Re: I want the skinny!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/29/01 4:43:25 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

MsMystic1@... writes:

> What happened before

> surgery?

I was in Spain but I had a chest xray, EKG and my last meal of orange juice.

I spent much of the day in bed curled up and trying to find the right place

for my mind to be unstressed. I got a shot of antibotics later in the day

(my surgery was at 3pm). Then I got an enema (in Spain they do them the old

fashioned way...LOL). Then at 3pm I had someone come get me and I walked up

the stairs to the OR.

How scarey was it to go into that operating room?

It was very scarey...there was alot of activity, but Dr. Baltasar took my

hand at the top of the stairs and walked me in. He had me undress and then I

laid down on the table. I was covered with a sheet from my breasts to my

waist (we could wear panties) I was very nervous, but at the same time I knew

it was right...ya know...it just all felt right. I remember him rubbing my

hand and talking to me, telling me what was happening and then a minute after

they put the IV in...I was out.

> to wake up from surgery? How much pain were you in?

> If you want honest...here goes. When I woke up I was still in the OR and

> there was alot of movement going on around me. I felt like I was

> drowning...not really but that is the only sensation I can compare it to.

> I think I was trying to breath shallow so I didn't get alot of air in.

> They moved me back to my room and in all honestly that first few hours I

> really wished I could back track and undo it. Spain is probably alittle

> different than here for pain meds...they don't use the machines that you

> can hit the button... I don't know if that would have made a

> difference...but in any event, its very painful....but on the other

> hand...by morning (remember I had surgery at 3pm) I was able to get

> comfortable and only had a morning and evening pain shot. They wanted me up

> that night to go to the restroom and I refused at first....but they gave me

> a pain shot and then 1/2 hour later came and helped me dress and get up.

> That was the worst...after that it wasn't bad. By the third day, i wasn't

> getting anything for pain. I figure what I felt was true with any surgery.

> I really don't remember the pain now either, just that it hurt.

> not have to drink, etc.?

I was allowed water, popscicles and orange juice to start...water was very

first...when I kept that down, I was given pretty much anything liquid I

wanted. Dr. B. does 1 week liquid and then a week puree....then on to soft

foods

> drinking, eating, etc.

Since one week out, i've been eating what I want. I was careful the 2nd week

since I was in a hotel and couldnt get much in the way of puree. By the time

I got home I started with eggs, and softer things and then moved on to what

sounded good. I'm at 5 weeks and eating chicken, salad, pizza (topping

only), etc. I have found a few things that don't agree such as bread...so I

just stay away... I also drink alot of liquids, mostly water, but also juice,

kool aid and occasionally a diet coke.

~~* AJ *~~

Age 37 5'8''

Post op 7/24/01 Open BPD/DS

self pay - Dr Baltasar -Alcoy Spain

07/24/01 BMI 64 415.1

08/06/01 BMI 59 390.2 -24.9 lbs! -10.75 inches

08/16/01 BMI 58 387.0 -27.9 lbs! -11.25 inches

08/24/01 BMI 58 386.5 -28.7 lbs! -15.5 inches

My personal website: www.WLS4AJ.homestead.com

Check out the Bellingham Support Group at WWW.WLSBellingham.homestead.com

[Guest guest]

> Ok, all you fantastic post-op people. I would like to have a

> blow-by-blow account of your surgical experience, the day of

> surgery from the time you entered the hospital, until you left

> the hospital. What

Carole, the DS website has some good stories if you browse though a bit.

One very lengthy, detailed one is Cheryl's:

http://www.duodenalswitch.com/Patients/Cheryl/cheryl.html

M.

---

in Valrico, FL, age 39

Lap DGB/DS by Dr. Rabkin 10/19/99

Starting weight 299, now 156

Starting BMI 49.7, now 26.0

Starting size 26/28, now 10/12

http://www.duodenalswitch.com/Patients/_M_/melanie_m_.html

Direct replies: mailto:melanie@...

_________________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

What happened before surgery?

I was told to be at Mt Sinai at 7am.I arrived at Mt Sanai at 6:50 am

to be admitted. There were about 20 people in the lobby waiting for

the security guard to allow them to go the admitting area. At 7:10 am

we were allowed to go to the admitting area. We all signed in at the

admitting desk. They called me around 7:30 and had me fill out a bunch

of forms. Aroun 8 am a really nice nurse came to get me. She took me

to a room and instructed me to remove all of my clothing and to put on

a hospital gown. I was so relieved when she brought in a gown that was

not only big enough to fit me but big enough for me to wrap around my

body 1 1/2 times. She asked me what size shoe I wore, then brought me

a pair of white slipper socks. She then arranged for security to lock

up my valuables. She tagged my luggage and all valuables. She asked if

I wanted to watch TV. She then brought me the remote control. I was

still calm at this point. About 15 minutes later a nurse came to take

me to the OR. I sat outside of the OR for about 15 minutes.

How scarey was it to go into that operating room?

I didn't start to get nervous until I sat outside of the waiting room.

All of a sudden all of the possible outcomes started streaming into my

head and for the first time I started thinking about the possibilty

that I would not wake up from the surgery. The nurse came in and

spotted my contacts ordered me to take them out. Not thrilled about

this and extremely nervous I considered telling her to buzz off. I

decided that this was not a positive attitude and I removed the

contacts. The anesthesiologist introduced himself and asked some

history questions. Then Dr.Gagner gave me his little bannana speech. I

think that this is how he insures that you still consent. Then I was

brought into the OR by the anesthesiologist. The table was covered

with like a thousand folded white towels. I still do not understand

what the towels were for but they were very comfortable. The

anesthesiologist had me lie on the table. I was still wound up like a

watch at this point. The anesthesiologist told me a joke which I did

not find funny but I did appreciate his attempt at humour. He then

tried to get my pulse through my newly painted purple passion

thumbnail. This didn't work so he stripped the nail. This was a good

thing becuase I was so ticked about the nail being stripped that I

wasn't worrying as much about the whole mortality thing. He inserted

the needles and called another doctor. He said that Mt Sinai had a

policy about having two anesthesiologist there when the process was

started. I was out after that and don't remember anything until I woke

up.

What was it like to wake up from surgery?

Upon waking up from surgery I was a bit groggy but didn't think I was

doing that bad. Then I opened my eyes and they told me that I needed

to move from the gurney to bed. I started to lift my body and I felt

the most pain I have ever felt with the exception of when I had kidney

stones. I bit down and moved into the bed. I decided that I was not

going to move again after I got into the bed. I immediately fell

asleep.

How much pain were you in?

More pain than I could believe. I was having some serious second

thoughts. I was shown how to use the pain pump and let me tell you I

used that thing like it was a video game controller. One time I

complained about it not working and they told me I had hit 33 times in

ten minutes! I could only use it every ten minutes. It took me a day

to master the pain pump. The worst part is that no matter how much I

pressed the pain pump I would always wake up a couple of hours later

and the pain killer would have worn off. Then I would have to wait

bout 1/2 hour before I go in enough pain killer to get up and go to

the bathroom.

what could you have or not have to drink, etc.?

The nurses aide brought me a pitcher of water immediately. I took a

few sips. I think that I slept through dinner that night. The meal

trays always contained jello, some form of fruit and coffee or tea a

can of gatorade and some form a ground up meat(fish, beef,) which was

called seafood souffle or beef souffle. For the three days I was there

I was only able to drink the gatorade. I could not get comfortable

enough to eat anything. And I really was not hungry. I drank the

gatorade purely becuase having had kidney stones before I did not want

to go down that road again. On day 4 I ate a teaspoon of applesauce.

When you got home,what did you do as far as drinking, eating, etc.

When I got home I was not well prepared for post-op life. I had a hard

flight home so I slept for two days and drank water and juice for 2

days when I wasn't sleeping. I didn't eat anything because I had not

shopped prior to going to the hospital and I was to weak and I was not

hungry at all.

Then I went grocery shopping and bought about half or the approved

foods on the list. I also bought some fresh fruits becuase I was

craving fruit.I spent about a week in gas hell. I was so gaseous I

though I was going to pop. I did not know that this was gas because I

had never had a problem with gas before. I eliminated the fruits and

all of a sudden the gas and pressure were gone. I tried to add dairy

and I had the worse lactose reactions. I settled upon chicken, beef,

and fish. I prepared 4 ounce servings however I could only hold 2

ounce portions so I would set the other 2 ounces aside and then reheat

it later. I drank a lot of water for the first week. But I am not

much of a water drinker so I have sinced replaced this with sugarfree

decaf instant tea made by the quart. I also had to get all of my

supplements. I had never been on any medication for a period longer

than the 14 days it took to kill the h-pylori bacteria so it took a

lot for me to get used to taking 3 Adeks 3 Viactive chews and a daily

vitamin every day. I also had a hard time learning to take these with

my meals. I learned to take the supplements half-way through my meals

to make sure that I had enough room to get them in.

What adjustments you had to make when you first got home post-op, etc.

etc. etc.

The major adjustment was not being able to sleep flat. I slept

horribly for 2 days before I finally located and rented a recliner.

Then I slept marvelously for the first week. Week 2 I decided that it

was time to cut out the pain pills. I used napping to manage the pain.

When the pain got to be a bit much it was my cue to take a nap. I

would wake up with a bit of pain but the rest lessened the pain.

In retrospect I think that I was a bit of a baby because I used so

much pain killer that the whole process is still a bit hazy. But I

believed what I read posted on the site which said that you should not

be in pain. And I was determined to stop the pain. The pain meds

didn't stop the pain but they made me drugged enough not to care so

much about the pain.

Tina

Lap DS, Dr. Gagner, 07/03/2001

Goal: Lose 90% of Excess Weight

*******************************

* Starting Weight = 267 *

* " Ideal " Weight = 135 *

* =========================== *

* Total Excess Weight = 132 *

* 90% x Excess Weight = 118 *

* Goal Weight = 265-118 = 145 *

* =========================== *

* Total Needed to Lose = 118 *

* Loss To Date = 40 *

* =========================== *

* Remainder to Goal = 78 *

*******************************