A week and a day…

It’s been a week and a day since the surgery. Ultimately, I chose gastric bypass and remove the Stoney gallbladder. That took some discussion with the dr…but he agreed. There was concern if they’d be able to complete the bypass due to scarring from previous c-sections. I had two…and they were not the most straight-forward… the concern was adhesions from those, as sometimes they can’t free the bowel to do the bypass. They would have converted to a sleeve at that point…

The morning of, my parents went to the hospital with me while my husband got our kids off to school then he joined them at the waiting room. I was first case so report time was 540am. I had a meltdown of fear and nerves in the shower, and then put on my game face and got ready.

At the hospital, I played on my phone until they called us back. Then it was an intermittent flurry of activity getting me ready. The anesthesiologist was wonderful…whatever drug they gave me to relax going into the OR…was amnesiac. I have zero recollection of anything until waking up in the ICU – not because I was in bad shape…the nurse patient/ratio is smaller so it’s better care. And they were awesome!

They kept waking me up to go to the bathroom or walk or something that first night. I was still tired and drugged. I was better the next day – my right side was super sore. There wasn’t much that helped it….except not moving. They convinced me to try sipping water that first morning. I thought it would hurt…but small sips…it was fine. The next two days were pretty uneventful. On Wednesday, we realized I had a lot of fluid going in…and not a lot coming out. We discovered my kidneys weren’t kicking in…a bonus night for me in the hospital. By the next morning with the new nurse, I was over it and ready to go home…so I did. (Kidneys kicked in at home)

Slow sipping. And trying to get comfortable…not so fun. The pain was nil until I had to move…then the right side felt like it was being shredded. Tylenol and narcotics didn’t help…so I quit taking them.

The first time on the scale was a horrible disappointment…I was 10 pounds heavier than when I went in. Everything I’d seen in groups and blogs talked about these wonderful weightlosses right out of the gate and I was heavier. It was the fluid I’m sure…by the one week mark, I’d started a small downturn. But that needs to be more talked about.

Balancing fluid and working in protein was a struggle. It is a struggle…too much protein drinks too fast…there is vomiting but nutrition wants you to get to 50 g of protein pretty quick to promote healing.

My insides don’t feel different. I can’t even tell I had anything done (except for the incisions and pain when I move…) well…until I sip too fast or too much. I’m excited to move up to actual foods…I’ve never looked more forward to eggs in my life.

I also look forward to the temperatures warming in my city so I can go take a quick walk. And the right side not to kill me with movement or bending or stretching…all in good time.

Thanks for taking this journey with me.

C