(no subject)
Gastric bypass surgery went great. It was last Wednesday, July 31.
Ended up with four incisions, each about an inch long, closed by three staples each. I didn't even have a drain! Took forever to come out of anesthesia though. I think it was close to 6pm before I could stay awake and coherent. The gas pain was pretty nasty (from all the air they pump in to the abdominal cavity so they can see with the scopes, as well as normal gas), but morphine was awesome. Late that first night I tried to use the breathing machine and had horrible pain shoot up into my shoulder. The doc that came for rounds early that morning said it was something about the diaphragm nerves sharing that pathway. Lots of walking in my future, as that's the only thing (other than morphine and heat packs) that help the gas pain.
The anesthesia also caused me to have low blood pressure 98/58 (that had all the docs running around the next day trying to figure out what to give me or not for meds, since I'm on high blood pressure pills). My oxygen sat levels were also low, so they thought I might have sleep apnea. Nope, next night, it was perfectly fine, so it was also chalked up to the anesthesia.
The only other big negative was my roommate (not a weight loss surgery patient). She was eating regular meals and also snored like a freight train. So glad my nurse brought me ear plugs!
In the hospital, as I said, I was having problems with the gas pain, so I was on morphine. Thursday night, then Friday (discharge day) they had me on hydrocodone, which I kept taking for nights only until Monday night. I'm pretty amazed at how little pain I've had. The gas pain was the biggest issue, which is mostly gone. But wow, did the hydrocodone make me loopy!
I've been walking about 2 miles a day, one longer walk, plus lots of smaller ones. Cooper is loving this! When I do try to do some shopping, I come home and crash for a two hour nap, like I did today.
The staples are my biggest issue. The area around the staples are all red and irritated. I have to wear bandaids on them or they catch on my clothes. Even with that, every-time I walk, the staple holes get all goopy. I wash them with the antibacterial soap and re-bandaid, but they're just staying irritated. Hopefully getting the staples out will help them heal.
Eating is odd. The first couple of days, I could barely drink all the protein shakes and had a few times where I felt full and just stopped drinking. Only one instance where I had the way overfull feeling though. The last two days, I've pretty much had no issues with volume. I went on a long walk yesterday with my water bottle, and drank at least half of it while walking. Then had a good half of another water bottle when I got home over the next half hour or so. I'm guessing the liquids are running through me faster then say yogurt or a protein drink, but that still seems like a lot to be able to stomach that quickly.
I still don't get in the full 6 protein meals they want. I generally manage 2 protein drinks and 2 greek yogurts a day for 70 grams of protein. I'm not feeling super shaky, though I know if I could get in more protein, I'd feel better. Since my experiment of adding protein powder to greek yogurt didn't work (awful texture I could barely stomach), I think I'll try adding a second scoop of powder to my shakes. I make mine with 1 cup skim milk, plus 1 scoop of trader joe's soy protein powder for 20 grams of protein total. Then add whatever flavor of sugar free davinci or torani syrup I feel like. I already had a ton of them for my coffee obsession, and recently added about 7 more fruit flavors to add to my yogurt. So, at least I have a large variety of flavors and don't get bored. If I can add a second scoop of the protein powder, that would be 32 grams per shake. Or hopefully soon I can get in at least one extra shake a day. I've just been so dehydrated from the walking that I've been doing more water/crystal light and not enough of the shakes.
On the scale, I'm generally down 2 pounds a day so far. I had gained back about 14 pounds after my last official weigh in, but forgot to weigh myself day of surgery, as I thought they'd do it at the hospital and was surprised they didn't. If I go by my last weigh in the week before surgery, I've lost 16 pounds (30 pounds from my highest weight). Woo!
Now, to go make the next protein shake, with 2 scoops of powder!
Ended up with four incisions, each about an inch long, closed by three staples each. I didn't even have a drain! Took forever to come out of anesthesia though. I think it was close to 6pm before I could stay awake and coherent. The gas pain was pretty nasty (from all the air they pump in to the abdominal cavity so they can see with the scopes, as well as normal gas), but morphine was awesome. Late that first night I tried to use the breathing machine and had horrible pain shoot up into my shoulder. The doc that came for rounds early that morning said it was something about the diaphragm nerves sharing that pathway. Lots of walking in my future, as that's the only thing (other than morphine and heat packs) that help the gas pain.
The anesthesia also caused me to have low blood pressure 98/58 (that had all the docs running around the next day trying to figure out what to give me or not for meds, since I'm on high blood pressure pills). My oxygen sat levels were also low, so they thought I might have sleep apnea. Nope, next night, it was perfectly fine, so it was also chalked up to the anesthesia.
The only other big negative was my roommate (not a weight loss surgery patient). She was eating regular meals and also snored like a freight train. So glad my nurse brought me ear plugs!
In the hospital, as I said, I was having problems with the gas pain, so I was on morphine. Thursday night, then Friday (discharge day) they had me on hydrocodone, which I kept taking for nights only until Monday night. I'm pretty amazed at how little pain I've had. The gas pain was the biggest issue, which is mostly gone. But wow, did the hydrocodone make me loopy!
I've been walking about 2 miles a day, one longer walk, plus lots of smaller ones. Cooper is loving this! When I do try to do some shopping, I come home and crash for a two hour nap, like I did today.
The staples are my biggest issue. The area around the staples are all red and irritated. I have to wear bandaids on them or they catch on my clothes. Even with that, every-time I walk, the staple holes get all goopy. I wash them with the antibacterial soap and re-bandaid, but they're just staying irritated. Hopefully getting the staples out will help them heal.
Eating is odd. The first couple of days, I could barely drink all the protein shakes and had a few times where I felt full and just stopped drinking. Only one instance where I had the way overfull feeling though. The last two days, I've pretty much had no issues with volume. I went on a long walk yesterday with my water bottle, and drank at least half of it while walking. Then had a good half of another water bottle when I got home over the next half hour or so. I'm guessing the liquids are running through me faster then say yogurt or a protein drink, but that still seems like a lot to be able to stomach that quickly.
I still don't get in the full 6 protein meals they want. I generally manage 2 protein drinks and 2 greek yogurts a day for 70 grams of protein. I'm not feeling super shaky, though I know if I could get in more protein, I'd feel better. Since my experiment of adding protein powder to greek yogurt didn't work (awful texture I could barely stomach), I think I'll try adding a second scoop of powder to my shakes. I make mine with 1 cup skim milk, plus 1 scoop of trader joe's soy protein powder for 20 grams of protein total. Then add whatever flavor of sugar free davinci or torani syrup I feel like. I already had a ton of them for my coffee obsession, and recently added about 7 more fruit flavors to add to my yogurt. So, at least I have a large variety of flavors and don't get bored. If I can add a second scoop of the protein powder, that would be 32 grams per shake. Or hopefully soon I can get in at least one extra shake a day. I've just been so dehydrated from the walking that I've been doing more water/crystal light and not enough of the shakes.
On the scale, I'm generally down 2 pounds a day so far. I had gained back about 14 pounds after my last official weigh in, but forgot to weigh myself day of surgery, as I thought they'd do it at the hospital and was surprised they didn't. If I go by my last weigh in the week before surgery, I've lost 16 pounds (30 pounds from my highest weight). Woo!
Now, to go make the next protein shake, with 2 scoops of powder!