I've been sleeved!

Hello!  I'm home from the hospital!  I was released around 10:30 this morning.  I'm feeling pretty good and am getting around, slowly, but without much trouble.  Now, without further ado, here are the details!

I arrived bright and early at 5:30 am on Monday.  I was surprised how busy the hospital was at that hour with people going to surgery!  About 15 minutes after we got there, they called me back to the pre-op area to start prepping me.  They asked a bunch of questions, took a urine specimen and told me to go ahead and put on the lovely hospital gown.  Dr. Oldham came by and checked on me before the surgery to ask how I was doing and to go over things with me one more time.  They started my IV and gave me the Versed to relax me.   After a bit, my husband and 15 month old daughter were allowed to come back and see me before I was taken to the OR.  I don't remember much after that.

I woke up in recovery feeling like someone had punched me in the stomach and feeling very groggy.  I was told that I'd be taken to a room as soon as one was available.  They normally don't let family come to recovery, but since it was taking so long to get me in a room, they made an exception.  I was very happy to see my hubby again (he had since dropped our daughter off at daycare).  My mom had arrived at some point and got to sit with me for a bit too.  After what felt like an eternity to my family (me, not so much, because I was so out of it), I was finally moved to my (private) room.  I had some pain, but nothing intolerable.  They started giving me breathing treatments, because it is very important that you take deep breaths as much as possible.  I felt nauseous a few times, once in recovery and another time after I was in my room.  They gave me a dose of fenergan and it knocked me out!  Most of the rest of Monday is just a blur.

Tuesday I woke up feeling better.  Breathing treatments continued, and they drew some blood to see how my levels were.  Dr. Oldham visited early to check my incisions and again later to stress the importance of walking and using the incentive spirometer (which you should receive when you go for your next appointment).  He checked my incisions again and was pleased.  Oh, and I almost forgot.  I had a hiatal hernia that got fixed!  They removed my catheter yesterday morning and let me tell you, it felt good to go to the bathroom on my own!  I got up and walked around the nurse's station several times, and while I was weak, it was nice to be up out of the bed.  I got food, albeit liquid, yesterday for the first time.  I was not hungry at all, but I drank two of the protein shots (dilute them with water!) and some water and broth.  Only had a few bites of Jell-o.  They kept pumping fluids in me via the IV, so I had to get up to use the bathroom quite a few times.  You most likely will need help to get to the bathroom since you'll be connected to the IV stand, etc.

Today I woke up feeling even better than yesterday.  A lot of the soreness had gone away.  When the nurse came in this morning, she said that Dr. Oldham would most likely say I could go home today.  Sure enough, he came in, checked my incisions again and said to be as active as possible (within reason) and stay hydrated.  He also wanted me to continue to use my spirometer to increase my lung capacity.  I was free to get dressed, take the heart monitor off and just wait until my hubby got there.

Now I'm just sitting here typing this, sipping some broth and some water.  I'm getting up and walking around periodically while my mom sits here with me.  All in all, I'd say the first day and a half were the roughest.  And the removal of the drain is probably the worst experience of all of it.  But I don't regret anything (yet!) and am happy I went through with this.  Don't let any of my experiences scare you.  I just wanted to be completely honest and up front about how things proceeded.

Thanks for reading!