minorannoyance, and I started sleeping on my stomach again on Thursdaynight. I

need to call my doctor's office and see if they'll take mystaples out in a

couple more days. I haven't been nauseated sinceshortly after surgery; there

have been a couple times when I got " abubble " -- maybe swallowed air, or

whatever, and that wasn't pleasantbut wasn't excruciating either.I'm sticking

almost totally to juices and yogurt, with supplements ofcreatine, glutamine,

doses of Carafate and Citrusel, etc. I'vedecided to stay with this as long as I

can, and when I move into stageII to stick with the most liquid I can tolerate.

There's jillions ofyummy juices out there, and there are also the frozen fruit

bars,which as the summer comes in will be a real treat.On the whole, I've done

very well, and will work on building up myenergy again. I just sat at the

computer and caught up with 11 daysof the MiniGastricBypass archives (skimming,

you'd better believe it)which took me at least two hours. Now that I have

written thismessage, I'm ready to lie down for awhile.My husband intends to post

his own message regarding the WalMartpharmacy on Roxboro near the hospital, so I

won't go into any detailexcept to say it sucks, and that we found the Eckerds at

the corner ofBroad and Markham, near Duke Univ., to be VERY helpful and

generouswith their time. The pharmacist's name is Ron, and my husband wasvery

appreciative of his going the extra mile.More later, on, Norman OK