It's Done! I'm Banded! Now The Fun Begins :)

Hey Y'all,

Well I made it!  We arrived at the Hospital at 5:45am for a 6am check in time.  DH & I were taken back almost immediately & I was weighed in, (gasp).  But even with my jeans on, I only weighed 211.4, (yippee)!!  We were expecting my weight to be higher since we had gone to dinner the night before, & I had a nice Fillet Mignon with 1/2 a baked potato & a small dinner salad, not to mention the fantastic piece of cake for dessert!!  So my weight was back to what I weighed on our home scale, just before we left our house Wednesday morning to drive to Reno, & after I had already drank a Protein shake.  :)

I was sure my weight would have gone up from the dinner the night before, not down (go figure)!!  Anyway, I was taken back to my station where I was prepped for Surgery.  They gave me this huge gown that was in risk of falling off my shoulders if I move too much.  But it was comfortable.  I would rather have it too large, than too small & showing parts even my mother hasn't seen in years!! LOL.

The Nurse assigned to me for Surgery Prep, was really sweet.  Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get my IV started on the first try, so instead of attempting it several more times, causing me pain, she immediately requested a more experienced Nurse take over to put in my IV.  The 2nd Nurse got it in on the 1st try!!  And I don't have a bruise from it either!!  Shortly after, the Surgical Nurse came in to introduce herself & discuss the procedure.  She also introduced a student Surgical Nurse & asked my permission to allow her to attend my Surgery as a learning experience.  Of course, I said ok.  My DH began taking pictures of all the different Nurses for me.

Then the Anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself & go over my records, etc. (we found out that he was actually the Head of Anesthesia at the Hospital, so I had the top guy in charge of my Anesthesia!).  When he found out that I had both, Obstructive Sleep Apnea as well as Central Sleep Apnea, & that I was to go home the same day, he asked if I would be willing to stay overnight for observation.  We said that if they felt it was in my best interest & the Insurance would approve it, that I would of course stay the night.  So he went to discuss my case with my Surgeon, Dr Mark Kozar.

After discussing my case together, they came back in & said that because my Central Sleep Apnea periodically causes my Brain to not send signals to breath, & because the heavy pain medication causes the general body functions to slow down, including respiration even further, they were concerned that my Bi Pap Machine alone may not force me to start breathing again.  So they felt it best to keep me overnight the first night, when I would be most likely to use the heavier dose of medication so they could monitor my oxygen levels. 

Probably a good thing, because if I wasn't using the oxygen through the canola (Nose).  Every time I began to fall asleep, my breathing slowed way down (if not stopped altogether) & I wasn't getting enough oxygen.  Then my Oxygen Monitor would start flipping out.  So I had to use the Oxygen through the canola (Nose).  When I was ready to go to sleep (or at least attempt sleep), I began using my Bi Pap Machine, but then again, my Oxygen levels dropped below their acceptable level, so someone from the Pulmonary Department came in & hooked me up to the Oxygen Unit through my Bi-Pap Machine!  So DH & I are thinking that we may want to discuss this with my Pulmonogist to see if I should be using oxygen every night as well.  Something to think about at any rate.

Anyway, I digress again.  After the Doctor came in to discuss what was going to happen with everyone involved, in my little space, DH began taking pics again.  So I got a picture taken with my Surgeon as well.  Then, they wheeled me into the OR.  I always forget how cold it is in those rooms!!  My body was shaking uncontrollably.  But I don't remember too much other than that, as I was knocked out pretty quick!

During the Surgery, the Doctor discovered that I did have a Hiatal Hernia, so he went ahead & fixed it.  Isn't that great, that I got two Surgeries for the price of one!!??  I didn't even know that I had one.  It didn't show up in the Upper GI test, although I did have some of the symptoms.

I came out of Surgery easily, so they told me, as I don't remember it.  Apparently I had requested ice chips while I was waking up.  After awhile, I did start to realize where I was, but the effects were really very minimal compared to some of my past Surgeries.  I was really glad at that.  I usually come out of Anesthesia with cracked, chapped lips.  Not this time!!!  I did not have any of the bad effects of Anesthesia, like Nausea. 

I also haven't had any gas pains as yet.  Is this normal?  Or does the gas pains come later?  I really hope that if I don't have them as yet, I won't get them, at least not bad.  The only pain I have had so far is where the Portal was placed.  Which is what I was expecting.  So, if I don't get the gas pains, I can live with the normal Portal pain.  From reading everyone's blogs, I REALLY HOPE I DON'T GET THE GAS PAINS!!! 

Anyway, I was digressing again.  Once it was clear that I was waking up enough to be able to communicate, etc., they called to advise they were ready for me to go to a room.  Since I wasn't originally expected to stay the night, they didn't have a room immediately available, so we had to wait for a room.  Then I was transported to my room.  Once we got to the ward where my room was to be, my DH was standing there waiting for me.

Up until that time, I was fine.  But once I saw him, looking at me with so much concern on his face, I just couldn't hold in the emotions & tears started to well up in my eyes.  Did I ever mention that I am a very emotional person?  I am one of those that can cry at the drop of a hat.  I cry reading books, I cry watching TV, Movies, TV Commercials, etc, etc, etc.  My dad never had to even spank me growing up (and this was back when corporal punishment was acceptable.  When if you were out in public, & your child was misbehaving, you were looked down on if you didn't spank the child.  This was when teachers had the authority to spank you if necessary).  Anyway, he never had to spank me, all he had to do was say he was disappointed in me, & I would bawl my eyes out!  So, it took me a few minutes to get my composure back.  After all, I was alive, & in very little pain, compared to what I was expecting.

Of course, the reason I was feeling little pain at that time, was because I had just been given a double dose of liquid Vicodin before leaving Recovery.  Which in turn made me very drowsy shortly after being settled into my room.  My poor DH, had to sit there & watch me go in & out of sleep for a while.  So I finally convinced him to go get himself something to eat & relax before bringing my Bi Pap Machine back to the Hospital for me to sleep with.  I was lucky though, my room was designed to be a Semi-Private room, but no one was brought in while I was there, so I had to whole room to myself.  Anyway, unless I can think of something that I left out, this is my Surgery/Hospital story.  Hopefully, it will help someone else down the road.

We came back to our Hotel room after leaving the Hospital & originally didn't intend to go to the lunch at the Buffet.  But by the time Walt was ready to leave, I was feeling ok, so I decided to go.  We had a great time & I had my first meal out that wasn't clear liquids in the Hospital.  I am lucky in that my Surgeon only required clear liquids the first 24-48 hrs after Surgery.  Since I was having so little trouble, & had no nausea, etc. I had a spoonful of cottage cheese, a spoonful of beans, a spoonful of mashed potatoes with gravy & a few spoonfuls of the filing of a piece of key lime pie.  I was satisfied, not full.

Then about 3 1/2-4 hrs later, I was hungry again, so my DH & I walked into the Hotel/Casino area & had dinner.  I had some tuna from a tuna sandwich (no bread) (about 1/4 c) & a few pieces of cantaloupe & honey dew melon.  That was about 4:30, & it is now 8 pm, & I am still satisfied.  It really hit me today, that I really need to figure out how to eat differently!!  I knew it, but now that the Surgery is done, it is a different story living with it!

Well, I am sure that there is something that I am leaving out, but I am really tired & can't remember everything.  I have only had abut 3-4 hrs of sleep each night for the last 3-4 nights.  When we get home, I will download the photos & upload them in a day or two.  I am going to try to read some blogs tonight, before I fall to sleep.  So I may not get caught up for a couple of days.

Aloha My Friends  :)