To surgery and beyond!

I was really blessed to have my mom fly down from MI the day before surgery to help me. She also was going to stay for 3 weeks, which was awesome!  I had to consume only liquids or jello the day before and absolutely could not eat or drink anything on the day of surgery! I had to be at the hospital very early on the day of surgery. I checked into the hospital and was weighed in. I was 340 on the day of surgery. I had lost about 10 pounds since starting the liver shrink diet. I changed into the hospital gown and the waiting began. My pastor and his wife came to the hospital to pray with me and spend time before surgery. I was a little nervous, but mostly just wanted to have surgery so I could start recovery and get out of the hospital. I don't have a fear of hospitals, but I just don't feel comfortable in them.I waited for hours while a few nurses came in to my room to ask all sorts of very personal questions which was very uncomfortable in front of my pastor! After 2-3 hours, the hospital crew wheeled my bed down to another level to insert the IV. I had a lot of fat on my arms and poor veins so it took about 4 tries and the anesthesiologist to finally get that IV in the crook of my elbow. My surgeon, Dr. Wegner came in afterwards and talked to me about the surgery and answered any questions my mom or I had. After another wait, they took me into the operating room. I switched beds and they administered the anesthesia.  The last thing I remember in the OR was telling the nurses a story about the  Junior Mint OR episode of Seinfeld (my favorite show).

The surgery took about 2 hours. When I woke up in recovery, I was extremely nauseous and it was very hard to breathe. I was gasping for air, so they gave me oxygen through my nose. I was later told that they pump a lot of gas into your stomach and it makes it rise up and press on your diaphragm making it hard to breathe. At that point, it took everything in me to focus and not throw up. I wasn't in in pain, but just felt awkward and uncomfortable. They took me into the private hospital room that I would be staying at for the next few days. The nurse administered Zofran for nausea and Dilaudid for pain. I had to try to drink ice water out of little medicine cups at a rate of 2 per hour. My mom and Mike were waiting for me in the room, but honestly, I don't remember much of the day after surgery. I remember the Dr. wanted me to move from the bed to the chair and sit upright for 30 minutes. On day two, the nurse told me I could walk laps in the hallway with my IV in tote. I plodded along, slowly, but surely. I hated those days in the hospital because I just could not get comfortable in the hospital bed. My IV was also in a very awkward place so when I tried to get up or shift in bed, an alarm would sound and I would need to wait for a nurse to come in to turn it off. Needless to say, I didn't get much consecutive rest while at the hospital since nurses and other staff were in my room often and I was uncomfortable. My mom and Mike tried to be there as long as they could during my stay, but the hospital was about 40-50 minutes away from my place and my mom had never been to Memphis. I was so happy when they released me from the hospital 2.5 days later! The surgeon and Nutritionist came into speak with me about aftercare. I had a drain pipe inserted into my stomach with a thick plactic bulb that looked like a grenade attached. The bulb had to be dreained multiple times a day. This had to stay in me for a week until my 1 week appointment. A word to the wise: make sure you know specifically what time you will be released because I thought I was leaving in the morning, but my mom didn't pick me up until the afternoon. I had them remove the IV (Thank the Lord, relief) in the morning, but since mom came later, I was without any medicine and I was sitting there with pain because I had been discharged. I have never been more thankful to be home!