Well, I had my surgery on Thurs 1-16-03. It was harder than I expected. I had severe and very painful muscle spasms Thursday after waking up. I had 2 other complications that caused problems for me. One being that there was just no good place for them to put an I.V. The I.V.s kept busting through my veins and filling the surrounding tissue with fluid causing painful swelling (feeling like my skin would burst open). Both of my hands and wrists are dotted with holes and are still somewhat swollen. The other problem was more major. My swelling would not go down enought to let ANYTHING through the stoma of my new pouch. This caused me to have to take the barium test three times this also meant three days worth of agonizing vomiting. Any blood from surgery, the barium from the tests, sinus drainage, or even accumilation of saliva would eventually cause me to vomit. Which is not fun with a huge incision in your belly. I am fortunate that I didn't have any leaks because I have heard that is even worse. Finally, on Sunday the test showed that stuff had began to trickle and after that I began to recover more quickly. Just being off the I.V. and getting to drink some liquids made a huge difference in how I felt. I am not regretting my decision. I know a few months from now when I am off blood pressure meds, buying smaller clothes, and able to have more physical freedom I will be very thankful I have had this procedure. But for right now I pretty much feel like cr*p.