vashka25
All Of My Old Posts
Dec 28, 2006
I must say that my family, friends and even my boyfriend have been incredibly supportive of my decision. I have included them in all stages of the process, and have been very open to discussing their cares and concerns as well. I know that this will be a difficult process on its own, and it was very important to me to have the support of my loved ones throughout this process.
My boyfriend has been incredible as well. Even at my heaviest he never let a day pass that he didn't call me and let me know how beautiful and wonderful I was. When we first started talking about the surgery he made it clear that he loved me just the way I was, and that he would support me no matter what decision I made, as long I was happy.
It has been a long road the past year, but I am finally ready to step into my new life and cross all the hurdles that are placed infront of me.
May 10th 2006
I have my surgery date! Dr. Currie will be performing his magic on June 5th, less than a month from now! I also talked to my mom back up in Canada...her and my nanny will be coming down to stay with me for a few weeks after surgery which is such a stress relief. You see all of my family is back up in Canada, and aside from my boyfriend I really dont have anyone down here in the good ole USA.
The whole approval process went quite smoothly, my insurance required the 6 month physician supervised diet which extended the process, but once submitted I had my approval in 2 weeks.
The EGD went quite well. Aside from having my wisdom teeth out a few months ago I hadn't had any type of procedure done before. Being an ICU nurse I had seen plently done at the bedside, and had some pretty wicked dreams leading up to it. But to be honest the worst part of the whole experience was the 7 attempts it took to get an IV in me. Once I was on the table and he injected the propofol I don't remember a thing until I woke up in the recovery room.....PHEW what a relief!
May 14th 2006
Happy Mother's Day! I just had a wonderful weekend with my boyfriend. It's hard to believe we hadn't seen each other since our 2 year anniversary over a month ago. I can't even begin to put into words how much I love this man. He can make me feel like the most beautiful and special person in a room no matter how unattractive I might be feeling at the time. He is also my one man cheering section when it comes to the surgery.
He kids me about how after I lose weight I am going to run away with a hot doctor and leave him in the dust. I told him, like I am telling you now, that he is my heart and I would never do something like that. I know I have heard of many relationships gone sour after surgery, we even have friends that divorced after she had surgery. But I have also noticed that many of those relationships were less than ideal going into surgery. We also know that there may be hurdles, we know it won't be all sunshine and lollipops, but we are good at communicating and as long as that doesn't change then we will muddle through it.
May 27, 2006
Wow....time is flying by! I can't believe its only 9 days until my surgery. I have almost everything ready to go, now all I have left to do is calm the butterflies in my tummy that take flight whenever I think about my upcoming surgery.
June 3, 2006
Well surgery is in TWO days! My imported support team arrived from Canada last night (my mom and nanny), a little road weary and damp from the rain, but all in one piece!
My last night at work was an early one, I was able to leave 8 hours early which was a blessing as I could barely concentrate on what I was doing.
Today is the "last meal"....which for me is a much favoured traditional Newfoundland dinner. Its a dinner all cooked in one pot including salt beef, turnip, parsnip, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, then you also boil two puddings in there, one is a pea's pudding, the other is a raisin spice pudding (my favourite). The pudding batter is poured into a cheesecloth, tied and placed in the pot to cook....in the end its like a big heavy spiced dumpling...tres yummy!
I got my call yesterday for my surgery! I am to be at the hospital at 8am and my surgery is at 10am Monday morning!!!!
Thank you everyone for your well wishes and support! I will see you all again on the losing side!
June 5th, 2006
DAY OF SURGERY! - STARTING WEIGHT 290 lbs
Well last night I slept like a baby in Steve's deathgrip. He didn't let go of me all night, which made me feel quite safe and secure.
We arrived at the hospital and went through all of the paperwork and off to the pre-op staging I went. The nurse who stuck me was a blessing and got my IV in one stick, which is unheard of for me. Then Dr. Currie came in to talk to me along with my mom, grandmother and Steve.........my grandmother was in LOVE, after Dr. Currie stepped out my grandmother blurted out.."he can do anything with my body he pleases"...I nearly died laughing right there. Whereas Steve looked at me and said "HE's THE ONE who gets to see you naked? I don't know about that"....and we all laughed at him too. Then to make matters worse in walks the circulating nurse for the OR who happens to be one of my coworkers brother....and Steve looks at me again and says..." is there any ugly people who work here?". My poor honey, we tortured him for a while.
Surgery went well......waking up in the PACU was awful...I had the nurse from HELL. I was in so much pain and she told me to suck it up. Then didn't say anything to me before she jabbed me with needles and pulled the tube out of my nose. Being a nurse myself I was quite angry at her unprofessional behaviour.
I was so glad to be transferred to my room when the time came. The nurse who received me was awesome! Then before long I had my pain pump in hand and was off to sleep.
June 16th, 2006
Well its been 11 days since surgery, and things have gone okay. My stay in the hospital was great, the nurses and staff were so friendly and fun. I dragged myself out of bed to walk every few hours, or more if I had to pee. I figured if I had to get out of bed to pee then I had might as well walk while I was at it, considering the effort it took to get up in the first place.
The pain was a lot more than I had expected. The pain pump didn't help all that much and I found myself at times watching the pump to clear so I could push it for my next dose. The day I went home and took my first Vicodin I was in heaven, finally SOMETHING that really helped with the pain.
After a few days of dealing with the pain and trying to walk as much as I could my incision started to get red and very sore, after putting heat on it it started draining, and draining. More antibiotics for me.
I went to see Dr. Currie today, he says the drainage is no longer pus, but to keep dressings on it. He was also suprised to hear I had been taking my calcium supplements since the day I came home.....oopsy daisy, read the instructions wrong....but he said it was fine.
Today we leave for Maryland to my aunt and uncles to go sailing for 2 days....I can't wait!
June 19th, 2006
Sailing was wonderful! It was also the only time since surgery that I have been painfree! I attribute it to the constant rocking of the sailboat. The sunshine, fresh air, and open water was just what the doctor ordered. Steve was in his glory as my uncle taught him how to sail the boat....he looked like a robin with his chest all puffed out in pride! Sleeping with Steve is cute because if I so much as move my arm he wakes up and asks me if Im okay, or if I need help with something....this from a guy who would sleep through a tornado normally.
Today was my first day of soft foods....and for dinner I had mashed potatoes with a scoop of protein powder added in....it was wonderful! I find it so hard to get all my protein in each day.
June 22, 2006
Mom and Nanny left this morning....wahhhhhh. Now I am all alone for the first time since surgery. Even Steve is off in El Paso, Tx for work. Actually it was kind of nice this afternoon having total peace and quiet.
I almost had an incident last night with a piece of fish. It was my first time eating something that wasn't pureed. As I was chewing my second bite my mom asked me a question, and without thinking I swallowed what was in my mouth to reply....big oopsy. At least I knew enough to stop eating right there in case that piece was big enough to cause a blockage. I didnt have any problems, but it sure taught me to be careful when Im eating.
I still have the poops.....boy when will it end? I've had the runs since surgery, with no sign of slowing in sight. I think it might be from eating dairy, as I didn't do well with dairy before surgery.
July 7, 2006
Weight loss (1 month) = 22lbs
Well the long weekend was marvellllllous!!! Steve and I went sailing on the Chesapeake Bay with my aunt and uncle for 5 days. It was pure heaven. I have a killer tan even though I slathered on the SPF 55 twice a day....and steve....well he looks more like the boiled crabs he was eating even with an SPF 30 on.
We rode the dingy into town each night to shop, walk and eat dinners. So I had to deal with my first experiences with the dreaded "eating out". It really wasn't all that bad, but I was limited to eating chicken, as that was the only meat I have tried so far and knew I could tolerate. So both nights I had chicken and a piece of baked potato....the only other veggie that they had at either place we ate was corn on the cob...and I didn't think I could digest that yet so I steered clear. The waitresses were hilarious, they kept fretting over how little I was eating and thought that I didn't like my meal. So then I had to explain that I had had surgery and couldn't eat more......my uncle jokingly suggested that I eat what little I could and then send the meal back and ask for a refund.....but I didn't have the heart to do that.
I tried other things such as real sliced ham and pulled pork, both in small quantities to test the rivers, but have had no problems so far. I don't want to push it with trying things, but I must admit that I am chickened out. Like earlier I am still finding it hard to get in all my protein, and have to remember to have either one of my protein shakes or a pudding to get in an additional 35gm of protein. Water is still a problem too. With having to take pills 2 hrs apart and waiting before and after meals I have little time left to drink down 64oz. I tried using a chart to mark down my pills, water, protein, calories, etc, but I am horrible with remembering to fill it out....and get so far behind I can't go back and update it.
July 12, 2006
Well last night was my first night back to work....and wouldn't you know it but a half hour before I was to leave for work my left hand incision (that was swollen and ouchy) suddenly decided to burst open (only a tiny hole) and out gushed this river of yellow/red pus. It went everywhere...ewwww. I went through my box of sterile gauze pads trying to get it to stop draining....then finally folded a couple and taped it down well and headed off to work. At least at work I would have more supplies and a fellow nurse could help me express more fluid and dress it properly. I have to be honest I cried half the way to work because I knew it was quite infected and would need to be see ASAP.
I worked through the night, and then called the WLC answering service in the morning after I finished giving report. I knew there was no sense calling during the night because they couldn't do anything about it then. Dr. Davidson happened to be on call and called me back. After explaining to him what was going on he had me meet him at the clinic. I must say, he was wonderful..... even if he had to cause me a fair amount of pain. They had to re-open more of my left incision, cut some of the inner sutures to make a path and then put peroxide down into the hole....HOLY SMOKES OUCH....then used long Q-tips to swipe around in there....THEN packed the space with this really stinky gauze that burned a little. Finally it was home I went......with two new antibiotics, and a note to stay off work till Monday.
July 13, 2006
Well things went okay overnight. Then this morning I had to both mentally and medicinally (vicodin) prepare myself for my own self torture. This morning I had to pull out the gauze that was packed down in the hole and then pour peroxide into the empty space. I was SO COMPLETELY NOT looking forward to this adventure. The gauze came out without too much pain or trouble....and then came time for the peroxide. To be honest it hurt a whole lot less than I had even remotely expected. I was ready for a teeth clenching, crying, jump off the bed and dance like a naked lunatic experience. But really it wasn't that bad. It did burn a little...but I kept telling myself "it's killing the bad stuff" and even poured in a second capful when the first was finished and drained out. Then on went a little polysporin to keep it clean and keep the hole from closing over, a dressing overtop and here I am now. No more packing the hole...THANK GOODNESS. The only thing I have to do now is keep it clean and keep pulling the skin a little to make sure the opening doesn't close shut. I see Dr. Currie tomorrow morning for a follow-up. I know this has all sounded horrendous....but when you consider that they pull a loop of dirty bowel through that incision during your surgery, its no wonder that quite a few patients get a little infected at that site.
If this was my worst problem, then I consider myself lucky.
The only thing now is trying to figure out how to eat and take all my pills during the day. I now have 5 anitibiotics to add to each day on top of the other pills and vitamins. I have to wait at least an hour and a half between any pill I take before I can eat, drink or take another pill...if I don't it causes a blockage and....well lets not go there. So I guess that will be my big question for Dr. Currie tomorrow....how the heck do I get it all in in one day.?
