Becoming Thin… And Staying That Way

(Just in case you hadn’t guessed, I’m posting this journal entry after the fact and back-dating it to the actual day.) We got to the hospital VERY early. My surgery was scheduled for 8:30am and we got there at 6:00am. I was nervous and quiet. My mom and husband were with me, but I didn’t really have a chance to talk to them much. There was an older lady (probably in her 70s) in the waiting room with her husband who was going to have knee surgery. She talked and talked and talked. That was probably a good thing, because I didn’t have time to think too much about my own surgery. Next thing I knew, the nurse was calling my name to go back into pre-op. My mom and husband got to go with me. They weighed me in at 252 pounds. I had gained a couple pounds, which did not make Dr. Wongsa happy with me. He said that I was supposed to have lost weight before my surgery. My husband is a witness to every conversation I ever had with Dr. Wongsa, and I was never told to lose weight before the surgery. Anywho… we went to the pre-op area and I changed clothes. My husband took a few “before” pictures of me. They put the squeeze leggings on me. From what other people had described, I thought they would be like socks. But they were more like these very small foam-blankets that had velcro on them. They wrapped around your leg from knee to ankle and were attached to an air pump. Every 10 minutes or so the right one would inflate, then deflate… then the left one would do the same. I LOVED them!!! They felt sooooo good. The anestheseologist came in and talked to me and started my IV. Then Dr. Wongsa came in and talked with me, my mom and my husband. I gave my mom and husband one last kiss and hug and told them I loved them, and we were off!

I really thought that I would start to become anxious on the “roll” down the hallway to surgery. But I was soooo relaxed. Once we got to the operating room, and they asked me to move over to the operating table, I was already feeling loopy. I asked, “did you already give me something?” She (the anestheseologist) said, “yep, sure did.” No wonder I wasn’t nervous! They gave me drugs on the way to the operating room! They are so efficient!!! Next thing, I was asleep.

I woke up feeling sore, and I could hear a young male child next to me SCREAMING. He wanted out of that hospital bed sooo badly. I could tell that there must have been like 3 nurses trying to get him to lay down, but he was fighting them. He must have had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. A nurse asked me on a scale of 1-10 how much pain I was in and I said 7. To tell you the truth, I don’t recall the pain very well so that I could describe it to you. I think I was just REALLY sore. But after I said “7″, she gave me something and the next thing I remember, I was kind of in and out of consciousness, but I could tell I was being rolled down hallways… to my room, I assumed. I couldn’t wait to see my husband and my mom.

The first thing I remember is my husband kissing me on the cheek, and my mom stroking my hair. She asked the nurses what was wrong with me… why were my face and lips all blue. This scared me into waking up. They told her that in the surgery they put blue dye through your gastro-intestinal tract to make sure there are no leaks. Well, some of it came back up. The funny thing is that we spent the next two days trying to get it off. Cold cream, wet wipes, everything… nothing worked. That stuff stains BIG TIME. It was pretty funny.

I was still pretty out of it, but I could hear people talking and I could hear the phone ringing with people checking on me. Laura Wootan, my angel, called and I heard my mom telling her that the Doctor said my liver was enlarged and due to that he had a hard time with the surgery. This concerned me, but I was so groggy I couldn’t talk.

Before I knew it, I had to pee sooo bad. I told my husband and he rang for the nurse. She said she would go get a bed pan. Nooooooo!!! I didn’t want to pee in a bed pan! Ick. She came back and luckily she had decided that we would just go ahead and get up to pee. Yikes! For some reason, I hadn’t realized that the alternative to a bed pan was to get out of bed. All three of them helped me up. It felt so weird. By the time I was standing, it felt like my innards were going to fall out onto the floor. Like they weren’t sewn in tightly enough or something. Half way to the bathroom, I stopped… I was feeling nauseated. They had me stand there for a minute, then I went on to the bathroom. As I sat there, I realized that I was SUPER nauseated. I cried for my husband and they brought me something to throw-up in. I heaved about 3 times very hard, but nothing. This made me cry, because I just knew that the heaving would tear the stitches inside me and cause a leak, thus leading me to more surgery or death. Everyone calmed my nerves and told me it was totally normal… there was nothing to worry about. Now, for the peeing part. lol They put these “hats” in the toilet so that they can measure how much you pee. Well, they could not empty these things fast enough for me. It seemed like as soon as I’d get back to bed after peeing, I’d have to pee again. Now, remember that everytime you get up, you have to take the leg wrappings off, take your IV rolly thing with you, come back, put the leg wrappings back on and get situated again. It’s a pretty big ordeal.

By the second time I got up to go to the bathroom, I recalled that someone had told me that the sooner you started walking, the faster you recovered. So I figured while I was up, I may as well go for a short stroll to the nurse’s station. The nurses were so surprised to see us! It felt good that they were so proud of me. The only thing was that by the time I got back to the room, I was sooo tired and sooo sore. I had to hit my PCA pump. The PCA pump was an automated morphine injection for patient controlled pain meds. It automatically gave me a little bit every 30 minutes or so… but I could click this button for some extra every 10 minutes. I didn’t really have to use it much at all. I felt like the pain was very well handled by the regulated drip. The only time I felt like I needed the extra dose was after I got back from a walk. I clicked it and I would take a short nap. It really helped me to settle down and rest.

Oh. I forgot to mention that I was in the pediatric ward. For some reason, the wing that I normally would have been in was full… so they had me on the pediatric floor. It was nice, actualy… very quiet. Hardly any patients. And I felt like I practically had a nurse all to myself, since she had been sent up from my normal floor. But guess who else was in the pediatric ward??? The older gentleman who had knee surgery. Boy, I tell you… his wife was so concerned about me. She would stop and yack her jaw off to my mom and husband all the time. She was such a busy body talking to all the doctors, nurses and patients she could get her hands on. Bless her heart. She needed interaction so badly.

That night, I thought I was not going to be able to have anyone with me. But since I was in a room with two beds, and there was not another patient with me, they let my mom stay. My husband went back to the hotel. I bet my mom had thought that the nights of her getting up every hour on the hour with me were over. HA! Boy, was she wrong! I felt so sorry for her by morning.

Food. I almost forgot to tell you about food. I was not allowed to have anything until I woke up. My mouth was sooooooo dry!!! They let me have ice chips once I woke up. But honestly, I had no hunger pains what-so-ever. Very strange. Oh! And another thing… the nurses were sooo concerned about whether I had passed gas or not. Geesh. You’d never believe how worried someone would be about whether you could fart or not. At first I wasn’t sure what they meant when they asked me… I was burping alot. Found out real quick that wasn’t good enough. ehhehe

I have so much to report that I hardly know where to begin. I had my pre-op tests on Monday. First I went in for my gallbladder ultrasound. They had me dress in two gowns… one opening to the back and the other over that opening to the front. This way, I wouldn’t moon anyone as I walked by. heheheh They had me lay down on an examining table and it was very dark in the room. There were two female technicians. One of them squirted me with some jelly on my upper abdomen. She tried for what seemed like 10 minutes to find my gallbladder. The longer amount of time that went by that she couldn’t find it, the harder she pushed. She had me turning all sorts of ways on that table. I think I left with a few bruised ribs. She searched everywhere from directly between my boobs to the middle of my back, and down across my rib cage. The other technician gave it a try, and she found my gall bladder within a few minutes. It was lower than the bottom of my rib cage. I thought that was where it would be… but who am I to tell someone who does this for a living that I think they’re looking in the wrong place? After they find the gallbladder, they hit some buttons on the ultrasound machine that show up red and blue colors. Apparently this tells them where the fluid is flowing so that they can find the bile duct. They took many snapshots. I ended up with jelly all over my gowns, so I had to go back and change before I went on to my upper GI.

So here comes the scary part. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the upper GI. There was one female technician and one male doctor. She explained the whole procedure before we got started, and I have to say she did a good job. It went almost exactly as she said it would. It’s in an x-ray room, and there is a huge table that you would lay down on, but it’s standing on end and there is a step at the bottom for you to stand on. They had me stand on this step. First they gave me a little cup like you’d get on the top of pepto-bismol. It had little white crystals in it. They added a little water and it started fizzing. They asked me to drink it as fast as I could and told me I’d have the urge to burp… but to not burp… try to keep the air in. Going down, it tasted kind of lemony. Very much like alkaseltzer. What’s the first thing I did? Burp. You wouldn’t believe the overwhelming urge it gives you. It’s almost impossible not to. Oh well. They took x-rays as it went down. Next they gave me a cup of barium. To explain barium… hmmm… it’s like white, chalky MUD. Yep. That’s the best way I can describe the consistency. This is mud. It kinda tastes like tums or something like that. Not too terribly revolting. heheh There were monitors in the room so I was able to see exactly what the x-ray would look like. The doctor had me get a mouthful of barium, and then he’d time it precisely. He’d say, “Swallow.” And right after that, I’d swallow and he’d take a picture. This repeated about three times and wasn’t too bad. Then came the bad part. He said, “OK, now finish the rest of the glass as fast as you can.” That was hard. I tried to keep the cup at my mouth and just chug. Uh-uh. It wanted to come back up that way. I gagged a little. I had to take a mouthful, put the cup away from my mouth, swallow… repeat. I had the biggest barium moustache you’ve ever seen! HAHAHHAA After he took a series of pictures, having me face this way, turn that way, etc… he had the table lay me down. At this point I was facing the table, so it laid me on my stomach. They gave me a pillow to rest my head on. The doctor must have seen something on my x-ray, because he asked me if I have acid reflux or heartburn alot. I responded, “Oh, YES! Do I, ever! And it’s not like most people have it, after a large meal, or after certain types of meals. I get it when I haven’t eaten. When I’m hungry, I can breathe fire! The only thing that helps it go away is to eat.” So next they gave me a watered down cup of barium with a straw. They had me drink it while they took various pictures. I keep calling them pictures, but they’re x-rays. Duh. That stuff didn’t taste too good. I can’t explain why the watered down version tastes worse than the thick stuff. They had me roll all sorts of ways on the table as they took x-rays. It was totally funny. The doctor asked me what I had eaten the night before. (funny, because you come in fasting from midnight the night before) We had just had a Thanksgiving in July with all of our friends at our house. So I told him, “Thanksgiving dinner… turkey, dressing, etc.” I wanted to say, “what does it look like I had?” hahhaha Next they had the table put me back in the standing position. They had me swallow a barium pill and watched to make sure it went down ok. It did. And that was it. I was done. I went and had some bloodwork done after that. The bloodwork was supposed to be done fasting from midnight, but I had just had my barium delight! The lab tech said it shouldn’t be a problem, since I had JUST done it 15 minutes before. So… that’s all I have to say about that.

My PCP’s nurse called me yesterday to let me know the results. My gallbladder ultrasound was normal. My upper GI shows I have acid reflux. Just confirmed what I knew all along. Now for my blood tests… cholesterol. Eeeek. My cholesterol came back high at 263. Normal is 140-200. My triglycerides came back high at 252. Normal is 10-200. My bad cholesterol came back high at 176. Normal is 75-160. So needless to say… it’s a good thing I’ll be losing weight soon. I’m very curious to see what my cholesterol will be in, say, 6 months. Bet it goes down considerably.

Wednesday morning, I had my pre-op interview. The nurse from Cypress Fairbanks Hospital was nice enough to call me for it instead of having me drive all the way to Houston. Her name was MaryAnn and she was sooooooooo nice. She asked me for my emergency contact information. I let her know that my husband and mom would be in Houston with me. She wants me to give them the phone number to the hotel they’re staying at when we arrive at the hospital. She asked for my religious preference. I said Lutheran. She asked about all sorts of medical conditions. I let her know that lately my right leg had been going numb when I lay on my back. She said they’d be sure to put a pillow under my knees during and after surgery. I told her about my acid reflux and prior migraines due to birth control pills (I’m off of them at the moment, since they can cause blood clots. You don’t want that to happen when you’re having surgery. I’ll go back on them after the surgery.) I did have chicken pox as a child. I have had psychological counseling related to this surgery. I told her about my prior surgeries and when they were. (I had plastic surgery on my ears when I was like 7. I had a tonsillectomy when I was 18. I had a laparoscopy to check out my female parts when I was 23… and I underwent a round of in-vitro for which they had to put me under this past November.) I don’t have any allergic reactions. (Other than to my cats. heheheh She said she could guarantee there wouldn’t be any cats in the hospital. hahhaha) I’m 5′5″, weight right now is 251. My last menstrual period was 7/10/01 and my last PAP was September 2000. She asked about any dental work and all I have is fillings.

She said I need to be at the hospital at 6:30am on Tuesday morning. Nothing to eat after midnight the night before. Also, the night before they want me to wash my abdomen and groin area with Hibiclens soap. (I found it in the pharmacy section at my local H-E-B.) They do clean you thoroughly prior to surgery, but this is just an extra precaution Dr. Wongsa takes. They say I should eat light the day before surgery and drink plenty of liquids so that I’m very hydrated. She explained to me where we should park, and what entrance to go into, etc. And she explained how the day of surgery will go… I will sign in, and then change into a hospital gown. They are going to wrap my legs in things that kind of squeeze a little so they return blood to your heart. She said it kind of feels like a leg massage. I can take that. I’ll have those on for 24 hours. Then the anesthesiologist will come in and start my IV. My husband and mom can stay with me during all of this, and until I go into surgery. She said the surgery will last about 2 1/2 hours and I’ll be in the recovery room for about an hour after that. Then they’ll go get my family and we’ll go to my room. The nurse will check my vitals every 30 minutes, then every hour, then every 4 hours, throughout my stay. My husband and mom can only stay with me until 9:30pm and then they have to go. I just know I’m going to hate not having them there in the night. She said the nurse will give me an incentive sparometer. This is to practice deep breathing so that you don’t get any lung congestion or develop pneumonia. She said after the leg wraps come off, it’s important to move my legs every 15-20 minutes. Just do knee bends or something like that between commercials. This will keep the blood moving to my heart. She said when I come out of surgery, I will have an IV that administers pain meds continuously, but if I needed an extra dose, I’ll have a button that I could press to give me something extra. The nurses will come in and ask me to rate my pain on a scale of 0-10. 10 being the worst. They want to keep my pain below a 5. The evening after my surgery, they will get me up to at least sit on the edge of the bed. The next day, they’ll start me walking. She said to make sure I have a nurse with me when I first start walking, not a family member… because I may be a little woozy. They’re going to measure my urinary output. Seems there’ll be a container in the toilet so I won’t have to worry about it. No catheter, thank GOD! The first day they’ll give me ice chips… the second day, they’ll start me on liquids, and then I’ll have a few solids before I leave.

That was pretty much everything she told me and then I had a chance to ask questions. I asked her what the procedure was with inventorying medical equipment before and after my surgery so that nothing is “left behind.” She said that they count all needles, instruments and sponges before and after. If there is one missing, they will x-ray in order to find it before they close me up. I wanted to make sure I will be having an upper GI after the surgery to make sure I don’t have any leaks. She said I’d have to ask my doctor about that. (I called Ruth at Dr. Wongsa’s office and she said I would be having an upper GI the day after surgery.) The nurse also said that I would not have an NG tube (tube coming out of your stomach, up through your esophagus, and out through your nose). She said they will take that out before I wake up from surgery. Whew.

The day before surgery, I will be going to the hospital to have some more bloodwork, an EKG, and a chest x-ray.

That’s about it. I can’t believe it’s so close. I still have so much left to do. I’m not sure if I’ll get to report again until after I get back from surgery… but I’ll try. Today is Friday… we’re leaving on Sunday morning to go to Galveston for my favorite meal then Monday morning we’re going to Houston for my tests, then Tuesday is the big day! So wish me luck! Love to all! ~Shannon

I went to have my pre-op meeting with my PCP (Dr. Marietta) on Friday. I was fully expecting for him to try to talk me out of the surgery again. I got there and the person who takes you back and weighs you and gets your blood pressure, etc. was a young man… looked like college age. He was pleasant enough. Took my weight, 252. eeeek. Then we went into the room and he took my blood pressure. I asked him immediately after he took it, what it was (because I wanted to list a before and after blood pressure on my site) and he said it was 158 over 82. Now, I don’t know a whole heck of a lot about blood pressure stats, but I did know that for me, that was kind of high. So I commented on it, but he didn’t seem to care. Then he’s asking me all the normal things, like “why are you here?” and “are you allergic to anything?”, etc. And he’s fumbling over my chart. Then he says, “hmmm. Lemme check your blood pressure again. It’s not usually that high.” I felt like saying, “well, no sh!t, sherlock… that’s what I tried to tell you a minute ago.” So he takes it again, and again I ask what it was and he says 118 over 68. Now, I’m thinkin’, how on earth can it be high one time and low the next. No tellin’ how many people they have on blood pressure medication unnecessarily because some stupid assistant doesn’t know how to take blood pressure accurately. Then he goes back and comments on how weird that is, since it’s not usually that low. Freak.

So, Dr. Marietta comes in and asks me how I’m doing and the usual things. Then he asks me about the surgery. I brought him a bunch of printouts about it with stuff explained in medical terminology… and diagrams and so forth. He asked me all of the specifics like how long I’d be in the hospital, what the recovery would be like, what the specific surgery is I’m having, and how I will stop losing weight. Then, he totally surprises me and says, “well, Shannon, you’re a very determined young lady. After all of my discouragement from having this surgery, you continued to do the research, and you’ve succeeded in getting it covered through your insurance.” He proceeded to tell me that he thought I would do very well with this surgery and that he hoped I would keep him posted on my progress. He said that he had many patients who he thought would benefit from this surgery and he was eager to see my progress and how it all worked out. That felt sooo awesome! It was like here was someone who had done nothing, but tell me that he wished I didn’t want to take such drastic measures and to take it slow. So I took it slow, and here I am 6 months later, and he’s congratulating me. It was like I passed a test. Wow. What a feeling!

So, he ordered my gallbladder ultrasound and my upper GI. I’m supposed to have the results to Dr. Wongsa’s office by July 24th. I get up to the front desk and they can’t schedule the tests until the morning of the 23rd! uuggghhh. They said that they could have the results to Dr. Wongsa’s office within 24-48 hours. I’m not sure if I believe them, though. I’m going to call Ruth at Dr. Wongsa’s office tomorrow and see if she thinks it’ll be a problem. I’ll report more after I have the tests done.