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Gastric Bypass - Six weeks out - How I am doing.Jun 12 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line There is nothing "easy" about this surgery. If someone says it is the easy way out, they're dead wrong!
For those that don't know, I had Gastric Bypass surgery on May 2, which was 6 weeks ago, as of Monday morning. If you're read my other reviews (links can be found on my profile page), you'll know that this journey has had some ups and downs. One thing I have noticed is that every doctor has their own ideas about what you can and can't do, and when. My doctor's orders may not match someone's that you might know, and that's ok. There is no right or wrong here. Each doctor tells you to do what they feel is best. The first few days after surgery, I was allowed a clear liquid diet. The day I was ready to leave the hospital, I was allowed a "soft/pureed" diet. I had to eat and keep it down to be allowed to go home. Scrambled eggs and apple sauce was my breakfast. It stayed down, so I was allowed to leave. Before surgery I was given the "Gastric Bypass Bible" by my doctor. No joke, this book is 8 1/2 x 11" and nearly 1/4" thick, of typed pages, front and back. They don't mess around! It has diagrams and everything! They want us to know EXACTLY what they're going to do, and what I am allowed to do and when. Nearly any question you might have, the answer is probably in this book. Also in this book is a list of what foods we can eat and when. By week 4, on June 3, I was still throwing up chicken and turkey, which I should have, in theory, been able to tolerate. I was also starting to throw up liquids and cottage cheese. At my scheduled appointment, my doctor said that this sounded like I might have a stricture, which is where the opening from the pouch (what is left of my stomach) connects to my re-routed small intestine. The food would get to my stomach, and having no where else to go, would come back up. At this point, I had lost 26 pounds since the week before my surgery. That afternoon, I went in for an Endoscopy. My doctor managed to get me in on the same day. They had had a cancellation. What is an Endoscopy? It's a fancy name for sedating you and running a scope down your throat to see what is going on. Sounds uncomfortable, doesn't it? It was. Most of the people that I talked to were sleeping thru theirs. They were given enough meds to pass out for a short period of time. I wasn't so lucky. I am a needle-phobic. I hate them, but I made it thru the guy giving me the IV. He had a little trouble, as he kept hitting my valve, so he had to pull the needle out a little bit a few times before he got it completely secured, but I toughed it out. At least it was only one stick! Getting into the procedure room, I was given two squirts of a numbing liquid, not unlike Chloraseptic, into the back of my throat. I was told it was cherry flavored. They lied. Anyway, while this was going on, the nurse put some drugs in my IV to make me sleepy. I was turned on my left side and a bite plate was slipped into my mouth to keep me from biting down on the scope and all of it's wires. Somewhere around halfway thru I started really gagging. I have a high med tolerance, so they had already worn off. I had been awake, but had been able to keep from gagging on the scope. I was given a second round of drugs thru my IV, but it didn't help. I kept retching and gagging until he had finished. What my doctor ended up doing was running a balloon down into the stricture and dilated it with the balloon for 1 minute at 8mm, 1 minute at 9mm and then 1 minute at 10mm. He said that it was so tight to begin with that he couldn't even get the scope in. After dilation, he was able to get the scope thru with a little resistance. Afterward, my IV was taken out and I went home. Since I wasn't asleep, I didn't have to hang around and wait for the drugs to wear off. I was allowed to go home, my husband was waiting for me (a ride is mandatory for this procedure and they won't even give the IV if your ride isn't there). I had a sore throat for 3 days. That was due to the gagging and such. The scope scraped against my throat, making it raw and sore. I was also back on liquids for a couple of days. When I followed up with my doctor the following Thursday, I was still having problems with solids. I was finally keeping liquids down, but not much else. I was tired and moody. He decided to repeat the Endoscopy the next day. I was less than thrilled at this point, but was hoping it was better than tossing my cookies every time I tried to eat. Since I knew what was coming, I was pretty tired. I couldn't sleep the night before. Ignorance, in some medical procedures, is bliss. I wasn't looking forward to this second go 'round. I showed up and was taken back for my IV again. This time, however, they couldn't get the stupid thing in. They tried the back of my right hand, but the poor guy blew my vein. Since I had had 4 IVs in the back of the same hand in the past 2 months, it didn't surprise me a lot. I had given him the "you only get one stick" speech, so he had no problem turning me over the a nurse that was standing nearby that had seen me in the week before. She knew I wasn't a "fun" patient. I'm nice, don't get me wrong, but I am a weenie. I had a tight grip on the bedrail and didn't let go until it was secured, not to mention the ground teeth and pursed lips. Anyway, she came over and was going to try to put the IV in my left hand. I told her those veins always blow, so she decided to put it in my left forearm. I will NEVER allow anyone to even attempt that again! That was one of the worst pains I had ever felt, not to mention that she kept missing the vein, so she was digging around. I now have a bruise that is 3" in diameter on my arm. She gave up and the other female nurse, I was the last patient so they were all standing around, decided to try her luck. She got stuff ready and was looking at a vein on the top of my elbow on my right arm. By this time I was crying. It was scared and hurting. She had my turn my hand palm down so she would have better access, and make a fist. After a minute or so, she gave up. She also couldn't get the vein. Now I was bawling and had three bandages on places that were obviously bruising. The two female nurses discussed calling anesthesiology to put in my IV for them. The second female started looking at a vein on the back of my upper right arm and I lost it. I wanted to go home. I was over it. Yes, I am that big of a baby. I had barely been able to eat, hadn't been able to sleep and now I had people treating me like a pin cushion. Since I know I'm not a hard stick, I didn't get what their problems were. They left me alone, going to call my doctor and tell him. They sent word back that he was on his way to talk to me, which I knew wouldn't go well. I knew that I needed the procedure again, but I was so worked up and upset that I didn't care. After about 10 minutes, the third female nurse came over and asked if I was ok. I had stopped crying by this point and was just zoned out. She asked if I minded her looking at my arms to see if there was a good place to put the IV. I shrugged. I didn't care about much by this point. I did tell her that, even though it isn't an ideal spot for an IV, the bend of my right elbow is where I always have blood drawn. It's a good vein and should work. She got the IV in no problem. Why the others had such a problem, I don't know. As long as my left hand isn't used, about any other vein is fine. My doctor came down a few minutes later, ready to blast me, I'm sure, and saw that I would go thru with it. The procedure, itself, wasn't as bad as the week before. Instead of the spray, they made me gargle with some thick, clear, nasty liquid. Then I had to swallow that mess. I couldn't feel a thing. Even my teeth were numb. I think that made a difference. They were just going to give me a second dose of drugs, for the same reason as the first time, but my doctor was almost finished. He used a bigger balloon. He went to 12mm for 1 minute and then 15mm for 1 minute. Same as before, almost immediately afterward, I left for home and was on liquids for a couple of days. Today, for dinner, I tried a chicken breast. It's on my list of "soft" foods, so it should have been ok. It wasn't. Within 20 minutes of eating, I was in the bathroom, throwing up my dinner. I have no idea why. I have been able to keep liquids down, and things such as watermelon, with no problem. I don't know why "real" food won't stay down. My doctor is supposed to call Monday or Tuesday of this week to check on me. I'm going to mention this to him then. Since I haven't really been able to eat anything, I am exhausted. The problem is, my mind won't shut down so that I can sleep. I'm to tired to do anything, including sleep, I guess. Matt has been wonderful. He has been helping with the housework when I run out of energy, not to mention taking care of feeding himself and Zack every night since I haven't been able to eat. He's worried, but knows that there isn't really anything either of us can do. I'm hoping that this set back is just my stomach being to sensitive from the Endoscopy, or something, for real food to sit well. I'm almost afraid to eat anymore. I'm afraid it will come back up. I'm mostly living on watermelon, milk, water and vitamins. Anyway, I'm still here, just still not up to snuff. I'm hoping that this new stomach issue is a phase that will work itself out. If not? I have no idea what the next step would be, which makes me nervous.  |
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