Leaving Hospital

Well today I got to leave hospital and I was really looking forward to getting out.  Not that the staff had not been wonderful it was more that I wanted to feel like I was on the path to getting back to normal.

When I got up in the morning my IV was beeping telling me that the fluid was not going into a vein but into my arm again.  I called the nurse and she decided that since I was going home today and I was able to drink they would not put another one in.
This was great because it allowed me to have my first shower without an IV in my arm.  Because of where my canula was in my arm I could not bend my arm enough to brush my hair let alone wash it.  So it was great to be able to have a shower and wash my hair.  After that I felt like a new woman.

Normal check out time was 10 am but I was not discharged until 1pm.  I had to prove that I could drink a shake drink not just water and then I was given the all clear to go home.

Here is a photo of my stomach 5 days post surgery.  Most of the bruising is from where the base of each of the instruments sits and was not really that sore.

Now it is just time to sit back and relax and let my body heal.  That plus my 15 minute alarms for drinking will be my life for a while.

I really appreciate any comments you take the time to leave.  Feel free to ask questions.

If you are on this journey too or any other type of weight loss journey feel free to say hello and share your story.

Swallow Test and Finally Getting to Drink (If you can call it that)

During the night my canular tissued which basically meant that my IV fluids were going into the tissue of my arm not into the vein.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a very swollen arm and a nurse had to come and put a new one in my other arm.  My body will reabsorb all of the excess fluid over the next few days but I sure am glad I did not have m wedding ring on.

So today is the day we get to test out the holding ability of my new stomach and make sure there is nothing leaking out.  All going well and the X-Rays not showing any leaks I would be able to start drinking water later in the day.

At about 8am a nurse came with a wheelchair to get me and we set off for the X-Ray department.  I was still feeling a bit unwell from the anesthetic but it was definitely better than the past few days.
When we got to X-Ray i waited for a few minutes in the wheel chair in the waiting room before being wheeled into the actual X-Ray room.

Once there I had to stand in front of the X-Ray machine and the X-Rays were taken on 3 different angles. The Barium solution was given to me in a plastic glass and the instructions were that I had to take a small sip, hold it in my mouth until the radiologist told me to swallow.  I did this 3 times so they could get the 3 different angle X-rays.

I had heard that the barium solution tasted awful but that does not even begin to explain it.  It is some really foul tasting liquid that they try and disguise the taste of with a super sweet glucose solution type stuff.

After 4 days of not being able to drink anything at all it was a pretty awful first drink.  After the X-Ray they asked if I wanted to wash my mouth out with water.  YES PLEASE.

Thankfully the taste did not linger too long and was gone by the time I was wheeled back to my room.  I was starting to feel much better and so I chilled out watching TV until the nurses came and told me my X-Ray results were back and I was fine to start drinking.

At this stage I am allowed to drink 15mls of water every 15 minutes, which is basically half a shot glass so you can imagine that this is hardly quenching your thirst.  Because of how little you are able to drink I still had an IV in my arm but at a reduced rate.  To make sure I was remembering to drink every 15 minutes I used the timer on my mobile phone.

It was so good to be able to swallow liquid again and refresh my mouth but I know I am going to get sick of hearing that beep every 15 minutes.


I really appreciate any comments you take the time to leave.  Feel free to ask questions.

If you are on this journey too or any other type of weight loss journey feel free to say hello and share your story.

Hospital Stay

Let me tell you about the my hospital stay.  I had my own room with bathroom, visitors chair and TV with all the free to air channels as well as some pay TV channels too.

The day of my operation and the next 2 days were not the most fun times.  I am not someone who copes well with the after effects of anesthetic and it makes me very very nauseous.  My surgeon was aware of this and so were all of the nurses so they kept me well topped up with anti nausea medication.  Even still I felt really sick each time I got up to go to the bathroom and a coupe of times I started heaving.  This was something I was really worried about as I was concerned that I would damage the staple line on my stomach. Thankfully my stomach only heaved a couple of times and by the time I got back to bed it settled down.

The nurses were great and they made sure I always had my pain in check and was comfortable.  They encouraged me to get up and walk as often as I could and were always happy for a chat as they did their observations.  Dr Hatzafotis visited each day to check on my healing and to see how I was going.  I was happy to just rest since I was not feeling well and other than having a shower I did nothing at all for the first 3 days.  I stayed in a hospital gown for my entire stay as it was so much easier with the IV in my arm.  Plus I was not having visitors other than Hubby so I was not worried about how I looked.

I had my surgery on Friday morning and I was not having my swallow test (more about that in another post) until Monday so that entire time I was was nil by mouth.  So that means I was not even allowed to sip water. I had to be really careful when brushing my teeth as the temptation was there.  I never felt thirsty and I guess that is because the IV fluids were quite high.

Overall I was really happy with my hospital stay and all of the doctors and nurses were great.  I will tell you about the last 2 days of my stay next time.

I really appreciate any comments you take the time to leave.  Feel free to ask questions.

If you are on this journey too or any other type of weight loss journey feel free to say hello and share your story.

Operation Day

So was time to head off to hospital and this is how the day progressed.

I was first surgery of the day (8am) which means I had to be at the hospital at 6.30 am.  Because we live out in the country Hubby and I stayed at his parents the night before.  I was told that all I need to do before coming in was to have a shower and wash myself well with soap and water.
On arrival at the hospital I filled in some paperwork and paid my excess then there was a short wait in the surgical admissions area.  A nurse then came and got me and I was weighed and asked a series of questions. From there I was taken to a cubicle with a bed where I was provided with a hospital gown and some undies for surgery.  Thankfully these were not the paper undies that you may have hear of.  They were more like a pair of very stretchy hot pants made of what I can only describe as thick pantyhose material.
They were really comfy and meanwhile I was provided with a green bag like you would get at the supermarket, to put all of my clothes in.
I relaxed on the bed for about 15 minutes in which time a nurse came and did an ECG and another came and helped me get some pressure stockings on.  I was then visited by the anesthetist where I explained to him that I always felt very ill after anesthetic and he assured me they were all aware of it and would look after me.  A bit more of a rest and it was time to kiss Hubby goodbye as I was wheeled off to surgery.

Once in the surgical outer room I was met but a lovely nurse and the anesthetist again and I had a canular put in my arm.  I do remember lying there wondering if I was making the right decision but by then it was really too late and I knew that I had waited an entire year so I had thought this through and it was the right thing to do.  I was given an oxygen mask to put on and was wheeled into the operating theatre.  I was transferred to the operating table and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next thing I know I was waking up and my oxygen mask was being replaced with a nose plug.  The rest of the day is a bit of a blur but I do remember being woken every few hours for obs where I was required to provide my name and date of birth.  My pain medication and anti nausea medication we kept up to date and I was not in much pain at all, just a little uncomfortable.

From what I know my experience is pretty typical and all went smoothly for which I am glad.

I really appreciate any comments you take the time to leave.  Feel free to ask questions.

If you are on this journey too or any other type of weight loss journey feel free to say hello and share your story.