Shelley L

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Hello everyone

Well, I'd love to tell you everything went smoothly and I feel great, but that is not the case.  What a start I have had on this journey.   Ready for this?  Sorry Its a little long.  

I went in for the suregery Thursday morning.  Everything routine and I felt comfortable.  Made it to my room around 1:30 and then slept until I awakened in quite a bit of  pain around 5 pm.  I pressed the nurses button, but no answer for 30 minutes until finally one came in to check my vitals.  Well aparently my button was unplugged.  So, by now I am in real pain and can't wait for her to bring on the pain meds.  She brings back something that starts with a "T"?  Apparently a painkiller with anti-inflamatory in it.  I said I'm in real pain I hope this works!  Well it didn't, she then brought me a second dose.  Still nothing, by now I'm crying.  She tells me one more and then she'll have to go get morphine.  I'm wondering why she didn't start off that way?  Well third one and still nothing.  I am crying like a baby,  She tells me that I needed to start the painkillers earlier, before it got too painful. That she was going to get some morphine.  She came back about 45 minutes later!  One nurse tells me not to be impatient that it is not down the hall because it is a narcotic!  Oh how I could've slapped one of them!  Then to top thing off, they put me in a room with an older lady (very sweet and kind) that can't sleep with the lights off!  I spent the whole night with the full lights on.  I was so sad, but just thought of one more day.  I asked hubby to bring me an eye mask Friday.  As well as buy the TV as I didn't know how much sleep I'd be getting.  Well lunch on Friday I was finally allowed to have some water and tea and broth.  It went down okay, then after about 5 minutes I got the hiccups!  OOOUUUCCCHHH!  Those hurt after surgery.  Then I got sick.  About an hour later I got hiccups again and vomited again.  (Sorry to all those weak tummies, but is does get worse)  From that point on I vomited every 5 minutes.  Mostly foamies, but saliva too!  I told the nurse, and she gave me gravol.  Didn't work.  Thankfully the next shift came on.  Nice nurse finally!  She paged my doctor and told him I was having problems.  He said he to put a call out to the on-call surgeon!  This was at 4pm.  I was still vomiting and in pain when she came in at 9pm.  She said she'd call my doctor.  Then I heard nothing except she wanted me to get a shot to prevent blood clots.  I was so sad and so upset.  I could not lay down, because if I vomited I would choke, even in my sleep I was bringing up saliva!  I was awake the whole night, even through morphine!  I was thankful for the tv and the discharge of my roommate though!  I didn't think I'd make it through the night, it was painful and I felt like I had a quarter stuck in my throat and it was gross.  I told the nurse that the foamies were a bad sign of blockage and she asked how I would know that.  So I told her about the site and how I've read so many experiences in the last 2 years.  She rolled her eyes at me and walked out!!!  I also had the hiccups 12 times and my butt was getting sore sitting there all day and night.  So 9am Saturday comes around and I'm supposed to be coming home.  Nothing.  Finally at 1pm Saturday a nurse comes with a wheel chair and says the on-call nurse has ordered an upper GI.  WoW!!!!  Someone had finally listened 24 hours later!    So hear somes the grossest part!  Skip down for the weak tummies.  This Upper GI was horrible.  I was to fill my mouth with this salty sour tasting stuff and then swallow when asked.  I told them my pouch was only designed to hold one ounce the day after surgery and with all the vomitting I had already done, to have a basin ready!  So I try this yucky stuff and  .  Well it was worse coming back up.  I had gone from a clear liquid to looking AND smelling like diarreah (sp)  Which made me violent vomit some more.  He actually asked me to do it again.  So with tears down my face and hands trembling, I did it again.  My tummy hurt so bad from the muscle spasming.  I just sat there and criedmy heart out.  I had hated my decision at that time.  He calls the surgeon to come right away, then she calls my doctor right away.  (funny he'll answer his phone for her, but not the nurses)   She tells me and hubby that I will be back in the OR in one hour he was heading in!!  There was an obstruction about 10 to 15 cm after the pouch!  So finally I went back under 3pm.  Was back in my room by 6pm and pretty much drifted in and out until this morning.  To my surprise, he came in around 10 am this morning and said I could leave anytime!  So I called hubby and jumped in a wonderful shower!  Fianlly some good news.  Although I am still in quite a bit of pain, there is no gas and things are going down well.  Now I am okay with my choice, but those 2 days were the saddest days I've had in a long time!!  I am much better now.  I am finally at home in pain instead!  Well there is my wonderful week, hopefully that will be my only bump in the road of my journey.  Thanks for all your wishes and prayers.  You guys are grea!

Shelley

Thanks to all the support emails and comments of wishes left.  You guys are the best!  It means so much to me!!


Well I can't believe I can finmeans ally say that!  So we finally got the truck back after the $2500 trannie job, and on the way back to the hotel, we blew a brake line!  Talk abot bad luck.  So Canadian Tire then decided we needed new brakes and routers too!  So another $700.  Well we finally have it back.  Crossing my fingers and toes that we  are good to go for awhile!

LAST DAY OF OPTIFAST!!  WOOHOO!!!  Can't believe I made it!  I am really tired of it and I can't even use the scale as a motivator as the hotel isn't equipped with one!  Getting anxious to get today started and overwith!  I want to go home to my children.  I have never left them this long even though they are 12 and 15. They are with my mother, but still I like to keep things running smoothly.  Virgo trait.  So I have to be at Humber River by 6am.  I am first, so at least I am not waiting tomorrow.  Can't  wait!!!   I'm guessing my next posting for my blog will be from the losing side in the comfort of my home.  See you all on the losing side!!!!

 I have had one stressed out busy week. We travelled to Toronto this weekend for my sons soccer tournament.  Well we had transmission troubles on the drive down.   We were able to drive to Toronto though.  We apparently blew the pump, but the damage was done without enough fluid.
So we have had to rent a car because the garage doesn't open until Monday (today).  Well I have to be here in Toronto for my surgery in 3 days, so we decided to just stay.  First we had to find my children a way home to their grandmothers and then I have to get my mother to send all my hospital paperwork purolator.  Worst part is that she doesn't actually know what proceedure I am having so she will be very stressed out and she panics easily.  I don't want to hear the "just exercise and eat right, you're beautiful just the way you are"  talk.  So it has been an expensive weekend to say the least.  And I'm on the dang opti-fast, so I can't even comfort myself with some food.  It has been rough, but things are so far manageable.  Hopefully my paperwork makes it here to the hotel safely and in time for Thursday morning.  

3 days left of this opti-fast stuff.  Can't believe I am craving and looking forward to broth!!  LOL!

Okay survived a bumpy day there on this Opti-stuff.  It wasn't so much that I was hungry, but I really wanted to taste some good food!  I was craving salad so bad!  I  just needed a taste!  Well, I survived that fit.  My kids finally went to bed and I followed behind them.  It is easier after that.  It was the weekend and I had cooked a few delicious meals for my family.  It was hard, but somehow the smell kinda helped.  I at least got to enjoy the smell.   I didn however find a solution to the cardboard Vanilla taste!  I have recently discovered Nestea and Lipton flavors for water!  I knew about Crystal light, but still wasn't crazy about the aspartame taste.  I also knew that I would get bored of plain water all the time. I was sad to think that I was going to have to give up my iced tea after surgery, it is my favorite drink!  Until I tried this!  They taste the same!  I really like them.  0 calories and 0 sugar!  Perfect!  So I had to experiment.  I put less than 1/2 the packet into the opti-fast and voila!  It is edible!  I didn't mind it at all!  Thank goodness!  I think I'll be fine now for the last 8 days!  

Thanks for all the support to get me through my rough patch!

Okay so I am trying to change over to this new format and I can't get my new profile to be my default page.  I have emailed OH staff and hopefully they can help.

I started my optifast Feb 21.  It is now th 24th and yes I am still hungry!  It really is yucky stuff however I am surprised that I haven't gaged yet.  ( I usually gag very easily)   I ended up taking the vanilla from Dr. Starrs office as I figured I could mix some cinnamon or nutmeg with it and they said I couldn't get 2 of each.  I should have got the chocolate.  I ordered some chocolate and strawberry from ebay.  So I substitue one a day of those just for a change.  I am finding it really hard to believe I have gone 4 dyas without food!  Let alone that I have 10 more to go!  However I have lost 13 lbs!  Yay!!  I am getting closer to ONEderland pre-op!  Wow, It has been awhile since my scale read that!  I have been drinking alot of the Nestea flavoured mixes!  They are a lifesaver!  My favorite drink is Iced Tea and I was really sad at the thought of not being able to have it ever again!  Now Lipton also makes some.  10 packets for under $3!  Makes water intake a whole lot easier!!  I love them!  Tangerine Nestea is pretty awesome too!  They are made with Splenda and not aspartame, so there is no funny taste to them like I find with Crystal Light.  Although Crystal Light has more varieties.  In fact they are so good, that I even have my kids taking them to school instead of all those sugar drinks.  They love them too!  

Anyway, thought I should finally write something in this blog area.  Take Care everyone!!