This morning I had the pleasure of eating an egg. Well I actually did not make it through the entire egg. Who would have ever thought that I could not eat one egg. Well I had some yogurt to go with it but that was the first food I have had since the 19th of August.
It was wonderful. I am eating again. yeah.....
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
PCP Post Op Appointment
Well, sorry for not updating on Friday, by the time I got home I was bushed. My Primary Care Physician was so excited for my surgery. My official first weigh in was 274 lbs. She was so thrilled that I was able to show her my incisions.
After the appointment, my friend Kelly (who played my driver) took me on a run for some errands. By the time I got home, I was very tired and very sore. Thank God for pain medicine.
Well I have less than a week left of the liquid diet and am sooo looking forward to eating real food. I think my first meal will be an egg, scrambled. One promise I have made myself is to join the Y, and start to cook more. The more I cook, the more I can control my portions, and what I am eating.
My mom still cooks for 4 people, and we are constantly throwing food away because there is too much of it. So by learning to cook and starting to cook for both of us, will be better for both of us. I hope.
After the appointment, my friend Kelly (who played my driver) took me on a run for some errands. By the time I got home, I was very tired and very sore. Thank God for pain medicine.
Well I have less than a week left of the liquid diet and am sooo looking forward to eating real food. I think my first meal will be an egg, scrambled. One promise I have made myself is to join the Y, and start to cook more. The more I cook, the more I can control my portions, and what I am eating.
My mom still cooks for 4 people, and we are constantly throwing food away because there is too much of it. So by learning to cook and starting to cook for both of us, will be better for both of us. I hope.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Recuperating Part 3
I was right, here come the visitors, Kelly was on the phone, and apparently, she was the one I dropped the phone on. Hey I thought the shelf moved, my bad. But it was Shelly that showed up at first. Then came Mom, and finally Kelly. They were all too cute. Watched me sleep, pee, and struggle to get in and out of bed. Food came during their visit. Food, glorious food. OMG, I was sooo ready to start drinking anything. Grape sugar free frozen Popsicle and water never tasted better. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Sleep, bathroom, walk, meds, sleep, bathroom, walk, meds. You get the drift.
Friday morning came with the rude wake up at 5:00 AM for blood work. Did they not see I was sleeping? Well, after the vampire left, I had to hit the bathroom and walk. OK, I am up. Well sort of, I spent this morning dosing with the TV on. Emily came in for a short visit. She was so proud of how I was moving. Yeah. While she was there, I was told I could shower. This was almost as wonderful as being able to eat yesterday.
Well, the best news of the morning was that I PASSED GAS!!!!! Ok, I know TMI, but with that I can go home and finish recuperating in my own home. Dr. Arreola's PA came in and started my discharge processes. I'm so excited. Kelly was going to help me into the apartment, and Mom was on her way, know all I have to do is wait for Dr. A to show up and release me.
Five hours later that happened. With a half dozen prescriptions, one last dose of pain killer, pajamas on, suitcase packed and wheelchair waiting, I was released from the hospital at 6:30 PM on Friday.
Now my only concern was how to sleep in my non-electrical, non-reclining bed. One bed rest and several pillows later, I was fast asleep.
The next couple days went by rather quickly. Getting used to a new liquid regime was fun. Broth, water, crystal light, sugar-free jello, strained cream soups, sugar-free frozen juice pops and, of course, protein shakes. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Well I liked the strawberry at first, but can't stand it now. I am going to mix it in with the Jello just to get rid of it. The chocolate is not that bad, and the vanilla is still my favorite. Unflavored Unjury with Vanilla is very good. I am walking up and down the outside hallway almost every day. My neighbors think I am cute. (I can't climb stairs yet and live on the first floor of a split level apartment building.)
Sleeping has gotten easier also. I am finally sleeping normally, but still cannot roll over. I only have one area in my tummy that still gives my any pain, and that is when I am laying down. I have a ton of projects to keep me busy and the US Open in Tennis to keep me entertained.
The next step in this process is a follow-up with my PCP, which is today. From here on she will take care of my primary care. I see the surgeon again on Monday, the 14th, and after that will be allowed to drive. I have blood work on the 9th, and will be allowed to start eating pureered food next Friday.
I promise to enter an update of how my appointment went this afternoon along with my first real post-op weight.
Until then, Stay Safe
Friday morning came with the rude wake up at 5:00 AM for blood work. Did they not see I was sleeping? Well, after the vampire left, I had to hit the bathroom and walk. OK, I am up. Well sort of, I spent this morning dosing with the TV on. Emily came in for a short visit. She was so proud of how I was moving. Yeah. While she was there, I was told I could shower. This was almost as wonderful as being able to eat yesterday.
Well, the best news of the morning was that I PASSED GAS!!!!! Ok, I know TMI, but with that I can go home and finish recuperating in my own home. Dr. Arreola's PA came in and started my discharge processes. I'm so excited. Kelly was going to help me into the apartment, and Mom was on her way, know all I have to do is wait for Dr. A to show up and release me.
Five hours later that happened. With a half dozen prescriptions, one last dose of pain killer, pajamas on, suitcase packed and wheelchair waiting, I was released from the hospital at 6:30 PM on Friday.
Now my only concern was how to sleep in my non-electrical, non-reclining bed. One bed rest and several pillows later, I was fast asleep.
The next couple days went by rather quickly. Getting used to a new liquid regime was fun. Broth, water, crystal light, sugar-free jello, strained cream soups, sugar-free frozen juice pops and, of course, protein shakes. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Well I liked the strawberry at first, but can't stand it now. I am going to mix it in with the Jello just to get rid of it. The chocolate is not that bad, and the vanilla is still my favorite. Unflavored Unjury with Vanilla is very good. I am walking up and down the outside hallway almost every day. My neighbors think I am cute. (I can't climb stairs yet and live on the first floor of a split level apartment building.)
Sleeping has gotten easier also. I am finally sleeping normally, but still cannot roll over. I only have one area in my tummy that still gives my any pain, and that is when I am laying down. I have a ton of projects to keep me busy and the US Open in Tennis to keep me entertained.
The next step in this process is a follow-up with my PCP, which is today. From here on she will take care of my primary care. I see the surgeon again on Monday, the 14th, and after that will be allowed to drive. I have blood work on the 9th, and will be allowed to start eating pureered food next Friday.
I promise to enter an update of how my appointment went this afternoon along with my first real post-op weight.
Until then, Stay Safe
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Recuperating Part 2
Sorry it took so long, I have been trying to use my time very scheduled, but sometimes things don't go as planned.
Well after I returned to my room, I was able to relax for about 2 hours. The first time the nurse came to get me for my walk, getting up out of bed was the hardest thing. I had no problem walking, accept the Fooly bag (where my urine went) was dangling from between my legs. That was not coming out until after I was cleared to pass liquids.
Well I slept most of the first day. I was attached to my IV that had a magic button attached to it. PAIN KILLERS. I was allowed to push the magic button every eight minutes. For fear of getting addicted to pain killers, and the fact that I have a very high tolerance for pain, I really did not push the button every 8 minutes. When I knew my walk was coming, I loaded up on pain killers, but other than that, as long as I stayed still in bed, I really felt no pain.
After my first adventure, I learned a lesson, don't let the PCA dictate how you get in and out of bed. She got me out of bed the first time by lowering the bed and making me use my muscles and her. I found that by raising the bed all the way up, lowering the legs, I could get out of bed on my own. Lesson learned.
I did however, learn to push the call button on my remote, unlike my neighbor (who also had Gastric By-Pass). She spend the whole night calling out "nurse, nurse". I finally had them close my door, so I did not have to listen to her.
On my midnight walk, the nurse and I came to a realization, there was something wrong. I was nauseous and very, very dizzy. I could only walk half the distance as my first walk. So she notified the doctor, and the took my blood sugar level. 201. HOLY Sugar high Batman. I have never registered that high. Well here comes the Insulin. The Potassium Chloride I was on, made my sugar spike. So, every 4 hours I was walked, pee'ed, and poked. Then poked an hour after with insulin. What fun.
Thursday Morning, still very nauseous, and very dizzy, they came in to give me Antibody attached to my IV, and ended up pulling the IV out. That was painful, and the pain pump was attached to that IV. So since I had two IV's (one in each hand), it was just a matter of switching the IV. Right?
Wrong. The nurse was able to flush the line fine, but when she plugged me in, my hand started to swell. So before I could go for my ride to X-ray and my Swallow Test, they had to find a vein to replug me in. Good Luck Ladies. After a half hour, I was poked 2 more times and they finally had my hooked up to a new IV. Pain killer, here you come. I pushed the button before even moving for my taxi.
I did not wait long when I got down to the X-Ray area. Standing was hard, but I made it. Pushed button. Then the swallow test. If I were going to puke at anytime in the hospital, this would have been it. OMG, the liquid they had me swallow was the grossed thing I had ever tasted. I finally returned to my room, and before hooking me back up to the leg pumper (to keep the flow going), I went for a walk.
Crawled back into bed and slept until my phone rang. Here come the visitors.
Part 3 will be coming soon.
Well after I returned to my room, I was able to relax for about 2 hours. The first time the nurse came to get me for my walk, getting up out of bed was the hardest thing. I had no problem walking, accept the Fooly bag (where my urine went) was dangling from between my legs. That was not coming out until after I was cleared to pass liquids.
Well I slept most of the first day. I was attached to my IV that had a magic button attached to it. PAIN KILLERS. I was allowed to push the magic button every eight minutes. For fear of getting addicted to pain killers, and the fact that I have a very high tolerance for pain, I really did not push the button every 8 minutes. When I knew my walk was coming, I loaded up on pain killers, but other than that, as long as I stayed still in bed, I really felt no pain.
After my first adventure, I learned a lesson, don't let the PCA dictate how you get in and out of bed. She got me out of bed the first time by lowering the bed and making me use my muscles and her. I found that by raising the bed all the way up, lowering the legs, I could get out of bed on my own. Lesson learned.
I did however, learn to push the call button on my remote, unlike my neighbor (who also had Gastric By-Pass). She spend the whole night calling out "nurse, nurse". I finally had them close my door, so I did not have to listen to her.
On my midnight walk, the nurse and I came to a realization, there was something wrong. I was nauseous and very, very dizzy. I could only walk half the distance as my first walk. So she notified the doctor, and the took my blood sugar level. 201. HOLY Sugar high Batman. I have never registered that high. Well here comes the Insulin. The Potassium Chloride I was on, made my sugar spike. So, every 4 hours I was walked, pee'ed, and poked. Then poked an hour after with insulin. What fun.
Thursday Morning, still very nauseous, and very dizzy, they came in to give me Antibody attached to my IV, and ended up pulling the IV out. That was painful, and the pain pump was attached to that IV. So since I had two IV's (one in each hand), it was just a matter of switching the IV. Right?
Wrong. The nurse was able to flush the line fine, but when she plugged me in, my hand started to swell. So before I could go for my ride to X-ray and my Swallow Test, they had to find a vein to replug me in. Good Luck Ladies. After a half hour, I was poked 2 more times and they finally had my hooked up to a new IV. Pain killer, here you come. I pushed the button before even moving for my taxi.
I did not wait long when I got down to the X-Ray area. Standing was hard, but I made it. Pushed button. Then the swallow test. If I were going to puke at anytime in the hospital, this would have been it. OMG, the liquid they had me swallow was the grossed thing I had ever tasted. I finally returned to my room, and before hooking me back up to the leg pumper (to keep the flow going), I went for a walk.
Crawled back into bed and slept until my phone rang. Here come the visitors.
Part 3 will be coming soon.
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