Monday, October 28, 2013 I had my
Roux-En-Y (RNY) Gastric Bypass Procedure done.
The doctor had said before surgery, there was a possibility
that once he got in, depending on scar tissue, etc.
he might have to just remove the Lap Band
and then let my stomach heal for a few months
before performing the Gastric Bypass.
Another possibility, he said, was that if my lower intestine did
not cooperate, and would not move up to where he needed it
to, that he may have to perform the Gastric Sleeve instead.
Once he got in, The doctor found that
I had a Hernia in my stomach.
THANK GOODNESS he was able to
go ahead and remove the Hernia, remove the lap band,
AND he was successfully able to perform the Gastric Bypass.
I woke in recovery HURTING.
I don’t remember much about it, but I remember
asking about my heart. My chest was hurting,
and it scared me because it reminded me of when I went in for
Gall Bladder Surgery, and woke up in the ICU
with my Chest hurting, and found out my heart had stopped.
I don’t remember what they said about my Chest hurting,
but all had gone well.
I think the hardest part about my first two days post surgery
was not being able to drink anything. NOT EVEN ICE CHIPS!!
I never knew your mouth and tongue could get THAT Dry.
It was awful.
I didn’t get hungry or crave food.
All I could think about was a glass of
ICE WATER!!
...and I don’t even like water. LOL.
When I was finally able to drink and eat ice chips I was so relieved.
Unfortunately, however, I was limited to 30ml
(or 1 ounce) every HOUR.
So… as far as getting my thirst quenched
and my dry mouth solved? Not so much.
I went home on Wednesday, October 30th.
We waited all day to see if I was
going to be released, and finally shortly after 6pm,
we got the news I could go home.
Knowing I was going to have trouble sleeping in our
bed due to the pain in my abdomen,
my husband had gone to the Habitat For Humanity Re-Store
and purchased a recliner for $50.00.
THANK GOODNESS he did!!
There is no way I would have been able to lay flat.
I spent all my recovery time in that recliner.
The day after I was released was Halloween.
A relative took the kids Trick Or Treating and my oldest
daughter stayed home to take care of me.
My husband was going to return to work
the next day so had gone to bed.
Late that evening, after the kids returned home,
I began to hurt worse than I had before.
The pain medicine I was sent home with
really wasn’t taking the pain away, either.
I had just finished doing the breathing exercise
they instructed me to do with the aspirator
they sent me home with, so thought maybe
I had swallowed some air and it was gas making me hurt,
so I took some gas medicine.
A little bit later, I started feeling very nauseous.
I took my anti-nausea medicine but it didn’t help.
My daughter kept wanting to wake my husband up,
but I told her to let him sleep, he had work the next day.
Around 9:00pm I started throwing up
and finally told her to wake Dad.
He called my Surgeons office,
and was given the doctor’s cell number.
But the doctor did not answer and wasn’t returning the call.
My husband said he would wait 30 more minutes,
then he was taking me back to the hospital.
But 5 minutes later I was throwing up again.
He said “alright, that's it, Let’s go”.
We went back to the same hospital I had the surgery in,
thinking that they would be better equipped,
having my records, etc.
When I got there, the ER Doctor didn’t have any knowledge of
Gastric Bypass, and kept asking the same questions over and over.
The hospital began calling the doctor as well,
but he was not answering for them either.
The tried numerous times to reach him.
Luckily, the ER Nurse had worked in a critical care unit
years ago at a Bariatric Center,
and was familiar with Gastric Bypass.
He thought I was experiencing the “Dumping Syndrome”.
I told him I had been very careful not to go over my
1 oz of liquid in the allotted time,
but he said sometimes it happens anyway.
They gave me two different anti-nausea medicines,
but it did not help.
FINALLY, the surgeon called back, and said to admit me,
take me off all fluids, (not even ice chips) again,
and ordered a CT Scan.
They took me down for the scan, and once I got there,
I had another vomiting fit. Afterwards, they did the scan,
and took me to my room, where I puked all over myself, because they
had me laying down too far back, so even though I was holding the
bag to my mouth, it was running out the sides and all over me.
I was miserable.
None of the medicines were working, but I did finally
stop vomiting. However, I stayed very nauseous all night long,
and held a clean Vomit Bag to my chest the entire night.
I felt that any minute I was going to throw up again.
At some point I was finally able to go to sleep.
At 4:00 am, I woke up with the sudden urge to throw up.
I called for the nurse, and when I sat on the edge
of the bed to get out, I started vomiting again.
Late that morning, they ordered an X-ray of my stomach.
From the X-Ray they could tell
my lower intestines were not working.
Shortly after the X Ray was taken,
I began having diarrhea. I spent the remainder of the day
with constant nausea and bouts of diarrhea.
The doctor came by and said
that sometimes when you are put to sleep,
the anesthesia will cause your bowels
to go to sleep as well,
and it just takes time for it to wake up.
He said, another possibility
is that the bowels have twisted or something else
may be causing a bowel obstruction and if that
was the case, they would need to do another surgery.
Another CT Scan was needed.
The doctor said, unfortunately, when the Hospital
did the first CT Scan, they did not wait long enough
after me drinking the solution, so the CT Scan
did not show him what he needed to see.
So I had to drink some of the solution again, wait 20 minutes,
drink more solution, and then 20 minutes later I drank the
final solution and was taken for another CT Scan.
The CT Scan was ordered as a STAT, but the results were sent
off to a Radiologist to be read. The Nurses called every 30 minutes
trying to get the results. I had two admitting doctors on my chart,
and BOTH of them were also calling the Radiologist.
My Surgeon finally sent his Physicians Assistant
to the hospital and told her not to leave until they
had the results. They were NOT happy campers.
After several HOURS the results FINALLY came back.
Tests showed that at the incision in my lower intestines,
a hematoma (blood clot) had developed,
which was causing a partial blockage.
No surgery would be needed, my body
would naturally absorb the hematoma
and I would gradually get better.
In the meantime, continue with no intake by mouth,
IV fluids only.
The Nausea gradually got better, although it did not
entirely disappear until the following day.
The diarrhea, however, remained.
The doctors said they did not know if
that was from what I had ingested before the surgery
or if it was from what I had ingested after the surgery.
The next morning, (Saturday),
I was taken down at 7:00 am for an X-ray.
Around 11:00 or so I heard back that it appeared everything
appeared to be working now. Around Noon-ish
I was finally allowed to have water and broth again,
and was released back home late that afternoon.
My recovery process had a very slow start, but gradually
each day that passed, I felt a little better than the day before.
My mom asked me amidst all of this,
after all that happened, if I regretted my decision.
My answer to her:
Absolutely Not.
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