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  1. #1
    Gastric Sleeve Member Vivi.'s Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Surgery date
    08/22/2013
    Surgeon
    Korus
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Last Activity
    03-17-2014 04:58 PM
    Location
    East Coast
    Posts
    6
    Said "Thanks" 0 Times
    Was Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Said "Welcome to Gastric Sleeve" 2 Times
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default 1 week post-op! A recap / rant / advice post :)

    After years of consideration, I began working toward surgery in December as part of solving other gastric issues that had come to light with testing - severe hiatal hernia, GEJ inflammation, enlarged liver, digestive distress. My insurance (which I pay A LOT for) did not make the surgical process easy or cheap. Several required classes and tests were out of pocket. I spent the time working all of it out, even when I felt very discouraged. I also knuckled down in June and spent more time exercising and watching my diet. I lost over 30 pounds before my surgery.

    My surgery was last Thursday, August 22nd, at a hospital I'd never used before (dictated by my surgeon's schedule and by him being able to do more post-op tests at this place than the one I have used in the past for childbirth, endoscopy etc). My surgery ran long - nearly 6 hours in the OR. All total, I was in the operating area / OR / recovery for over 8 hours. Scared my husband pretty badly, from what he's said. The surgery went great. No complications. 5 total incisions, including the JP Drain.

    The first 2 days post-op were rough. The pain meds coupled with anesthesia made me so nauseous, I was so out of it, and some the nursing staff this past weekend were not great. The nurse who pretty much pulled me out of bed by my arms at 3am just to have me to walk to the door and back was rude and he didn't seem to understand why I was disoriented - once I thought about this when less medicated / tired, I realized how dangerous it was. Walking when more awake was fine - hard at first because everything hurt and I was a bit out of it, but by Day 2, I was walking several times a day without prompting. I had a barium swallow test about 16 hours after surgery - mid-morning on Friday. It sucked but I got through it. Just as I was about to vomit, they said I'd drank enough and then had me move around to watch for leaks in my system / on the screen. Getting up onto the screening bed and back off of it was really difficult. They might rethink the tiny step stool and nowhere to hold onto. I was dizzy and in a lot of pain after all of that.

    Not having my surgeon around for most of the time I was in the hospital made it pretty clear that many hospital staff do not read carefully, as they had 3 or 4 versions of his instructions, depending on who you asked. Had I known, I would have had my husband tape the instructions to my hospital room wall. Simply telling the staff to open my surgical info binder seemed to be too much effort. These are all-purpose nursing staff, many of whom were obviously not very familiar with this kind of surgery so they also seemed to expect me to be much more coherent the first day or two (asking me detailed questions while I was clearly medicated), which is not practical. There was one nurse who was exceptional and she handled a lot of the slack that happened outside of her shifts. I'm so grateful she was there and that she worked Friday and Saturday.

    All that said, by the afternoon of the 24th, I wanted to come home. I got almost no sleep in the hospital - between very loud patients in other rooms, the constant interruptions, I am glad I went home Saturday evening despite being told I'd probably stay until Monday afternoon. One major thing that caused a 6 hour delay in my discharge - they waited to give my husband my scripts until Friday night and he had trouble getting the liquid pain meds filled same-day on Saturday...Also: fun fact - this hospital takes my health insurance (BCBS) but their 3rd party pharmacy doesn't! Surprise! No one thought to tell me that until we found out the hard way. Get your scripts ASAP so if there is a delay (or nowhere is open), you aren't without a pain management plan. Don't expect everyone you deal with to be competent, thoughtful, or thorough. Sad, but true.

    At home, I have gotten better rest and better care, and each day is a huge improvement over the day before it. I'm doing great with liquids/intake. On a schedule with food/drinks/meds and taking a lower dose of pain meds during the day so I can start weaning off of it soon and get myself back to a normal sleep pattern! I'm drinking lots of water, using Unjury shake mix with 1% milk, pre-made Premier Nutrition shakes, eating jello with added Unjury unflavored protein powder mixed in (when making the jello), and drinking apple juice and crystal light flavored water to break up the monotony. Taking all my vitamins and meds (crushed or liquid, of course!) Looking forward to fuller liquids and purees in a few weeks! Getting up and walking around every hour when I'm not too sleepy / when it's not the middle of the night. Trying to use the bathroom every 2 hours or so, which has yielded good results (just do it - even when you feel like you don't "have to go"). Tidying up things, reading, spending time talking with my kids, going through a week's worth of paperwork and emails. It's all helping me feel more like myself - I think you have to work at feeling better by not wallowing in bed...but don't overdo it either!

    Today was my first day easing back into work (from home), and it was fine - I was glad I did a few things earlier in the week to make it less stressful today (like paperwork and clearing out my inbox of junkmail / redundant email) and I didn't push myself or get too stressed about the work that had piled up in my absence. I'll handle it the same way tomorrow and just keep my priorities straight. Health first.

    This 3-day weekend coming up will be nice for more small projects and relaxing stuff at home.

    I didn't see weightloss on the scale until yesterday, when it jumped down nearly 6 pounds. So don't be surprised if you're all plump with IV fluid and gas and bodily fluids needed for recovering, and you just don't see much movement on the scale for the first week. Once the diet levels out and your activity increases, the weight comes off!

    Hope my recap/rant/advice is helpful to you!



  2. Gastric Sleeve Surgery With Weight Loss Agents
  3. #2
    Gastric Sleeve Member
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Surgery date
    09/09/2013
    Surgeon
    Dr. Brian Swain
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Last Activity
    04-21-2014 06:54 PM
    Posts
    5
    Said "Thanks" 0 Times
    Was Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Said "Welcome to Gastric Sleeve" 2 Times

    Default Re: 1 week post-op! A recap / rant / advice post :)

    Hello Vivi. My surgery was 9/9, and our experiences were almost exactly the same. Well, I didn't have the same amount of health issues other than a moderate hernia, which was repaired. Thankfully, I only had to stay 1 night, but came home bout 6;30 pm day two. My nurses at night were horrible too. Why do the night nurses act so bad?? Had to get pain shots in muscle of leg, they were sooo painful. They would slam open the door, hall light blinding you, scold you for stuff. They were always getting vitals, but do they need to yell in the middle of the night at someone that just had major surgery?? It was awful and I was so sore and nauseous.

    Guest services came by day 2 to ask about stay so I told her what happened. My day nurse was very, very nice $ super helpful. Like you, the barium swallow was rough, but I stood, so it was super quick and not painful at all. No issues and was thrilled to get my Popsicle. Ha. I didn't have a drain and had glue over 5 incisions. My hospital discharge was fast and the post op instructions were only slightly different from my binder.

    I don't know why they wouldn't just let you have a pain pump instead of having to ask for those God awful in your muscle pain shots!! The other big thing for me was getting comfortable. While it is very different for everyone, I found that lifting my legs some and elevating my back some really helped. Kind of like a zero gravity position.

    The gas x strips were a Godsend! Make sure you have a lot of them. They also had flavored mouth swabs which were wonderful for dry mouth. I brought a home pillow and used two pillows on ride home. We live an hour from that hospital. Keeping a pillow on your belly really helps with pulling when you get up from lying or sitting.

    It was really very painful until about day 4, then it was much better. Day 5 was even better and the progress continues daily. I did cry on Wednesday and questioned why I did this to myself. However, day 4 I thought it is going to be great!! It is really odd not to be hungry at all even with my hubby eating normally and all of the food commercials. My post op is Thursday which is close to end of week 2 of my liquid diet. Looking forward to puréed food. Just for some texture or a bit more substance.

    I started dieting and doing steps to help process in April. Quit drinking carbonated drinks, using straws, walking more, etc. between low carb diet and liver cleanse, I lost 37 lbs per surgery & ost 5 lbs this week!! That is why this has all been worth it!!

    I would say that following your surgeon's plan, using self control and embracing your long term goals will make this "journey" the best you can ever take!! Good luck and best wishes to everyone!!

    Tmac


  4. #3
    Gastric Sleeve Member niamh's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Surgery date
    09/22/2012
    Surgeon
    Mr Chris Sutton
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Last Activity
    11-10-2015 06:02 PM
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    2,651
    Said "Thanks" 37 Times
    Was Thanked 748 Times in 671 Posts
    Said "Welcome to Gastric Sleeve" 482 Times
    Blog Entries
    69

    Default Re: 1 week post-op! A recap / rant / advice post :)

    Congrats to both of you on getting through your surgery and hope your recovery is continuing well. Thankfully I found my hospital experience pretty positive - but I was very aware of feeling vulnerable much of the time.



  5. #4
    Gastric Sleeve Member
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Surgery date
    09/09/2013
    Surgeon
    Dr. Brian Swain
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Last Activity
    04-21-2014 06:54 PM
    Posts
    5
    Said "Thanks" 0 Times
    Was Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Said "Welcome to Gastric Sleeve" 2 Times

    Default Re: 1 week post-op! A recap / rant / advice post :)

    Thanks!! Something else I forgot to mention was how hard it was to find the liquid pain meds!! Finally, found it at an independent pharmacy. Like Vivi, a person should definitely find out who can fill it for them before surgery. Walmart, CVS, K Mart or Walgreens couldn't fill it in my hometown. As of day 4, I didn't really need it anymore, but take it at night. Helps w/ sleep and soreness that comes with being still for so long.


  6. #5
    Gastric Sleeve Member richsgirl2002's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Name
    Vickie
    Surgery date
    09/30/2013
    Surgeon
    Dr. Farhan
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Last Activity
    03-26-2014 12:59 AM
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    213
    Said "Thanks" 16 Times
    Was Thanked 54 Times in 51 Posts
    Said "Welcome to Gastric Sleeve" 0 Times

    Default Re: 1 week post-op! A recap / rant / advice post :)

    I am so sorry that you had such a bad experience. The p.m. nursing staff should be reprimanded. I'm afraid that I would write a letter to the director of the hospital over that kind of treatment. So glad that you are both home and doing well.


  7. Gastric Sleeve Surgery With Weight Loss Agents
  8. #6
    Gastric Sleeve Member
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Surgery date
    09/09/2013
    Surgeon
    Dr. Brian Swain
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Last Activity
    04-21-2014 06:54 PM
    Posts
    5
    Said "Thanks" 0 Times
    Was Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Said "Welcome to Gastric Sleeve" 2 Times

    Default Re: 1 week post-op! A recap / rant / advice post :)

    Best wishes on your surgery!! I know you are just a ball of emotions and hope you do great!! It is so nice to get it behind you. All of the nutrition visits and all of the prep work come together. It''s a great feeling.

    Take care and enjoy your weight loss!!


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