Day 2

Day 2  started out pretty good, but once they took the catheter out I couldn't urinate by myself. That evening around 7:00 PM the nurse had to put a new catheter in and it was not fun at all. I also started in on extreme gas pains in my stomach., back and neck. I was fairly miserable all night and couldn't find a comfortable position. One of the nurses located me a heat pad and that helped somewhat.  Finally at 6am I asked the nurse if I could get up and walk around. She helped me tuck the catheter up out of sight and I did a couple laps around the ward.  I was still in a lot of pain, but it was time for my pain medication s I asked to sit in a chair instead of getting back in that bed. Now that they have taken me off of the pain pump, I am no longer in that pain-free, rosy place where all is easy.

I have found that ice chips are my friend. My throat keeps going so dry with a lot of nasty phlegm, but the ice chips are helping to keep that lubrication gong.  They have the chewy ice too that is easy on my teeth. I think sonic sells this stuff by the bag so I think I will see if we can pick me up some when I go home.

Now I am starting day 3. I'm not sure if I get to go home today because the catheter issue might have set me back a day. But I am hopeful that walking will help.

Surgery

I am officially on the other side. My surgery weight is 247. 

My husband Jim and I arrived at the hospital on the15th of November around 7:15 to get me checked in for surgery. Everything seemed to work as planned with my surgery time of 9:30 AM. Everyone was very nice and thorough and before too long I was being wheeled to the OR. Up until this point I had very little anxiety and in fact had not needed any medication to relax me, but once they put me over onto the surgical table, I did begin to feel some anxiety. It really didn't take very long from that point that they had me breathe in some oxygen and I was losing consciousness. 

The next thing I remembered was waking up in recovery, needing to cough and having a painful heavy feeling in my upper left side. A nurse was there, talking me through everything and giving me pain medications to ease my discomfort. She was great. My blood sugars were a whopping 389 though!  The nurse gave me a small chunk of ice to roll around n my mouth and it was heavenly.   Eventually she was able to assign me to a room on the 6th floor.  At this point it was 2:30 in the afternoon so I had spent 5 hours between surgery and recovery. 

I was still in quite a lot of pain, but the nurse had hooked me up with a pain pump so that I could self-administer pain medicine as needed. When they had to transfer me over to my new bed it was quite shockingly painful for a moment, but improved quickly. 

Jim was waiting in my room and after the nurses left him and I alone for a few moments he told me what Dr. Korn had shared about the surgery. It all went fine except for the fact that my spleen was connected to my stomach because it was sharing some blood vessels and tissue that had strangely developed, so they needed to remove some of my spleen.  Because of this, I was on total bed rest that day, and unable to start walking around or drinks no any water or food. 

I really am not in any way hungry and they did supply me with a small sponge and a cup of water that I can use to moisten my gums and tongue,and that has helped immensely. Plus, they provided me with an oral spray that hydrates my mouth as well. 

It was great to see my husband and visit with him. I am sure it was difficult for him to see me so highly medicated and in some pain.  Dr. Korn came in to fill me in the details of my surgery and indicated that because of the little complication, I would likely stay an additional day. 

Jim left for a couple hours to let me get some rest, and the groggy way I was feeling I soon did. He returned later with Trey and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Soon after that Brandon, Elisha and their darling little grandsons came to visit, also bringing another gorgeous bouquet of flowers. 

Jim said goodbye to me about an hour later and I have been in and out of it ever since. I am fortunate in that I haven't had any nausea so far. The gas pains have been minimal. I haven't had to swallow anything yet, so it's been a true day of fasting. The strangest experience so far is that I must be swallowing some air and my sleeve doesn't have the capacity to hold it, so I can feel it working its way back up with little burps. 

It's 2:14 in the AM as I am writing this so I should probably try to sleep some more. The nurses check on me frequently so there isn't solid sleeping as it is   I did want to mention before I end though is that they are giving me insulin and my last reading was 250. Crazy high numbers. 

Pre-Surgery Appointment

Last Thursday I had my pre admission and pre surgery appointment with the surgeon.  This is finally happening!  I found the building downtown after I was re-routed 3 times due to wonky streets in downtown Boise.  The pre-admission process was really simple.  They wanted blood, asked my medical history and that's about all.  I then went to the surgeon's office to meet with him.  I expected an exam of some sort, but nothing like that occurred.  He spoke with me about stopping certain medications the day before and day of surgery and my liquid diet the day before.  So, I asked him a few questions I had prepared:

• When should I exercise?  Gradually, as I feel I am ready.  Mostly walking to begin with
• How long in hospital?  2 nights most likely
• CPAP? Use at least a month after surgery
• Next visit after surgery?  one week
• Constipation or gas pains?  Colace for constipation and walking for gas
• What should my goal weight be?  170 to start--don't be wrapped up in numbers
• What medications?  He gave me a few to avoid the night before and morning of.

Next Monday I will go to a pre-bariatric surgery workshop.  It lasts for 2 hours on the eve of my surgery.  I invited Jim to come with me, but it is doubtful he will want to come along.  And, that's fine.  He is my support system, but quite honestly, he also will not be around that much in my 1st 6 weeks because his job takes him away.  I think I am pretty self-efficient enough to handle everything.  I also have Trey here during most of it if I get in a pinch.

I am going to be off work for 6 weeks!  What a wonderful thing!

I have my surgery date

It's been a fairly drawn out process, but I finally have my surgery date!  Pre-approval came through on Monday and yesterday, the nurse called me to say they were ready to schedule me.  I am going to have this done on November 15th.  That is 2 weeks away!  This Thursday I need to go have my pre-op appointment.  They will run some lab work, and EKG and I am not sure what else.  Then after that, I will meet with the surgeon and he will do my last exam before surgery.  I also do not know what to expect at that appointment, but at this point, I am up for what they bring.

What a relief to have it in the works now!

I feel like I have a lot to do before.  I am not even sure where to start, but I think it's going to be quite a ride.  Oh!  The nurse did say the doctor would prefer 4-6 weeks before returning to work.  I told her that my work will pay for the full 6 and she advised that be what I take then.  With that being the case, since the 11th is a holiday, the 10th is my last day of work.  I have tons of stuff to get done at work before I leave.  It looks like I won't be back until the Tuesday after Christmas.

Its time to get ready for work, so I will just leave this here.

Happy Halloween!

With today being Day 7 of the wait for pre-approval for my weight loss surgery, I took the initiative to make some phone calls this afternoon.  I first called the surgeon’s office to enquire if they had heard anything.  They hadn’t, but reminded me that bluecross blueshield can take 2 weeks to process pre-approvals.  So, I called the insurance company and it was there!  The woman I spoke with said it just showed up a few minutes ago and so she opened it up and read the approval letter to me.  Yay….I quickly called the insurance specialist at the surgeon’s office, but it went to voice mail and it was in fact about 15 minutes to 5, so I don’t expect anyone would answer the phone.  I believe I can assume I will be getting a call tomorrow to schedule my surgery date.  Happy Halloween!!

Blah Day

I challenged myself to re-read my blog so far and find my motivation and excitement for the upcoming surgery.  My hope was to recharge my batteries and get myself back into the right groove to make this a success.  Here are my conclusions:

• I am a moaner and a groaner
• My weight issues have probably been directly associated to my attitudes
• I seem like an unhappy person
• I don’t have much stick-with-it
   
  My biggest thought on this realization is, I accept that I have been disappointed over and over again in life.  People have disappointed me, I have disappointed me, situations don’t always go as planned and life really isn’t a golden storybook where everything is laid out and we all live happily ever after.  I have met people that seem golden.  They glow with health and happiness, they seem to say the right thing at the right time, they appear to walk through life with little conflict outwardly, they don’t appear to be self-destructive or negative.  Amazing people who you either look up to or envy.  But, there are no perfect lives.  Everyone has trials and tribulations.  I think that some are able to handle these trials with more grace and composure.
   
  As for me, I am a trainwreck!
   
  I also have had a few comments lately from people who know me, have learned of my pending surgery and tell me that they haven’t really seen me as someone who needs a surgery like this.  I find that a little interesting because while I see myself as a behemoth, I know that I am not.  I am in a class of obesity, and seem to have no success with losing enough weight on my own or reaching a level where there is improvement with my health.  It is what it is.  I need to finish what I’ve started.
   
  I have a fairly good idea that once I get the call that I am all approved and ready to schedule my date for surgery, I will snap out of this funk.  So, snap out of it already!

My Pre-Op is winding down

I received news that my information was submitted to insurance on October 20th, which as of today, makes 4 business days.  The insurance average is 7-10 business days for their turn-around, which of course could be sooner, as they always want to give the longest time frame to cover all deviations.  I am expecting the 10 day scenario, but hopeful that it is less.

There is a girl at work that is about a month behind me in this process.  She has had to attend the 6 month pre-op diet classes (where I didn't have to) but she was told the doctor schedules 2 weeks out.  With all things being equal and going by that schedule, I could be looking at my surgery the week before Thanksgiving!

I almost don't know what to think or feel about everything.  I have been running on a lot of "let's get this done" energy and not very much focus on the reality of it actually happening,   I think I need to find a way to get in tune with the emotions and feelings that led up to this decision to begin with.  I think I will spend some time re-reading my previous posts and reminding myself of the whys.

Murphy's Law...again

Murphy's Law is basically the one where if something can go wrong, it probably will.  Which is me on replay...over and over again.  Last Friday, as I wrote earlier, very excitedly...the pulmonology doctor said I was released for surgery.  I point blank asked him how soon he would send that over to my surgeon.  He said he'd have his notes written up by lunch time.  I guess I should have made him be more specific on which day, lunch.  Ugh...

Two days of calling the surgeon to find out if things are ready for insurance...6 days after he told me he would fax information over...I find out he never did,.  They don't have it.  The insurance specialist with the surgeon said she would give them a call.

After about an hour of thinking about it, I also called the pulmonology office to discover...they still HAD NOT faxed it.  Then the big reveal of why they didn't became apparent when the girl on the other end said, "oh we don't have the doctor's fax number".  So, yeah.  My husband and I talked about this later...most likely someone looked at it, didn't see a fax number and added it to the bottom of the pile to be looked at another day.  Considering the things discussed in that appointment, I would have to agree that is exactly what happened because there were a couple follow up things the doctor recommended and a week later I have not heard a peep about that.  They made me do some blood work for something the doctor wanted to be looked at and he sent a new prescript over to Norco to change the settings remotely on my cpap.  None of those things have occurred,  I honestly don't care about those 2 things...but I DO care about the information getting to my surgeon,

So..while I had her on the phone, I made her wait while I LOOKED UP THE FAX NUMBER MYSELF online, and gave it to her, and she assured me she was sending it now.

Am I going to call tomorrow and check if they received it?  YES I AM.

Just frustrated.  One more week wasted.  Someday this won't matter, but right now, it matters.

Where it Stands

I finally had my appointment with the pulmonologist last Friday, concerning the results of my 30 day cpap usage.  He was pleased with the numbers I had pulled and said he would release me for surgery.  He was, however, concerned that I am not getting solid sleep at night and is afraid that there may be other reasons why this is.  I wish I had not said anything, because quite frankly, I have been this way for many years.  Perhaps all my life.  He made me take some blood tests to check my iron levels, and if they are low, he will have me take iron supplements.  If the iron is fine, he assumes it may be something else entirely and talked about a medication for parkinson’s disease,  that is supposed to help.  I honestly DO NOT want to take this medication and have been stressed ever since worrying about it.  Additionally, I have to see him again in another month to follow up with this issue.  Me and my big mouth.  If I had said all was fine, I don’t think this would be such an issue.

I am really despising the Cpap machine right now.  I can’t keep my mask on at night and I truly believe that is what is making me wake up all the time.  Last night was an exceptionally miserable night; waking about 3:30 AM and not being able to get the mask to stop leaking on me while it constantly slipped from beneath my nose.  I wonder if I need to talk to Norco about trying another mask.  There are things I really like about this one…but if it slips all night, then that is not a good thing!

So, this week I am hoping that my paperwork is getting compiled in readiness to go to the insurance company for approval.

A FIRST!

Today I received a voicemail from the Bariatric clinic.  Say what?  This is the first contact they have made with me since my initial appointment back in July.  They wanted to know when the pulmonologist was going to send the results of my cpap over so they can get my pre-op appointments scheduled.  What?  I immediately called them back and received a voicemail (of course) and told her they moved my appointment out to 10/7 from 9/28 due to the drama with Norco.  We can read about that awfulness here.  How did this make me feel?  LIKE I EXIST!  Suddenly it feels like they might want to give me this surgery after all.  Insert big smile!

And as for the Cpap...last night I registered a 0 for my AHI.  I didn’t even know a person could do that!  I want to try and figure out my average, but I have never been over a 2, so I am assuming it’s all going to be fine.  It better be fine.  This process is really a tough one!