Robyn S.
Let's Try Blogging...
Jun 26, 2012
OK. I'm going to try this blogging thing. I'm not much of a writer, so bear with me.
I had my surgery on June 13th, 13 days ago. I started back to work yesterday and feel fine.
When I woke up from surgery and the pain hit me, my first thought was "this was a mistake". I was already regretting the decision and chastising myself for putting myself in so much pain. The next day, that wore off and I went for my x-ray, to make sure everything internal was ok and I could start drinking water. I went through the first round of x-rays and hadn't received any results (at this point the nurse was freaking out more than I was, but I attribute that to all the drugs they had me on). The x-ray tech came back and took me for another x-ray. I didn't hear back from them for the rest of the day, so no food (jello) or drink for me on day two. Everyone else in the bariatric ward (all 3 of them :D) were getting their food trays, so I knew something was wrong. The next day, the x-ray tech came back and took me for another x-ray. For this one, I had to take a standing x-ray and a lying down x-ray. This was extremely painful, as I had to lay flat on my back on a table. As they brought me into radiology, an intern working there said "is this the stomach leak?". That freaked me out so much, but I was able to hold it in, until they laid me on the table. The pain and hearing what that intern said just brought the waterworks. By the time I got back to my room, I was in total melt down, my mom even started tearing up when I told her what I heard. Thank God, that x-ray came back normal and I was able to start eating. No one would tell me what all the x-rays were about, so when my surgeon finally came I asked him. He said that some part of my intestines that he had messed with was swollen, so fluids were passing slowly. They had to wait to the next day to make sure the fluids passed all the way through and it wasn't swollen shut.
I was finally released on the 15th @ 7 pm. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive home, so we stayed at a hotel (La Quinta because they had recliners in their King bed rooms. The next day, I had to sit at a Cracker Barrel and watch my parents eat breakfast before we could head home. That is when I realized what a challenge this would be (I love CB's hash brown casserole!), but I survived it. The ride home was difficult; not even a pillow pressed against my stomach helped with the pain from the bumps in the road.
My recovery at home was also hard, mainly because of all the food commercials on TV. I have never liked Burger King, but their BBQ sandwiches look amazing! I am on a liquid diet until July 4th. I can't stand my Bariatric Advantage shakes! I am supposed to drink 2 a day, but I have substituted one for an Isopure RTD, which contains more protein anyway. I also can't stand the vitamins I am on. They all taste disgusting, except the B12 and the calcium chews, and the Vitamin D gummy is alright. The hardest part of this was on Friday, when my mom brought home ice cream (I was staying with my parents until Sunday, when I could actually bend to touch my feet and do things for myself). My parents ate ice cream in front of me about 5 times over the course of two days. I was appalled by this. They know how much I love ice cream and they know this is a difficult process. They could have waited the two days until I was gone to eat it. I couldn't rationalize their behavior at all.
Overall, I am doing wonderfully! I have lost 47 pounds from my start weight in September and 12 pounds from my surgery date. I will be tested at lunch. My aunt is coming in from out of town and insisting we all go eat at her favorite pizza place. When I told her I can't eat, so said "So? You can drink!". I can see that this is going to be a hard concept for my family. I mean, you wouldn't ask a recovered alcoholic to meet you at the bar. "So? You can eat the peanuts!"
Thanks for reading my super long post!
0 comments
I had my surgery on June 13th, 13 days ago. I started back to work yesterday and feel fine.
When I woke up from surgery and the pain hit me, my first thought was "this was a mistake". I was already regretting the decision and chastising myself for putting myself in so much pain. The next day, that wore off and I went for my x-ray, to make sure everything internal was ok and I could start drinking water. I went through the first round of x-rays and hadn't received any results (at this point the nurse was freaking out more than I was, but I attribute that to all the drugs they had me on). The x-ray tech came back and took me for another x-ray. I didn't hear back from them for the rest of the day, so no food (jello) or drink for me on day two. Everyone else in the bariatric ward (all 3 of them :D) were getting their food trays, so I knew something was wrong. The next day, the x-ray tech came back and took me for another x-ray. For this one, I had to take a standing x-ray and a lying down x-ray. This was extremely painful, as I had to lay flat on my back on a table. As they brought me into radiology, an intern working there said "is this the stomach leak?". That freaked me out so much, but I was able to hold it in, until they laid me on the table. The pain and hearing what that intern said just brought the waterworks. By the time I got back to my room, I was in total melt down, my mom even started tearing up when I told her what I heard. Thank God, that x-ray came back normal and I was able to start eating. No one would tell me what all the x-rays were about, so when my surgeon finally came I asked him. He said that some part of my intestines that he had messed with was swollen, so fluids were passing slowly. They had to wait to the next day to make sure the fluids passed all the way through and it wasn't swollen shut.
I was finally released on the 15th @ 7 pm. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive home, so we stayed at a hotel (La Quinta because they had recliners in their King bed rooms. The next day, I had to sit at a Cracker Barrel and watch my parents eat breakfast before we could head home. That is when I realized what a challenge this would be (I love CB's hash brown casserole!), but I survived it. The ride home was difficult; not even a pillow pressed against my stomach helped with the pain from the bumps in the road.
My recovery at home was also hard, mainly because of all the food commercials on TV. I have never liked Burger King, but their BBQ sandwiches look amazing! I am on a liquid diet until July 4th. I can't stand my Bariatric Advantage shakes! I am supposed to drink 2 a day, but I have substituted one for an Isopure RTD, which contains more protein anyway. I also can't stand the vitamins I am on. They all taste disgusting, except the B12 and the calcium chews, and the Vitamin D gummy is alright. The hardest part of this was on Friday, when my mom brought home ice cream (I was staying with my parents until Sunday, when I could actually bend to touch my feet and do things for myself). My parents ate ice cream in front of me about 5 times over the course of two days. I was appalled by this. They know how much I love ice cream and they know this is a difficult process. They could have waited the two days until I was gone to eat it. I couldn't rationalize their behavior at all.
Overall, I am doing wonderfully! I have lost 47 pounds from my start weight in September and 12 pounds from my surgery date. I will be tested at lunch. My aunt is coming in from out of town and insisting we all go eat at her favorite pizza place. When I told her I can't eat, so said "So? You can drink!". I can see that this is going to be a hard concept for my family. I mean, you wouldn't ask a recovered alcoholic to meet you at the bar. "So? You can eat the peanuts!"
Thanks for reading my super long post!