Sunday, June 21, 2009

DAY OF SURGERY!!!

JUNE 18th was my SURGERY DATE!!! It came so fast. As I expected, I didn't get a wink of sleep the night before and also as I expected, I woke up starving! I got everything packed and ready to go the night before so that morning was easy. As soon as Hubby got home he packed the car and we were off to the hospital!

We arrived at 9:15 ish, had to park SUPER far away from the entrance and so I'm sure I burned another few pounds off from the walk alone! I was a little frustrated because when I got there, I went straight up to the 5th floor (where the bariatric unit is) and they told me I had to go back to the 1st floor to check in. So I did so, and was then escorted to the 2nd floor to sit in the surgery waiting room.

OK...embarrassing moment: I had to pee and so I went to the bathroom door in the surgery waiting room and there was a big sign that said "Please see nurse's desk before using bathroom" so I walked over and asked if I needed a key or something and she said that she had to call my doctor and ask if I was able to go to the bathroom. And she's not saying this quietly, mind you. So she calls someone and says "This is (so-and-so) in Surgery Waiting. I have Stephanie Orellellana here and she needs to go to the bathroom. Is that alright?" OMG...first of all, she butchered my last name, second of all, this was a small waiting room and she was talking to EVERYONE in there. I was SO embarrassed! Then she hung up and said I could go. Good grief!


Frustrating moment: A week ago my surgery was scheduled for 11:00am. The day before surgery it was scheduled for 11:30am. Then the day of it was scheduled for 12:30pm. I know things get moved back, but it was annoying, I could have slept for one more hour. Oh well. Small bump.


So FINALLY after at least an hour waiting w/my mom and hubby I was called back to pre-op. My nurse was WONDERFUL, I just loved her. I got changed into my paper gown and was weighed (wow, I really did lose another 3 lbs since the night before!) and was taken behind my little curtain and got into my roller bed. I got all my vitals taken and then she put my IV in. Ok, I am EXTREMELY sensitive about my hands. I do NOT tolerate things in my hand. Whenever I give blood they have to take it from my inner arm or else I'll faint. I can't stand the sight or feeling of needles in my hand! So she TRIED to put it in my hand and I was almost in tears and felt like I could throw up, but thankfully she couldn't find my vein so the IV went in my inner arm :) yay! I win :)



















After I was ready to go, my hubby and mom came in and visited w/me for a bit. Then the anesthesiologist came in and put a "relaxer" in my IV. It was just to calm my nerves, although they didn't really need calming, but that was fun stuff :) I was awake and alert but I don't really remember too much. My mom said I was giggling a lot and she said Kris and my mom kissed me goodbye when they were ready to wheel my bed away, but I do NOT remember any of that. I remember being IN the operating room and was asked to scoot over onto the operating table. I remember I was asked to press my feet against a white pillow thing at the foot of the table, and I recall that I was talking, however I have no idea what I was saying.
The next thing I remember was slowing coming around in the recovery room. I was SOOOO out of it, I was maybe awake for a whole 2 seconds before I was out again. I could hear people talking around me, but I was completely unaware of anything I was doing. I hardly recall them wheeling me into my room. Here are the lovely pics Kris took when they rolled me in. I was trying to smile, lol.




Apparently I was in surgery for 2 hours, which normally it only takes 45 minutes so my mom and hubby were worried. I guess the reason was because the way I carry my tummy fat they had to be extra slow and careful to get into my lower tummy since that's where more of the fat was. But everything was fine and they said my tissues and organs all looked really healthy. :) sweet. I was in recovery for 2 hours also. 4 hours of waiting, sorry mom and hubby!
The rest of the day I was pretty much asleep. They woke me up to try to have me eat some broth, which I did try. Shortly after, it all came back up :( It didn't hurt but it scared me that I would move my band! Luckily, right after that they had scheduled my x-ray to test the position of the band, and it was perfect. So no worries :) I got really close to being sick a few more times, but was able to keep it in with deep breaths. The nurses were great and kept coming in what seemed like every few minutes to check my vitals and give me some kind of pain med or anti-inflammatory or liquids or something.
When they made me get up to walk I did a GREAT job!! I didn't have to sit down to rest or anything and I made it twice around the floor and walked perfectly upright and fast :) The nurse was so impressed! The next few times I went out I was lapping other patients :) NOT that it's a contest...I know....but I was still proud of myself. Just goes to show you that attitude is everything. I had the attitude that I WAS going to walk really well and I did :)








After a TERRIBLE night sleep/rest and a very long morning, I was FINALLY released from the hospital and walked myself down to the car. Most people are wheeled out but I felt great at that time. I even refused the pain meds they offered me before I left. I felt I would be fine w/my prescription. Later that evening I seriously regretted it. I was in more pain and discomfort that night than I ever was in the hospital.





Oh, these are the BEAUTIFUL flowers that my hubby and mom/dad/sister picked out for me to have waiting in my room :)

Here is a crappy pic of my wounds. There are 5, the one up by my bra, and the 4 in a row across the middle. The brown you see is the stitching tape to keep the stitches in. It itches :( The white patch is the BIG wound where they put the port in. That hurts the most :(

SO I'll post another blog tomorrow for everything that's happened since the day after surgery, but this one is long enough! I'm doing great though :)

3 comments:

  1. I'm SO glad everything went well! I'm looking forward to hearing more about your journey... And so it begins!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stephanie- Glad to hear everything went so well. Sounds like you are in good spirits.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats Stephanie....... Welcome to Bandland!!!! I'm so glad everything went smoothly (you look as happy .. not.. as me when I came out in recovery lol) Lucky we feel better soon. Great pics too.. thanks for posting.. was an interesting post. I notice your port scar is off to the left, mine is right above my belly button.. always interesting to see how different Docs do it! Again, well done, and recover quickly :)

    ReplyDelete