The Skinny on Weight Loss Surgery

Cool title to this post, huh? :)

I'll start this narrative with waking up from surgery. The nurses in recovery gave me ice chips (only a couple of pellets, though) which they probably shouldn't have. I felt like I couldn't get enough air, which is a common theme for me when I'm in pain. They gave me oxygen and put me on my C-PAP machine (a little machine that delivers pressurized air to my nose so I don't stop breathing while I sleep), but it still didn't help me feel like I was getting enough air. Eventually, they moved me to ICU so they could monitor my blood oxygen continuously. I stayed there through the first night. The surgeon visited, then gave orders that I was not to use the C-PAP machine that night (he didn't want it to inflate my stomach pouch and stretch it), which meant I had apnea all night even though they gave me oxygen. I must have woken up every fifteen minutes from midnight to 6 am. I was lucky to have a chatty nurse that kept me company. I got up and walked around a little with her help.

The next day, they moved me to a regular room. I walked twice more. It isn't easy to walk with a catheter. My abdomen felt like it was inflated to twice normal size and everything inside was bruised. My abs were cramping and standing up stretched them and all the stitches inside and out very painfully. This is when I got to know my pain medicines. Toradol is an IV analgesic which they gave me every 6 hours. It lasted for four. I had the magic morphine button, but I quickly discovered that all morphine did for me was make me sleepy and didn't kill pain at all. Midway through the second day, they gave me Lortab liquid, which is what I have here at home, and that seems to actually make it bearable.

The worst part? Gas. The large portion of the stomach which they leave behind and disconnect from the esophagus is having denial issues about its demotion and is producing huge quantities of gas which have nowhere to go but down the intestines. Since they use a muscle blocker on the entire digestive tract, this gas doesn't move fast and hurts like a real SOB. The best remedy? Walking. The most painful thing to do in that situation? Getting out of a hospital bed when all your abdominal muscles are cramping up and standing up and stretching all those muscles and incisions. Once I figured out the timing of the pain medications, I was able to walk more often.

Today, I woke up and I was determined to do two things: Get rid of the catheter, and pass gas. I managed to do both by 6am and my life improved dramatically.

I forgot to mention that day one, I was allowed nothing by mouth - no water, no anything. I got to swab out my mouth with a little sponge on a stick and moisten my throat and lips with it. Day 2, I was allowed 30ml of water each hour. That means I got to wet my tongue and breathe the fumes every fifteen minutes. Today, I got all the water I could handle, which still wasn't a lot.

So anyway, tonight, I am at home, sipping Isopure clear protein beverage, and feeling almost human, and passing gas like crazy. I'm probably due to take some Lortab in a few minutes. Oh, and I can actually get real sleep tonight because I'm finally allowed to use my C-PAP machine again.

PS: I had a drain in one of my incisions. I had no idea how deep this drain went until they pulled it out right before I was discharged. I now know EXACTLY how it feels to be run through with a sword.