Day 0 - Day 2

So, with my lack of changes, I thought I would put into the blog what my binder guidelines are telling me about gastric bypass.

Day 0 - Surgery Day - Take a shower, arrive at the hospital at the appointed time, have surgery.  Pretty easy in short words, but mentally, wow.  It was a lot.  I kept thinking, is this really happening.  I can stop this.  I can leave.  But I didn't let myself vocalize my anxiety.  I didn't let myself do anything I shouldn't, just listened to the hospital staff as they weighed me, IV'd me, injected me, moved me to the OR, put a mask on my face... left me in recovery, rolled me to my room, told me to transfer myself the 5 steps to the hospital bed.  Then I slept a lot.  No food on surgery day, just a glucose drip.

Day 1 - Grape Popsicle, so early in the morning!!  I have no idea what time it was.  If I could eat it and keep it down, time to move onto clear liquids.  Success.  Food for the day consisted of sugar free gelatin, broth, 50% diluted apple juice.  Two meals in the hospital, one at home.  I could barely drink anything all day, but since I had the IV in for over half the day, not a big deal.

Day 2 -  The day was supposed to consist of four 8 ounce protein shakes plus four cups of water or crystal light.  That didn't happen.  Day two was lousy.  For details, read Day 2 Post-Op - A really bad day.

At this point, the binder goes into detail on specific discharge and recovery instructions.

Recovery - I may be weak and tired, but try to be as active as possible.  Avoid sitting and standing without moving for long periods, i.e. we don't want you to get blood clots.  Perform 10 ankles pumps per hour to help prevent clots, and use spirometer every hour to help prevent pneumonia.  Avoid lift more than 20 pounds and do not vacuum or mow the lawn for two weeks.  You may travel in the car when you feel up to it, but no driving until you are completely off pain medication.

I did pretty good at this.  I was much more faithful with the spirometer than the ankle pumps.  But that darn lingering cough had me worried.  Thankfully, it is gone now.  I did not vacuum for two weeks, it drove me crazy!  Dog hair everywhere.  Yesterday, I swept the whole house and was happy to do so.

Pain Medications - Stay on top of the pain.  Pain medications work better at warding off pain than they do at stopping it once it has begun.  Cut the pills in half, wait 30 minutes and then take the other half.

No problems here.

Time Off Work - Plan on 2-4 weeks.  Less for sedentary jobs, more for active jobs.  Some extremely active jobs may need up to 6 weeks.  You are cautioned not to return to work too early.  You need time to recover, acclimate to your new digestive system, exercise, and get support.

No problems here either.

Personal Hygiene - You may need someone at home to assist you the first few days.  Flushable baby wipes are gentler as well as a peri-bottle.  You could also use a small sports-top water bottle.  A long handled sponge can be useful.

Thank God I had no problems here.  Able to do what I needed by myself without special equipment.

Incision Care - The incisions will need minimal care.  If you had sutures, they will dissolve.  If you had tape, leave it on until it falls off.  Wear loose clothing so the incisions are open to the air.  Keep them dry and clean.  You may shower with soap and water, but do not scrub them.  Pat the area dry.  No tub soaking for 3 weeks.

Signs of infection: incision is reddened, swollen, leaks pus, has red streaks, has yellow/green puss-like and/or odorous drainage, feels increasingly sore, or if you have a fever above 101.5 F.  Check your fever twice a day for ten days.
Signs of something wrong other than incision infection:  fever above 101.5 F, increased belly pain, persistent vomiting or diarrhea, shortness of breath, new leg swelling or new leg pain.  If any of these occur, call your surgeon right away, we have an after hours and weekend on-call doctor.  So call immediately!  Do not use any antibiotic ointment or other ointments on your incision.

I had a very successful surgery and outcomes with regards to recovery.  I did check my fever.  Especially with the green stuff I was coughing up.  But all was well.

Drainage Tube (if present) -   You will need to drain the small bulb at least three times a day, or when it gets half full.  Write down the amount of drainage.  Call the doctor if the drainage changes from pink to green or brown.  Do not soak in the tub as long as the drain tube is present.  normal drainage will change from bloody to pink to a clear yellow.

My doctor does not do the drainage tube unless circumstances warrant it.  His partner does for every surgery... phew close call!

Tomorrow will be Day 3 - 9, unless something more interesting happens to write about.

Also, my Mom came through surgery just fine.  :)