Two Weeks Post-op

So! The big scary day is over with, and it's been exactly 14 days since surgery. Where the hell do I start?!?!

So we woke up surgery day (Nov 3) at about 4:45am to shower, pack the car, and start the drive. I wasn't feeling too nervous, but I think that my denial soothing me. My brother and Mitch were driving me to the hospital, and I felt it pretty inappropriate to lose it and break down in front of them both. I held it together, but barely.. All in all surgery day didn't work out too badly. We had a laugh and a joke about the ridiculous gowns, and one particular nurse who was the most frustrating person we'd ever met. She hassled us, lectured me, and couldn't even tell me what meds were in the little paper cup that I was handed. All in all the stupidest nurse I've met.
I got driven down a few floors in my flashy wheelchair, and surgery was halted because I hadn't been given a mandatory pregnancy test. G-sus. Ridic. We all stood around waiting for the results. Considering I have never done a preggo test before, and even though I knew I wasn't pregnant, it was kind of nerve wracking anyways. The Nurse came in with the "Congratulations! You're not pregnant!", we all had a few cheers, and off I went into the operating room after a few kisses and hugs. I got my IV, and without even as much as a heads-up about the meds, I felt pretty woozy and said to my nurses "I guess this is it, see ya soon." That's about it.

Now the post-op part begins.
No one explains to you before surgery, that they use some sort of dye in your stomach to test for leaks, that will eventually make you dry-heave yourself into oblivion and make you think that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. No, they neglect to tell you that. My first memory of the surgery being over, was reaching around with my eyes closed for something to wretch into. I never want to experience that particular moment ever again.
The other thing I didn't expect was the phenomenal amount of pain I had in the middle of my chest. Now I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but fuck me, I thought I was having some kind of heart attack or something. The nurse happily informed me I was maxed out with 4 units of morphine, and that she'd give me something for heartburn. Eff-off missy. This is not heartburn. If this is heartburn then I think I may actually be on fire.
The drive up to my room was pretty hilarious. I remember not being at all awake, but having to hold a door open for the nurse because she kept crashing me into every single object in the hallway.. They should have to take a course on that, because obviously it's a struggle. I got to my room and ta-da, was given more morphine (thank heavens), and struggled to keep my eyes open while my family sat around me. I felt kinda horrible that everyone had driven so far, and all I could do was mumble incoherently every-so-often. Ah well.
Eating didn't go particularly well on Day 1, as there was a lot of discomfort, and after a few spoonfulls of jello, I decided to abandon ship for the day.
I don't want to say "those were the only bad things," because it sort-of sounds like a lot, but it's true. I wouldn't want to relive any of those feelings, but it was only for a dayandabit, and everyday that followed things got better.

Let me say, the best thing I did in the hospital was order the tv package. I read something another GB patient said about "don't bother bringing books, you won't be interested".. I thought it was bullshit because I love to read, and had brought three books in case I got bored of one, but I had literally no interest in sitting up and using my hands to entertain myself. For the first two days it was pretty nice to hang out in the motorized bed with Mitch and catch up on all the tv that we miss, but by day 3 I was DYING to get out of there. My back was sore from the stupid bed, my pain meds had been cut off so I wasn't sleeping very well, my IV was sore and I was sick of pushing around the stupid thing anytime I had to pee, dress, or walk anywhere.. My prayers were answered when Dr. Neil made a quick call to Dr. Huyhn to see if I could be discharged, and woohoo, I could- but on one condition. I had to stay in Alliston for 2-3 days after surgery just incase anything would go wrong.. They believed Orono was too far to drive to the hospital if I was having any kind of complication. Fack.. Everything I needed for recovery was in Orono at my mums.. We had no food, no clothes unpacked, nothing.. So we spent the minimal 2 days in Alliston and rolled on home to Orono for some down-time and relaxation.

And I guess here we still are! Week one consisted of a "full fluid" diet, where I could only have things that are dairy based and strained of all chunky bits, and today is the start of my pureed diet, where I can eat foods from all food groups and blend it all up. Thank god.

So, it has been an eventful two weeks, but a pretty good two weeks all in all. I sleep a lot and watch a lot of movies, and too much exercise makes me super tired, which is to be expected. When they say "do nothing for 3 weeks minimum", it's kind of hard to do that!! I've been cheating with that probably too much, but oh well. Such is life.

So, onto the weights I guess!

Nov 3/09', surgery day- 272.2
Nov 9/09'- 263.4 (first logged weight after surgery)
Nov 13/09- 261.2
Nov 17/09- 259.3

The Eve

So.. Tomorrow, eh? Holy shit this has crept up fast.
I guess tomorrow will be the start of a new life, pretty much. New rules, new outlook, new me. That's kinda a lot to take in.. Oh well. I'm trying to be optimistic and happy about this, but the worrying portion of my mind takes over sometimes..

I know that everything will go fine, and tomorrow I will be happy and dandy. I just have to get through tonight, and then tomorrow morning (which I anticipate as the worst part!!! too much waiting...)

We're about to take a "before" picture, as photo 1 in the journey.

Fingers crossed.

Weight Nov. 2- 272.0