The first thing I had to do this day was re-wipe myself using the instructions from my pre-op appointment. Since part of this involved my back, I woke up before my husband left for an appointment to help me out. I put on a new set of clothes, and went to bed.
8:15am
I woke up again and drank a bottle of Gatorade given to me from the pre-op appointment. I was told to have this done by 2 hours prior to my appointed arrival time of 10:30am. I got up, made sure everything I needed was in my bag, and my parents were due to arrive at about 9:30am to bring me.
In my bag, I packed:
2 pairs of underwear
2 pairs of comfy pajama or workout shorts
2 t-shirts
iPad
Charger (extra long)
Yarn and a crochet hook
Folder with all of my papers I got so far
Wallet
A hoodie in case I got cold
I wore comfortable clothes to the hospital. Something worth noting was that all of the clothes I brought were clothes I wouldn't mind losing. I kept the charger, my phone, iPad, and wallet in a place where someone would not easily be able to sneak in and grab them. Everything else stayed out of arms reach on a windowsill.
10:30am
We arrived at the hospital a few minutes early but soon enough they brought me into the back. First thing was first, they needed to make sure I wasn't pregnant. I remembered not to pee from the gatorade knowing this was coming, so I gave them my sample and came up negative. I changed into the hospital gown, and got my final pre-surgical weight.
Then, I got my first of 63 Lovenox shots that I would get or self-administer over the next 30 days. The nurse put a motion sickness patch behind my ear to help with nausea, and took a couple of tubes for testing. Then, they started the IV and hooked me up.
At that point my parents and husband were allowed to rejoin me. I was by far the least nervous person in the "room" if that's what you want to call it. It was probably about 11:30am by this time. I was due to go in at 12:30pm. Then the parade of medical professionals started. I don't remember the order, but that's probably not important. The surgeon stopped by to answer any questions my family had and I signed a consent for the surgery. The anesthesiologist stopped by to see how much I could open my mouth, and confirm what he already knew about me. Another anesthesiologist stopped by (there were two on the team) to introduce herself, and its a good thing she did because she was who I really talked to once they rolled me into the OR.
At around 1:00pm, the team came out to take me back. I gave my glasses and phone to my husband (taking off my glasses is my least favorite part of any procedure). I got rolled into the OR and shifted myself onto the table. The anesthesiologist got me positioned and explained that they have found that just a few minutes of CPAP therapy has proven to help patients going into surgery. The OR nurse strapped my legs into machines that pumped air into stockings to prevent blood clots. A few minutes passed by as they got me ready, and suddenly the time came where they instructed me that I would taste a metallic taste, smell something metallic, and possibly feel a burning sensation at the IV point.
5:35pm
The next thing I remember is waking up in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) and the first feeling I felt was absolute nausea. A nurse was right by me and she was able to push Zofran to help with the nausea and was able to call out to my family that they could come back. In a few minutes I was reunited with my glasses (yay!) and they held me there for about 2 hours as I got more and more aware. The PACU is the only place I got inject-able pain management, but my pain was only at about a 5/10. My nausea on the other hand needed a second type of drug to finally get controlled.
7:45pm
Finally, a room became available and they rolled me up. For context of how well I was doing pain-wise, I was told immediately that I could have 10mg of oxy if I wanted. But I wanted to walk and use the rest room first. It took my husband and a nurse to get me out of bed, and I walked to the bathroom. I was able to do everything behind the privacy of a bathroom door, which was unexpected. My husband however had to help me put my underwear on. Once that was on, they gave me a second gown to use as a "cape" and cover that gap. I went for a walk, two laps around the floor I was on. Before he left for the night, he helped me put shorts on, so I wouldn't need to put the cape back on. The nurse then hooked my legs back up, and gave me my oxy and tylenol to take orally.
I was shocked. I was awake for a little more than two hours after a surgery that drastically changed the size of my stomach, and here these people were telling me to take drugs orally. They gave me water and the pills, and I took them. Immediatley I started dry heaving, but nothing produced and the feeling passed. A few minutes later I took another sip without any trouble.
And I quickly fell asleep.
Overnight
This was the four hour pattern I went through the whole night
- Oxy
- 90 minute nap
- Slow wake up
- Called nurse to disconnect my legs
- Walk
- Play on phone
- Repeat list
6:30am
I was woken up by two surgeons to check my incisions and ask how my night went. The nurse said I was training for a marathon all night. Right after the surgeons left, the phlebotomist came in to take blood.
9:00am
When my mom came back the next day (dad and hubby had to work), I was walking when she got there. She literally could not believe it.
I'm going to stop the timestamps here, as the day filled with activity. I had a dietician come in to visit and remind me how important the post operative diet is. At this point, I had only had water, and Vitamin Water Zero, and I knew how important protein shakes were, so I asked for a protein shake to make sure I was okay drinking that before my discharge. The dietician helped me out by getting me a protein shake and made it for me. I had no issue getting this protein down.
Another surgeon also stopped by, and apologized for my surgeon as she was stuck in hellish traffic (by this point I had heard how bad traffic was from a few nurses and my mom). She stressed what the dietician had already said, and was willing to answer any questions. She had also heard I was up and about all night and confirmed I would be going home some time today. A case manager stopped by to ask me questions about my home life. She wanted to make sure I had support, asked if there were stairs, if anyone hurts me at home, etc.
Finally, the head nurse came in to start the discharge process. She had a whole pile of information she had to go through before I could leave, but most of it I knew already. My mom was told to go and get the car and bring it to a certain door, and I would meet her there as they had to wheel me out.
And just like that at about 1:00pm, about 24 hours after being rolled into the OR, Johns Hopkins Bayview was in the rear view mirror.
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