July 24th, 2018!!! The day my life would change, I was joining as us weight loss surgery patients say the "losers bench".
The night before was tough,
July 23rd, 2018: I was super tired but just couldn't fall asleep. I was excited, nervous and my mind would just not shut off! I think I may have only gotten 3 hours of sleep but that was okay because I was going to be taking the best nap soon enough lol.
I had to take a shower and use this antiseptic soap which made my body a little dry and I couldn't put lotion on or anything, I got into my PJ's, sat on the couch and talked to my mom for a bit. Then it was time to go to sleep!
7/24/18
I opted to receive the Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) which is where they go in laparoscopic through 5 incisions and remove 80% of my stomach (and I mean literally take your stomach out of your body). My stomach went from a large stomach into a small skinny banana that can hold up for 1/2 cup of food at a time! This was the best option for my weight, age and problems I have had (acid reflex). They use a hot stapler to seal off the old stomach from the new stomach and your stomach will eventually grow over and absorb the staples. Research it if your interested, it's really cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZu93jiPmc
6:00am- Alarm went off and I didn't want to get out of bed. But i knew it was time to get up and take another shower, this time I couldn't put deodorant, body spray, hair spray, lotion or anything. I felt naked without deodorant at least.
7:00am- It was time to leave for the hospital, I had my overnight bag packed, new sheets on my moms bed (She let me stay in her bed because it was on the main floor) for when I came home the next day and made sure everything was set. Grabbed some water because I was aloud to drink only water until 2 hours prior to surgery, this helped a lot because my mouth was dry from being nervous.
8:00am- Check into the pre-op unit and waited in the waiting room until I was called back. Luckily while I waited I met a lady who was there with her daughter, this lady had had weight loss surgery 18 months before and looked amazing! She gave me some great pointers and eased my nerves.
8:10am- Katie Roderick, yep that's me! I had my mom hold my bags and wait in the waiting room until I was situated. I had the sweetest nursing assistant ever. She weighed me and it was in kg. I said what's that in pounds, she looked it up and BAM I lost the 40 pounds I needed to, so now we can continue with surgery. They took blood, I got in my gown, IV set up which was cool to see because they used the vein scanner so I could see the veins in my hand and everyone came in one at a time. Man the anesthesiologist was HOT hahaha. Then my mom and brother came in and sat and kept me company until the surgeon came in signed off on everything. I told my nurse that my IV was super uncomfortable and hurt badly. He was a jerk and just flushed it was saline.
9:55am Here is the best part, the nurse anesthesiologist comes in puts a patch behind my ear for my nausea, says they will give me Zofran right before I leave the OR to help with any side effects but the best part was she said Hi Katie my name is such and such want to hear something funny? I said sure, she told me she was the nurse anesthesiologist in my surgery when I had my tonsils out 5 years previous. That eased my nerves so much and I thought it was cool. I told her about my IV and she said as soon as I was asleep they would put a new one in where it wouldn't be painful and that way I wouldn't have to be awake and poked.
10:00am Surgeon comes in signs off and says see you soon! Then I gave my mom and brother hugs and said see you after surgery! They wheeled me off, I remember telling them once I got to the OR this is nothing like Grey's Anatomy, they all laughed and said your not the only one who thinks that ;) lol. As they where getting me moved and situated I remember talking to them and joking around and I felt at ease, I cried a bit from nerves and the last thing I remember was telling them be gentle with me hahaha. Next thing I know I am waking up to a nurse saying take deep breaths Katie, your out of surgery and in recovery!
My Surgeon told my mom everything went wonderful, my liver looked amazing, stomach was in great shape and there wasn't much fat content inside my abdomen, that I mainly had fat on the outside! He said those 40 pounds made a huge difference for my surgery and he was proud of me!
I remember asking for a little tray because I felt a little sick but nothing compared to my other surgery, I remember being in a little pain but not a lot. I don't even remember them taking me up to my room! I remember waking up in my room asking for nausea meds and seeing my mom which put a smile on my face!
My nurse told every other nurse how awesome it was to have me because I didn't need many meds to be handed out, I was laid back and I was up and walking 3 hours after going to my room. He said I was the easiest patient on his list! He was awesome!!!
My mom was sweet and brought me a super soft furry pillow to hug, and some super cute smaller sized bras because I have never been able to wear the cute ones just plain white ones hahaha and a sippy cup (they suggest drinking from a sippy cup for the first month to adjust your body to smaller slower sips). I love my mom! She stayed with me until about 7pm and then went home and came back the next day to bring me home! They brought me some sugar free apple juice and said I can't have no more then 1 little medicine cup an hour. My mom thought she was going to have to patrol me and watch me, let's just say it took me the whole time I was in the hospital to drink one of those small containers of juice lol.
The incisions where super small and not much pain, the only pain I had was from the gas they use to inflate your stomach during surgery, it was so uncomfortable and the pressure hurt. But getting up and I know TMI but passing gas or burping helped release the pressure. I remember waking up and asking where the fan came from and my mom said you said you where really hot so they brought you one. I also remember waking up and asking what the thing on my abdomen was, my mom said you said you had cramping and pain so the nurse brought you a gel heating pad lol. That heating pad was amazing, I so wish I could have brought it home! lol.
The next morning the resident came in removed my bandages, the staples they used to close the incisions and re-taped it. Then a few hours later I was discharged and ready to go home! I got home and literally slept the whole day! Didn't have much pain and only took like 2 pain pills post-hospital!
I'd say it was a pretty successful stay and surgery! But that's all for now! I will update you all later!
