My surgery story...Long!

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

First of all, please forgive me for taking so long to

write. I'm now on the " other side " . I had the

Duodenal Switch-lap assisted surgery with Dr. Warden

in Ocean Springs, MS on 2/6. Now for the rest of the

story....(& probably too much information--sorry it's

so long).

My surgery was set for Feb. 6th. On Feb. 1st, I found

out that my work decided to " outsource " my department

& a few others. This meant that we still worked at

the same place & did the same job, but we were payed

by different people. It also meant that all our

benefits & short-term disability would change & it was

effective immediately! Needless to say, this put a

big kink in my plans. It was very upsetting & after

working all night, I was on the phone all day between

HR at work & the dr's ofc. I ended up having to come

up with the money to pay for a month of Cobra coverage

to cover my surgery. It was horrible, but with

everything else I was about to embark on, I tried not

to worry about what was happening at work. I was able

to continue with my surgery & that was the important

thing.

I also found out that the Dr. I was originally

scheduled to have surgery with injured his eye the

week before & wasn't performing surgery. So his

collegue was going to do it & I would have the same

assisting surgeon.

My friend & I left Sun. morning & drove to MS. Monday

I met with the dr's & anesthesiologist (sp?). Tuesday

I had to be at the hospital at 5 a.m. They took me

straight back & started getting me ready. That all

took time. The nurse couldn't get a vein for the

relaxing juice so she had to wait for the

anesthesiologist to come. After they got that

started, I began to relax. I was doing ok until I got

to the waiting area & was alone. I almost started to

cry, but I didn't. They finally came & got me & took

me to the surgery room. Just as they were literally

wheeling me into the operating room someone said,

" Wait! " The assisting Dr. had been called to an

emergency & was on his way there. Then they said, " Go

ahead, Dr. Warden said to continue. " So they wheeled

me in. It turned out that there was no assisting dr.

When they got me in there, they strapped my arms down

& gave me some stuff that immediately put me to sleep.

I had general anesthesia. They don't do epidurals.

That's all I remember from there. The surgery took

about 6 hrs & 15 mins.

The only thing I remember in recovery is a faint

memory of a man's blurry face right in my face asking

me what my pain level was. At first I said 5 or 6.

Then he asked again & I said 7 or 8. The next thing I

remember is him saying, " So you're at a full blown

ten? " I guess I was complaining of pain. My

advice...go straight for the 10! Don't even fool with

the other numbers! :-) That's what I told my sister.

I drilled her on it. She said if she didn't remember

anything else, she'd remember to say " ten " & she did!

:-) (BTW, my sister had the surgery 3 weeks after me &

is doing well).

It took me awhile to come out of the anesthetics. I

have very foggy memories of the first couple days. At

about 10:30 that night, I finally woke up enough to

want to get up & walk. I didn't WANT to, but I really

needed to. I'd been lying in that bed all day long &

I had to get up. So the nurse & CNA helped me walk a

little ways & I went back to bed. That's all I

remember about that night.

By the next morning, my mouth was EXTREMEMLY dry. It

was horrible. I could only suck on a wet towel until

they got the results of my leak test. They came & got

me & took me down to have the leak test which is

basically an upper gi. That was a horrible

experience! I was in a lot of pain & I had to somehow

get up on that table & lie down. That wasn't easy,

but the man was very patient with me. After that I

went back to my room. It wasn't until around noon or

so that I got ice chips.

I wasn't prepared for the pain I felt in my abdomen

area. My entire stomach area throbbed & ached

constantly. My breathing was shallow & that worried

me. I thought it was the morphine so I didn't use the

pump much, but when the dr. came in he said it was the

pain that kept me from breathing deeply & that I

needed to use the pump, so I did. My other problem

was my extremely dry mouth. Even with the ice chips,

it was still dry & I couldn't get it moist. Then I

couldn't breathe out of my nose & had to breathe out

of my mouth, which only made it drier. That night I

literally woke up every five minutes in need of water.

It was horrible.

By thurs., it was getting better. I was walking 3 or

4 times a day & walked a little farther each time. I

had a shower & some visitors.

Friday I started having diarrhea. Not everyone has

it, but I was one of the lucky ones. My advice...take

Depend Adult wipes. I had baby wipes, but they fell

apart--the adult wipes didn't. Also take someone to

wipe you! :-) The diarrhea stopped the next week when

I started eating a little more solid foods (like

eggs).

I was planning on getting out of the hospital on Sat.

cuz I was doing well. We had all our stuff packed

too. But there was an on-call dr. who was not a

bariatric surgeon & he wouldn't let me go. He didn't

sound like he was going to let me go Sunday either.

My friend & I were very upset, but there was nothing

we could do but wait.

Sunday my friend watched out the window all day. She

could see the dr's coming & going from my room. That

afternoon she thought she saw the dr. She told me to

get up & sit in the wheelchair. I told her to go see

if it was him. It was, so I got up & sat in the

wheelchair. Before he came in, he told the nurse he

wasn't going to let me go home. When he came in & he

asked me how I was feeling. He didn't ask me that the

day before so I was leary. I said, " Fine. " He said,

" Do you want to go home? " I said, " Yes, I want to go

home very much! " He said, " Okay, I'll release you. "

I was shocked & happy!

We left about 4:30 p.m. We drove about 5 hrs before

stopping at a motel. The drive home was a lot harder

than I expected. You wouldn't think it, but it was

just really tiring. Take lots of pillows for the car

& motel. I couldn't get comfortable so I didn't get

much sleep that night. It was hard to find any food

to eat at the mini-marts we stopped at. I got a jar

of banana baby food & ate a little of that. The next

day we traveled another 5 1/2 hours home. I didn't

have anything to eat until I got home. That was

really hard & I wouldn't suggest that to anyone. By

the time we thought of something I could eat (eggs),

everywhere we stopped had already stopped serving

breakfast. My mom fixed me an egg as soon as I got

home & that helped me. I had become very weak &

emotional.

My cousin stayed with me for two weeks & helped out a

lot by helping me up in the beginning and cooking for

me, doing laundry, dishes, housework, etc. She was a

huge help. I couldn't have done it without her.

It's been two months since then. On one hand it seems

like just a few days & on the other hand it seems like

a year ago. I've been very blessed with a good

recovery. I can't complain. Many people have had it

much worse off than I. It just takes time getting

used to all the new feelings inside & everything. I

also had my gallbladder & appendix removed so there

was a lot of extra room in there that I wasn't used

to.

Tuesday was 8 weeks (& my birthday ;-)) & it was the

first night I could lie on my side & actually SLEEP!

So far it only works on my right side. I've slept on

my back for two months. It's getting to be

uncomfortable because I'm a side/stomach sleeper. I

would try lying on my side, but I couldn't do it for

more than a few minutes. It felt wierd or it would

cause me to have gas pains or something. One time

when I lied on my right side, it felt like everything

just fell into the empty holes left from surgery. It

felt really uncomfortable. I can go to sleep on my

side now & I'm very happy about that.

My BM's & gas are usually quite fragrant. I've tried

the spray & even lit candles. I remembered I had an

exhaust fan in the bathroom which I'd never had to use

before, but now I use it all the time. It helps some.

I just started using Devrom. It turns my poop

greenish, but I think it might help the odors. I've

also noticed my poop doesn't seem as loose with it.

I've only taken it for a couple of days so I'm not

sure how well it works yet. Whenever I have a lot of

gas, I try to remember what I ate & see if it has to

do with that. When I've avoided that food, it's

gotten better. I don't have it TOO often, but it can

be pretty lethal when I do. And if you get up, it

follows you! :-) Going back to work made me nervous

because it's not the type of gas you can hide. Let's

just say I can clear a room real fast! LOL

Tonight is only my second night back to work. I'm

doing ok, although it's hard to get used to working 12

hr. shifts at night again. I only made it 6 hrs. last

night, but I'm doing better tonight.

As far as advice for the hospital...take pillows for

the car, Depend adult wipes, hard sugar-free candies

for your dry mouth when you can't have much ice or

water (my dr. suggested it). Sweet'n'Low has a good

brand of sugar-free hard candy. I used my chapstick a

lot, but the hospital has that too. Toothbrush &

toothpaste, pre-paid phone card. That's all I can

think of right now.

Sorry it's so long. Hope I didn't bore too many of

you. It's just that I haven't written in so long, I

don't want to leave anything out (although I did).

Hope everyone is doing well!

Cheri

Dr. Warden--Ocean Springs, MS

2/6/01

Pre-op 428--5'11 "

Post-op--??? (still waiting to find out but I think

it's around 50 lbs, although my grandpa is going

around telling everyone that it's 100, but it's not!)

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