My diary of my first week after Gastric Bypass Surgery!

I have been writing things down as they happen, or after they have happened in a diary for the past seven days. I figured since ya’ll know me so well that I would put them in here for everybody to see and maybe even get some tips from. I haven’t written much about the psychological aspects of the days that happened, but that can be saved for another blog *hee hee*. Enjoy!

The Day Of Sept 12th 2011 (Monday):

Before surgery I was 236.8lbs and I looked in the mirror and grabbed all my rolls and said goodbye. Good riddance! While I was being wheeled in to the operating room, I was praying. I was so nervous for the surgery and honestly, of dying. I know its a long shot because Amson has done quite a few of these surgeries now, but it was still a fear. Freak things always happen. I remember being in the operating room and having to slide onto the operating table. I was like “well this is it”. Before being wheeled in, I was in the pre-admission clinic area having my pre-op papers done by the nurses and Peggy M, a volunteer came to talk to me. She is the lady who checked me in to the hospital when I first got there. She held my hand and asked if I was nervous. “Yes” I barely croaked out. I was very nervous. She said to me “this is the first day of the rest of your life”. I have to agree with her because my life has changed constantly.
I don’t remember much of anything after being slid on to that operating room table. After surgery I woke up and I was so happy that I was alive. I wasn’t sore at all really the first day because of the wonder-drugs they were injecting me with in hospital. The injections of the drugs themselves hurt like a bitch! I still have the bruises from them, and my arms still hurt. I had a neighbor next to me who coughed all night so if it weren’t for the drugs, I would not have slept at all. The nurses at RJH are something from God. I didn’t have one bad or cranky nurse. My night nurse was awesome too. She never complained when I pressed my button or made me feel like I was annoying. She even came and sat with me and just talked with me for about forty minutes around 4:30am because I couldn’t sleep.

Day One (Tuesday):
I woke up around 6:30am and saw Dr A. He asked me if I wanted to go home and I said sure. He told me I have to take 1 Tectra daily for the next year. Dr A told me the woman who had her surgery before me was still in the same area I was in so I could go say hi to her. I walked myself there with my I.V pole and we talked. We are very similar and it was nice to know somebody who had surgery the same day as me. I had my first meal today of 2% vanilla yogurt and apple juice. It was nice to kind of eat something. Later on in the day I had my second meal which was beef broth and yogurt and apple and orange juice. So I had a couple spoons of each and I was full. I burped and felt the fullness so I stopped. Later on that day, my Mom came to pick me up and I had one last round of the wonder drugs and I was off on my own.When I got home, I was okay. A little sore, but okay. Later on that day though I was in agony. I was so bloated and in so much pain I couldn’t even hardly get any water down. I’m still not sure what was going wrong with me, but everything hurt and I was crying. My gut hurt and my insides felt so wierd and uncomfortable. I was having the “What the hell did I do to myself?’ thoughts that I have heard are very common. Around 11:30pm I was almost ready to check myself back into the emergency when I decided to try not just the two T3’s, but three T3’s. I was scared to go to sleep because of how much pain I was in and my Mom held my hand and let me cry it out and then the pills kicked in. It worked brilliantly and I slept like a baby. Throughout the night my chihuahua Chico kept a close watch on me and wouldn’t leave my side. He’d nudge my hand until I pet him and then he would go back to sleep. He did this every hour. My Mom came out and gave me the pills crushed in plain vanilla yogurt every 4 hours. Thank God for Mom’s and pets!!!

Day Two (Wednesday):

I weighed myself today and I am down to 229.5! Wow!

I have started to be able to eat a little bit more often now without having that immense pain. When I eat my stomach still sounds like rocks are falling into it. I had my first shower today and it felt good. I have been farting and I know I have to poop, it just won’t come out! I actually got some T.V watched today, but I get bored of it quickly. My nurse-dog chico is still keeping a close watch on me and won’t leave my side. The mornings and evenings are worse than the days. But I think that goes for everything. At night chico slept on my legs for a bit, and then slept by my side. He still nudges me every hour or so and checks up on me and if I cough or something, he is here in a split second. It is truly amazing. I’m eating about 3 tbsp now, but I’m still hungry…that makes me worried. My gut still hurts..and my stomach makes funny noises in the night.

Day Three(Thursday):
Things are feeling a bit better today. I still feel like I need to poop, but it is stuck in there. Chico is still taking good care of me and so is my Mom. I ate 1/8^th of a cup today of pureed soup and I feel good so far, although every book I’m reading tells me to eat only 3 tbsp at this point. I’m kind of scared that 3 tbsp doesn’t fill me up. I slept through the night last night without needing pain meds so that was an awesome thing in itself. I found I was able to get up a bit more today without getting so winded so I’m assuming it is a good thing. I’m still sore around my stomach though so walking is slow, and I can’t stand straight yet. My Mom bought a puzzle so her and I have been working on that as T.V all day is pretty boring. I was hoping to get some fresh air today, but I couldn’t fit in any of my pants due to swelling so Mom went to Walmart and found a pair of larger pants just for now until the swelling goes down. I had a good sleep sleeping through the night again until 8:08am this morning with my chihuahua chico! . I am now down to 229.0

Day Four (Friday):
I weighed myself this morning and I am down to 228.0. I’m losing the water weight and the swelling I believe. I still have not pooped, but I am downing things with fibre like yam blended with chicken broth so it’s really thin and baby prune juice with no sugar added, so you never know! One can only pray! I actually got out of the house today. I was wearing my oversized pants to not squish my stomach, and a hoody. It was only to Walmart, but hey…everybody loves Walmart! After I got home from Walmart, I had a rumbling in my tummy. I went to the bathroom and lo and behold…a miracle. I pooped, and it wasn’t one of those hard ones resembling an O Henry I kept hearing about along the WLS community..it was a nice soft one. I guess I shouldn’t go into detail. I continued to poop all night. It would be nice if I was able to get off the couch on my own..oh well, you can’t have it all! I am still a bit sore, hoping it will go away soon.

Day Five (Saturday):

Well I woke up today and pooped. And pooped a few more times. I’m a pooping machine now. You can’t stop me! I’m going to cut back to 3 tbsp every 2 hours and see how that goes. I was reading in WLS for Dummies that if you eat too much too soon you can cause a leak and even death. Eek! Food is not worth it to me! (Besides it’s liquids…I’d rather die from a steak dinner thanks!) The scale is still going down so I am happy. I am 225 now. I had pureed yams with broth for dinner. I’ve also been having tomato soup(made with 1/2 milk) which is a godsend. It fills me up and doesn’t hurt my stomach so I am happy. I am now able to tolerate cold water, no more lukewarm for me. I notice my stomach still feels a bit sore…but I guess thats what major surgery does to a person! Lol.

Day Six (Sunday):

Well I am feeling a bit better today. The scale told me 224 this morning so I am happy. 1LB weight loss again! I am looking forward to being able to have some scrambled eggs sometime soon, maybe sometime in 2 weeks… This morning I am eating 3 tbsp of cream of chicken soup for breakfast and a multivitamin. After that will be just sipping water for about 2 hours and then I will possibly be able to have some tomato soup! Today is the first day I am going to chew the vitamins that I have in chewable, and split the ones that I couldn’t find in chewable. I have been using these multivitamins that are gummy and have no sugar added and they have fibre in them. They are pretty good tasting. I find I can move around more now without feeling like I am pulling something! I am happy!

Day Seven (Monday):

One Week today I had my surgery!

How fast time flies when your on pain killers eh??! Today I have way more energy! I feel like I have finally gotten out of the fog. I’m still sore and cannot really get up off the couch by myself yet, but I’m working on it I just don’t want to pull something! I’m still eating 3 tbsp every 2 hours and that is working for me. I am down to 222.5 today. So I have lost 13.8lbs to date. I know…it is truly amazing. Before the surgery I couldn’t lose that in a year let alone a month. I saw Dr Amson today and he says I am doing well and he will give me a good bear hug when I have kept the weight off for 2 years. That worries me. He seemed a bit  skeptical (unless I took it wrong…which is possible lol) and I am going to do everything in my power to prove him wrong. Some of my liquid foods I enjoyed over this week are : chicken broth strained, sugar free popsicles, beef broth strained, 2% yogurt (need the fat in this stage the Dr said), milk, tomato soup, low sodium cream of chicken soup and pureed yam with broth to make it liquidy(fibre). Well so long to those foods and hello puree’s! Tonight for dinner is going to be pureed sweet potato with some fat free pudding on the side with protein powder mixed in!! Yum. I cannot wait to start eating regular foods again. I just want some chicken…One more week!!!!!!!

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