Home Sweet Home

I had my gastric bypass surgery on Monday, June 6. I came home on Wednesday, June 8. In retrospect, I should have stayed at least one more night,as I have not felt good since I got home. I understand, as I have been told, there may be some depression post-surgery. What I have is more frustration than depression. The surgery went very well, according to my surgeon. My numbers were all good, which is why he said I could go home Wednesday, if I wanted to. Since I hadn't slept -- really -- since I got there, I thought I'd be much more comfortable at home, in my own bed. Wrong! With a LOT of help from Kerry, I was able to get in to my bed, but, once there, I couldn't move without being in excruciating pain. That is my own fault, because I didn't want to take the vicodin I was prescribed for pain. I took plain old tylenol, which did absolutely nothing to alleviate pain. But I was afraid of the vicodin. My mother couldn't take it without being sick. My kids can't take it without getting sick. Why, oh why did he prescribe vicodin when percoset was working just fine while I was in the hospital???? That was frustration number 1. I hate pain meds, but if I have to take something, I would rather have had the percoset... the one I knew would work and not make me sick. But, since day 2 at home, I have been taking the vicodin... every 5-6 hours... and not getting sick... yet. Maybe because it's not actually going through my stomach... not sure. But, it's working and, finally, by day 5 post-op, I'm starting to feel somewhat like myself and not getting so frustrated with not being able to do things I think I should be able to do for myself. I really hate relying on Kerry for stupid stuff. I really really hate that. And he's been so sweet, helpful and compassionate. He really is my hero, my pal, my lifesaver and human tranquilizer. 

Frustration number two is this damned drain that I still have attached to me. Sorry, if this grosses you out, but let me explain what this drain is. Apparently, during the surgery, there was a lot of liquid (saline??? not sure what) sprayed into my abdomen to flush out blood or whatever they need to flush out. The surgery was done laparascopically, so all that extra fluid had nowhere to go. The drain was attached to remove the extra fluid in there. It is attached to me by a narrow clear rubber tube on the left side of my belly. Attached to the 12" or so long tube is an egg shaped rubber container that holds 100 millileters of fluid... not too big, but big enough to see under my clothes. About every 6-8 hours, I need to empty it, measure the amount, and record it. This drain is the ONLY thing that hurts... and it REALLY hurts. I have to pin the container up to my undies, so it's not dangling down there by my knees and when I sleep I have to make sure I'm not on it. It's very uncomfortable and I'd like to just rip it out, but I won't. I go to the surgeon's office next Thursday and he can take it out.

Frustration number three: I'm having trouble getting my Carnation Instant Breakfast down. I'm supposed to have three envelopes each day. I can't even get one down. Almost instantly, after taking a sip, I get horrible gas pains, but I try to endure it, as this is my only source of nutrition at this time. By the time I'm halfway through the cupful, which takes approximately one hour, I'm so sick with gas pains that I can't drink any more. I'll go for a little walk around the house, but that doesn't help. As soon as I sit down, they're worse than ever. As a result, I'm not getting the nutrition I need. And that's very frustrating. If it keeps up, I'm going to call the doctor Monday.

Frustration number four: I'm freakin' exhausted!! The littlest effort I exert for anything forces me to lay down and have a nap. I'd been waiting for a package of clothing I'd ordered for the kids. It came while I was in the hospital, so I thought I'd open it yesterday and take a look at the clothes, which I did. I took each piece out, looked it over, then put them all back in the box. I took a 2-hour nap afterwards. I was soooooooooo tired!

I DID finally have a shower yesterday! Yay! I was beginning to ferment, I think! That made me feel sooooooo much better, until I tried to get a Carnation Instant Breakfast down. ::sigh::

So, here I am, day 6 post-op, and it's the first day I've felt like sitting at the computer and posting an update. And, as Kenny Chesney sings, "Breathing in and out's a blessing, can't you see; today's the first day of the rest of my life and I'm alive and well; I'm alive and well."