Obesity Surgery WP Blog

Here I am, 9 days since my LAP RNY, home from the hospital for
5 days and just finished my third day back at work (office,
sit-down & stay pretty still job). Not too bad. I do wish I
could have afforded a few weeks off to get used to the new diet
and to feel 100% better before returning to work, but I can’t
complain.
I was in the hospital 2 extra days due to a couple of minor
complications (Asthma attack after they cleaned my room &
elevated white blood count. My doctor was Eldo Freeza in Lubbock,
Texas the hospital was Texas Tech University Medical Center. The
anesthesia consult was simply excellent, with the anesthesiologist
telling me he didn’t want me in any pain and to take a pain pill
and Prilosec before showing up on the morning of my surgery; to
ask for the pain pump to be in my room while I was in the holding
room, and to also ask for something to calm me down in the holding

area. He also explained, which I already knew, that it was easier
to control pain if it did not get too severe, and told me that if
I was in pain, to ask for additional pain medicine. My first day
post-op was in the burn ICU where the care was impeccable. I
finished off in a nice private room where the staff was caring,
if not on their toes all of the time (nothing big).
My first dumping episode occurred right before I was going to be
discharged. The doctor had me drink grape juice in the morning
before he removed my drain, they gave me apple juice and chicken
broth for breakfast, but because of the grape juice, I didn’t
drink the apple. Then came lunch, same meal as for breakfast.
Since I hadn’t drank the morning apple juice, I figured the hospital
knew what they were doing when they gave me apple juice again.
WRONG! My husband timed the 12 minute episode where I broke out
into the most terrible abdominal pain and my skin became clammy.
I asked my husband for a cold cloth for my face, and as soon as
I applied it, the pain went away. I had asked my nutritionist at
an earlier appointment, how long the dumping episode typically lasts
and was told 30 minutes. All I can say, is I’m glad this one wasn’t
that long!
I endured a 10 hour drive home on day 6, the day after I was discharged,
where my husband stopped every 1 1/2 hours for me to get out and walk.
I slept most of the way, so it wasn’t bad. The next day, day 7, I sat
around the house and did manage to wash a load of laundry.
The third day back home, I went to work. It was a long day with me not
being able to decide if I was hot or cold. I drank some diluted apple
juice, hot tea, ice chips and water. By the end of the day I was shaking
with periodic body spasms & only slept a couple of hours that night. On
day 9 I felt better, didn’t get the hot/cold syndrome until about 4:00 and
slept better that night after taking my regular night-time pain pill
chopped into tiny pieces.
Today, day 10, I am feeling mostly good with the exception of my abdomen
and sides feeling like I have exercised hard and the muscles are sore.
And, to be expected, I am exhausted. Although I am supposed to be on a
clear liquid diet until next Monday, I ate most of a can of pureed
Progresso Clam Chowder today. It seems funny to type that … I have
never had a can of soup split between three meals! Tomorrow I am going
to have some home made pureed split pea soup I have in the freezer.
Every day gets better. I have not weighed myself; I am afraid of falling
into the scale dependency many people encounter. My husband tells me he
can already see some weight loss, and last night he measured me. We forgot
to do pre-op measurements, and yesterday was the first day I didn’t feel
like
a total Michelin Man. My husband called me “the Pillsbury Dough Boy times
2″
while I was in the hospital; due to all of the IVs I was getting and the gas
they pump you up with for the LAP surgery. That was, of course, after he
walked into my room with two dozen long stem pink roses. I appreciate this group; I have read the posts for about 3 months, and along
with the research I had done prior to my surgery I feel I was pretty well
informed. The only thing that surprised me and caused me much discomfort,
was the feeling I had after I had my abdomen filled with gas. I felt so
bloated and had difficulty moving. I am glad that has passed.
Thank you all.
Wanda Schaffer
LAP RNY 2/24/04

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 31st, 2006 at 3:14 am and is filed under information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.