Re: I want the skinny!(very long)

[Guest guest]

Carole, I remember things quite clearly since I am

only 9 days out .... Here ya go!

I went to NYC tuesday night for my " last supper " with

my mom. I had scheduled pre-admission testing for the

day before surgery (wednesday) since I am about 2

hours north of the city and have limited vacation

time. This worked out great since my ins approval came

in at the 11th hour !

Pre-admin testing consisted of blood & urine tests,

EKG, chest Xray, and a million questions. I was given

my spirometer to use and practice with which I did

alot. I got my long hair washed and put into a french

braid knowing I wouldnt be washing it for days. At 3

pm I had to ingest the dreaded Fleets phosphosoda

(sp?) to clean me out. YUK ! Got a call at 6 pm to be

at the OR at 9am.

On thursday we arrived at 8:50 am and after signing in

my husband & mom came with me to a small waiting room.

I put on a nice big gown and footie socks and they

tagged my few belongings and stored them. I sat in

this big comfortable rocking recliner and joked with

my loved ones as nurses came in and out checking my BP

and temp. The anesthesiolagists (I cant spell it!)

spent about 20 minutes with us asking alot of

questions and telling us ALL possible outcomes of

their job without really scarring me. Stuff like they

could chip a tooth or I could wake up with the

respirator in. I expressed deep concern for that one !

They were very comforting. Dr Ren came in and spent 5

minutes with us. She is just a very confident person

and it was contagious! We were all smiling. Finally

they gave me a mild sedative, I kissed & hugged my

loved ones and off I went wheeled to the op room where

about 7 people were waiting. I was awake for about 3

minutes and went to sleep with them talking to me

about my horses from when I was a kid.

I awoke in recovery with just a mask on my face thank

GOD ! I would lift it up off my face alittle and doze

off and on...no pain yet. Then I awoke with just the

nose oxygen on and I would mess with that cuz it

bugged me but I was mostly dozing. I spent 4.5 hours

on the op table and 2 hours in recovery.

By 5 pm I was in my private room that my hubby fought

like hell for. He's the best. I had no pain - even the

catheter wasnt a problem like I expected. I noticed I

had IV drips of Flagyl and Pepcid AC along with the

other stuff and the morphine pump. I also had the

inflatable leg jammers on the whole time. They got me

up to walk at about 10 pm. That was pretty waful but I

just kept hitting that pump. The worst was no fluids.

I got the glass of ice water with the sponge swab for

a day and a half ! I used my chapstick alot. I was a

good walker and breather which I KNOW helped me out.

That spirometer was a necessary evil. I got water

friday at 5pm and sipped slowly. It hurt but the more

I sipped the better I got. Catheter came out, leg

jammers came off and morphine got taken away. That is

when I threw up. Very painful. I could not take the

crushed up pills in liquid. A small shooter of liquid

all at once would not stay down. IV Toradol was my

friend as far as pain went. Some liquid tylenol too

the next day. Saturday I got some pureed stuff and

enjoyed my gatorade sips. I was hopping for a sunday

release but I had low urine output and my one JP drain

was non stop filling up. So Gross. Also I still had

not had a BM so she kept me until Sunday. Dr Ren came

in every single day as well as her associates and her

NP Gio. The nutritionist came on saturday to review my

diet plan and stress the importance of my vitamins.

I was released with Vicodin and Pepcid scripts but had

pretty much given up on crushing and taking pain meds.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

oops I pressed send to soon (maybe not to soon for

some of you eh?) I will wrap it up by saying that I

have had a wonderful recovery and I'm almost afraid to

say it aloud for fear it will change. I eat mooshy

foods and have no nausea or vomiting. I have one - yes

one BM a day unfortunately at 3 AM. I am up and

around and was back in my bed after 2 nights in a

recliner. I had one minor scare with one incision site

that began to swell and turn red last wednesday but it

has since gotten better. I could not have been luckier

and I KNOW IT ! I came home to 1300 emails and I'm

down to 300. Can't miss one word from you guys ! I go

back to work tuesday and I think I will be just fine.

My only issue now is... to tell or not to tell ...

that is the question. Thanks for reading.

Sharon M in NY

Age 40

Started at 290 on surgery day

5'9 "

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Sharon, I'm so glad everything went well for you. Thanks for

sharing your experience. I go back to work today and also face that

to tell or not to tell issue....Meli

-- In duodenalswitch@y..., s mankiewicz <healyhead@y...> wrote:

> oops I pressed send to soon (maybe not to soon for

> some of you eh?) I will wrap it up by saying that I

> have had a wonderful recovery and I'm almost afraid to

> say it aloud for fear it will change. I eat mooshy

> foods and have no nausea or vomiting. I have one - yes

> one BM a day unfortunately at 3 AM. I am up and

> around and was back in my bed after 2 nights in a

> recliner. I had one minor scare with one incision site

> that began to swell and turn red last wednesday but it

> has since gotten better. I could not have been luckier

> and I KNOW IT ! I came home to 1300 emails and I'm

> down to 300. Can't miss one word from you guys ! I go

> back to work tuesday and I think I will be just fine.

> My only issue now is... to tell or not to tell ...

> that is the question. Thanks for reading.

>

> Sharon M in NY

> Age 40

> Started at 290 on surgery day

> 5'9 "

>

> __________________________________________________

>