I had to be at the hospital at 5:15 in the morning, which means I was up at 4:15 AM. We live 30 minutes from the hospital, and I had to do a shower with special soap before we left for the hospital. I did not sleep well. However, my biggest anxiety was not about the surgery itself, but about the IV stick. Luckily for me, the nurse got my IV on the first try! She put it on the outside of my elbow. When I woke up from surgery, I had an additional IV in my forearm. I also had a bruise on each hand, because apparently they tried to start it in each hand first.
My surgery started at 7:15 AM, and I remember waking up in the recovery room by around 9:30 AM. I was in pain, nauseated, and my mouth and throat were so dry! At one point, a medical student came around asking if I was nauseous…suddenly I was the most nauseated that I had been! I started “dry heaving” but did not vomit because I had only eaten ice chips (too many of them). I learned very quickly that my new stomach could not accommodate large volumes of liquids!
I stayed in recovery for a long time. Apparently, they were waiting for my room to be ready. I got to my room around 3:00 PM. The floor nurse got my pain and nausea under control and I felt pretty good! I actually felt good enough to walk the halls with assistance at 5:00 PM! The most painful puncture was the “big” one that had to be opened up for my stomach to be removed.
I continued to get nausea medicine and pain medication on a regular basis overnight. I also got heparin (a blood thinner) in the subcutaneous tissue (just under the skin) every 8 hours. That was PAINFUL! OUCH! The blood thinner is given to prevent blood clots after surgery. It definitely works. When my forearm IV went bad the next morning and had to be pulled, blood ran down my arm and I needed a pressure dressing for awhile after removal.
The surgery resident (I was in a teaching hospital) made rounds at about 7:30 AM, and I had discharge orders by 10:00 AM! My husband and daughter picked me up around 1:30 PM, so I was home by 2:30 PM.
My job at home was to drink an ounce of fluid (water or another sugar-free beverage) every 10 minutes. After every 3rd time, I was to drink an ounce of protein shake. I was at very high risk for dehydration, and I also needed calories. So, that is what I had to do. If I tried to drink too much at a time, my new smaller stomach would let me know! OUCH!
I was even having some blurry vision, possibly because I rubbed my eyes too much in recovery and scratched my corneas a bit. I was needing narcotic pain medication (oxycodone) every 4 hours at home. I was not passing gas yet, so my gut was still “asleep” after surgery.
One really distressing thing that I did not expect was that I kept getting hiccups which were painful, I was burping a lot, and my stomach was constantly gurgling. The gurgling happened frequently, and even more after I had something to drink. The loud “sink drain” of gurgling was obnoxious, though not uncomfortable.
