Theresa's Home...too long surgical story! Crosspost

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I have been trying to catch up with all my lists and figure out how I

can relay my surgical experience without putting everyone to sleep.

First of all I have to tell you that your prayers and good thoughts

mean the world to me and . He was overwhelmed with the number

of well wishes, emails, phone calls, visits and calls we received and

having that many folks in your corner is just so heart warming! From

the bottom of my heart, I thank you all.

I was amazed that when they said surgery would be at 10:30 at Monday,

they weren't kidding. They were starting to knock me out before I

even got settled on a flocking 24 inch wide table! Man oh man, I

wish I had been able to wear knickers as it was bloody cold in

there. I have a feeling I was talking so much nervous chatter that

the anesthesiologist figured the only way he could shut me up was to

knock me out. I had a mask on my face that of course I was trying to

talk through and next thing I know I woke up. All I could say

was. " pain " , remember feeling something soothing, and next thing I

know I was awake in my own room.

As far as pain goes, I have to say it was so much more manageable

than I had anticipated. Where I have had my moments thinking what

the hell have I done to myself, none of them have lasted more than an

hour and then I feel at times as if I haven't had any surgery at

all! The pain meds are more than adequate to handle the discomfort.

The most important thing I have learned is to stay ahead of the pain

and it NEVER gets out of control. Waiting to ask for additional

relief until you can't take it anymore, was the one time I really had

a hellish time of it.

Surgery was to last 2.5 hours lap, and instead went an extra hour due

to two complications, one anticipated. I have a 10 inch open scar

from my prior gall bladder surgery. The surgeon anticipated that it

would either cause him to go " open " or what ended up happening is

that he spent a half hour cutting through massive amounts of existing

adhesions! It actually feels better now than it did preop as

everything feels kinda loose! The other problem he ran into was

a " brittle " tissue issue. The stapler used to make the anistamosis

was actually shredding my tissues so he had to go in and double

suture everything by hand. We thought it was due to my IBS but Dr.

J said it's just something that happens with the odd assorted folk,

and the good lord knows I am pretty assortedly odd!

The following morning they got me up at 6 am to walk and be weighed.

Lo and behold, the day after surgery I weighed 12 pounds more and my

ankles disappeared completely. My doc was not at all concerned

however, he did and continues to hear a ration of expletives from

me...laughing...and that 12 pounds went up to 17 pounds of additional

water weight gain! Walking was a breeze and I made sure to do my

rounds every two hours. For one thing, it really gets the gas moving

although it took 3-4 days for it to move out, and it makes you feel

like you have some control over your recovery. I would walk 20

minutes every 2 hours connected to my iv's and catheter, which

remarkably is all you wake up with after Dr. J's surgery. Because of

the difficulty with the anastimosis, Dr. J was quite concerned about

a leak, so no food or liquids til after my leak tests. The leak test

SUCKED. It basically consists of drinking about 6 ounces of nasty

stuff called a contrast and going through a cat scan. The hardest

part of recovery is straightening your body to a totally flat

position or stretching to stand or sit, all of which use the

abdominal muscles. Remember, the fetal position is your friend! LOL

as long as you are on your back. I have been able to lay on my side,

but it does pull the stomach muscles and its not real comfy.

No leaks, no infections, but a small spot on my ct scan which could

indicate a infection although I had no fever or elevated white blood

count, so doc said we would have 3 days of IV antibiotics just to be

safe. However, due to the oversewing of the anastimosis, he wants me

on a liquid diet for a month and said there could be a possibility of

an endoscopy in about a month due to the small size of the opening.

I have since convinced..(badgered) him into agreeing to a " soft "

diet.

I think a critical element of my surviving my day hospital

experience is that I had my husband there with me almost 24

hours a day. If it weren't for him helping me to turn in bed, get up

and walk, and just reassure me all the time, I don't think I could

have made it. The nurses at CPMC, as wonderful as they are, are

overwhelmed with work. The were exceptionally responsive to me

because took care of about 90* of my needs....(because he is

definitely eye candy and they liked checking him out) and because we

always made a point of thanking them profusely for everything they

did and attempted to be sensitive to thier work load!

I escaped the hospital after 6 days, found as long as I don't

straighten my body out flat or stand up straight, I don't have very

much pain at all, just an overall achy feeling, and yes, my usual

post op blues. I can be weepy over the comedy channel..blush, and of

course crabby at times, but overall, I think the worst has passed!

I am experimenting with foods...average about 2 ounces even though

doc gave me a 6 ounce stomach...(low bmi). Sipping anything sucks

the big one...as I feel my intestines cramping all the way down,

disconcerting, and awkward, but not unbearable. My best friend right

now is Maalox Max quick dissolve wild berry tablets which knock

my " heartburn " out in about 10 minutes, taste good and offer a

whopping 740 mg of calcium per serving. Oh, onion soup didn't work

for me...yikes...but grated cheese is my friend! Today we will go

for the supplements, and one thing that I feel no pressure about is

getting in my protein or liquids in today. Each day my goal will be

to increase what I did yesterday, and I still am holding on to 12 of

the 17 pounds of excess water weight gain. Let me tell you, it goes

through you fast! laughing...I have a path from my bed to the loo

etched in already and last night experienced about an hourly sojourn

down the hall.

Hope this answers any questions for you preops. I must point out

that every single person reacts individually to this surgery. These

are just my landmarks to date. I will be catching up with individual

posts as fast as I can, and again, thanks so much for all the warm

thoughts and prayers.

Hugs,

Theresa n