It's over - or just beginning

Well, I've been home for two days now and one night. I had a few scary moments before surgery. One of the nurses was talking to me about what would be happening when I was under anesthesia and I felt myself start to panic. It manifested (as fear or anger does so often with me) in tears. He was very comforting, and I did feel better. But after that the anesthesiologist shot the first of the knock out drops in my IV, and the next thing I remember is waking up to see faces above me, one of them Kim telling me that she loved me and would be back the next day. Everyone else told me all was well, and I went back to sleep.

After that it was much like other hospital stays I've had, except this time I got to press the button for pain meds. I was pretty comfortable. They were able to do a laproscopic surgery, so now I have six small holes instead of one bit one. They told me that my torso was longer than normal and so my stomach wasn't quite where they thought it would be, so they took a little longer than normal to get through it all. But the total time was still in the range they gave me to expect, so it couldn't have been that far off. I came home on Thursday, finally. I had to pee first, so once I had done that, they were all set to ship me off home, and I have been sleeping a lot, and walking around some and eating yogurt. Today I finally had a BM, so I am not at all worried about the internal workings. Sorry if it's too much information, but it all is part of this process.

The nurses and techs at Virginia Mason were really great. There were a couple who kept asking me the same question I had just answered, but I think they were just working with a lot of people. I was glad I had told everyone how in past surgeries I had thrown up after waking up. They were ready with drugs every time I stood up. I didn't always need them, but knowing I cold have them made me bolder about walking around, since I was always nauseated when I stood. So, for all following this blog, I am well and on the way to being better.

Thanks for listening!

Tia

Day before the day before

Tomorrow I have to call the surgeon's office and find out when I need to be there for surgery. I have been thinking about it all day, ready but not really. Several people have made sure that I have Kim call after it's all done. People keep asking me if I'm nervous, or excited. I'm not either - just ready to have it all over with. I feel like I'm not able to move ahead until I see whether this is a success or not.

Study connected to gastric bypass

I checked into the hospital today to be a part of a diabetic study of people who go through a gastric bypass. I'm not diabetic (luckily), so I get to be a control.

I checked in at 7:30 a.m. after a 1-1/2 hour drive from home with no coffee, and fasting. They took blood every minute for about 10 minutes, then every 2, then every 5, finally every 20 minutes until about 12:30 p.m. In the first half hour they also injected me with a concentrated dose of glucose, and then took blood. That was quite an experience. First there was a funny taste in my mouth, and then my whole body flushed and got hot.

Finally, I was able to order lunch and breakfast and eat and drink something besides water. After that I had to walk up and down the hallway while they measured my heart rate. Now I am here until tomorrow morning, when they will repeat the blood draws.

I have my own room, TV, my computer with wireless access and some books and some work to do, but I could do with a little company. It's a good rest though, I have to say that. And I get to eat off a menu like a restaurant. I have to keep to the basic diet, but the food is good, nonetheless.

I've been on a 1,000 calorie diet for the last week in preparation for this. I've lost about 8 lbs. this week. Next week I start the mainly liquid diet I'll be on until the surgery. It's to shrink my liver to make sure they can do the procedure laproscopically. I ate some things I knew I wouldn't be able to have after surgery before I started this, but for now, I am already changing my diet and I eat a lot less than I used to. And I am ordering the supplements I will need to take two or three times a day.

I am having a hard time figuring out how many of each supplement I need. I visited the Web sites recommended by the dietician and I ordered what I thought I needed. And then I went to Costco and saw a lot of things I thought I could only get off the Internet. And of course it was cheaper, and of course it was after I had already ordered it off the Internet.

I feel like I need to hook up with some people who have done this before. I think I know what's coming, and what I need to do, then I get confused about how to take care of the details.

Ah well, on we go!