Update on Kris J.
Hello! I am recovering in Apple Valley, CA with an internet friend. I
will be here until Dec. 21st when I will be released to fly back to
Alaska.
First of all, I want to thank Lynn for calling and talking to me the
first day there… it was good to get a chance to hear her voice and
talk to her in person!
Preop stuff… Had a LOT of problem with the Upper GI, I had to drink
the fizzy stuff (like sprite) and I belched… wrong thing to do!
So, tried to drink another and vomited. (oops!). Then they tried to
have me drink the barium and everytime I got the thicker stuff to my
mouth I would start gagging pretty bad, finally he had me try the
lighter stuff through a straw. I was able to get a few sips in
gagging all the way! Finally they had the radiologist doctor come in
and watch as I attempted to drink it (laying sort of on my
stomach/side) to see if there was a functional problem for me… but
some barium had reached my stomach, so he said things seemed to be
functioning okay… he only made me drink three more small sips
(gagging all the way). Apparently it was enough to get the xrays
they needed. Dr. LePort requires an upper GI or an Endoscopy, but my
insurance wouldn’t cover the endoscopy, so they had to go with the
UGI. Other than that, it took a couple times of digging to get my
blood work (I think it was a problem with the nurse, none of the
others had any problem). I also had a blood gas draw, that wasn’t
any worse than the digging for my blood tests though! Otherwise I
weighed in Monday, Dec 10th at 267, and when I discharged on Dec
15th, I weighed 260!
Let’s see… I *really* liked Dr. LePort, he appealed to my
intellectual side. He *was* able to do my surgery “Lap” and I was
most surprised when I woke up and didn’t have any drains! WOW! I
thought *everyone* woke up with drains in them, at least one of them!
I had a PCA morphine pump in for two days, which I only used about
half as much as I could have and then I didn’t ask for any more pain
meds during my stay there… although they offered me a couple codine
pills for the two hour drive to my friend’s house and I took them up
on that! I did not have any complications along the way (there was
someone who died from an embolism my first night there… but he
wasn’t a Gastric bypass patient), and because I didn’t have any
complications, I think the nurses were content to leave me alone
(except the required 5:30am draws of blood and blood thinner shots).
Oh yea… I had a catheter in for the first two days. There were two
others that had surgery the same day, but they were heavier and
had “opens” and I recovered much more quickly than they did.
Guess that’s it… that’s my POSTOP update! Oh yea… don’t know if
I posted that my last night of freedom (on clear liquids of
course!)… I went down to Huntington Beach to walk and journal. And
I had an awesome experience… I watched the sunset. Now, I know for
most of you that may be a daily occurence (definitely beach sunsets
are very rare for me!), but what was awesome about this, was how
symbolic it was… I watched as the Sun SET on my old lifestyle,
knowing I would be waking up to a new way of living the next day.
How apprapo! (sp).
Thanks for being supportive!
- Kris J.
Post-op (Finally!)
12/12/01, Dr. Peter LePort
Proximal RNY Lap