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
