5-30-06

It is Tuesday. I had a good weekend. I am still on the liquid diet. It is still going ok.

I weighed myself this morning and I weighed in at 339. That is 30 pounds from 369. Although it is not an official number, I will be getting an official number on Thursday when I visit the doctor.

This Thursday I get my staples out. These two weeks went fast. I hope that the next two weeks go fast so that the drain tube comes out. It is not like it hurts, but it does tend to get annoying once and a while.

I went for quite a long walk this morning. I was surprised that I kept up all the way without stopping to rest. I went for another car ride.

Overall I am feeling pretty good. I have nothing to complain about. Sleeping at night is not a problem. I can’t wait to be able to sleep in my own bed instead of the recliner. Medications are going well. The shots are getting better. I am starting to feel whole again.

I went to Walgreens today to fill my Thiamine prescription. It went well.

To make the time go by I have been watching DVD’s, working on the computer, reading, doing word finds, and calling people on the phone.

I will update again after my doctors appointment on Thursday morning!!

5-28-06

Hello! Today has been an ok day. It is hot outside. I am feeling ok today. Was tired this early after noon and took a 2 hour nap. I have been moving quite a bit. I even started walking down and up the stairs. I went for a car ride. I didn't drive. I was the passenger. It was nice to get out of the apartment.

Medications are going well. Even the shots.

Last night i slept pretty good. Took me a while before i fell asleep. Since the air conditioning is on my mouth gets quite dry at night. I have been counter-acting that with water. I woke up around 7:15 am.

After i took a shower this morning, i felt a little nauseous. I had to sit down for a while. It passed. I drank a little more water and then i felt ok. After that is when i took a nap.

I feel good this evening. I have noticed that the sugar free popsicles go down VERY easy. I have to get calories in somehow.

4 days until i get my staples out. Time seems to be going fast. This is good. I found places around the city where i can get my walking exercise done.

I have been passing time with walking and working on the computer. I have also been playing cards and reading. I have been watching some TV but TV gets old after a while.

5-27-06

Well its been over a week from surgery. I can't believe how much i have improved in just a week. I am feeling good today. I slept very well last night.

I weighed myself today. I was blown away. I had gained some weight in the hospital. I weighed 375 when i left the hospital. I weighed myself this morning and it was 350. That is 25 pounds. I couldn't believe it.

The liquid diet is still going ok. Its tough to be on an all liquid diet. I will be the first to contest to that. I have been eating sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles. Chicken broth (DON'T put extra salt in it). I have been drinking LOTS of water too. So much so that water and i have formed a bond....HA!

My spirometer level is at 3000 mL. This is better than pre-op.

The lovenox shots are doing ok. I will be honest. I can't wait to get those done with. Its not the needle, its just tough to keep a portion of the skin pinched and then stick the needle in.

All my other medications are doing well.

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and i can't wait to reach it!!!

5-25-06

Well I have been home for a full three days. I am doing well. I have been getting better every single day. I have been getting in my liquids like I have been told. Sipping water and being on a clear liquid diet has oddly enough been going well. I do not have food cravings and I do not get upset when other people around me are eating something.

I have also been taking it easy although I walk 4-5 times a day in the hallway where I live. Today I upped the laps to 2. It is good to get around. My back has been bothering me from sitting and laying down a lot.

I have not had any pain medicine since 10pm last night. This is the longest I have gone without it and right now I don't feel like taking any.

I have been taking my medication as instructed. The shots aren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. I don't even feel it. I have been getting some bruising from it but then again I haven't given my shots ever before this.

I just need to keep up with the walking and the liquids. A week from today I get my staples out. I am sure that will go fast. Three weeks from today I get my G-Tube out. I will be writing about the G-tube later on. It isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Nurses

This is Jess. She was the night RN. She was very nice during the night was very considerate especially when i was sleeping. Especially for those blood thinner shots at 1 am.


This is Jennifer. She was my case manager and RN for 3 of the 4 days i was at the hospital. She was really helpful and went over my scar when i was ready to look at it. She always their when i needed help.

Thank you Jennifer!!

The scar *WARNING* graphic image!!

If you are not prepared, please do not look at the picture. It is a picture of my scar. It contains 26 staples. looking at the picture, to the right there is the G-Tube. The G-Tube is currently inserted into my old stomach to drain the high acid digestive juices that may interfere with the healing of my new stomach pouch.

Day after the Surgery

I woke up around 5:15am. I sat in a chair where I was still eating ice chips. I can't tell you or describe how incredibly DRY. I got a visit from Dr Shapiro around 7:30 am. He okay'd the other nostril tube to come out. THANK GOD!! Dr Shapiro also instructed me to stop eating the ice chips and start sipping water. I had to get a least 50 ounces in that day. The goal was six glasses. Jennifer (my case manager and RN for the day) came in to remove the tube. WOW. It was long but it was out.

I got washed up around 8:15 and was moved to a private room at 9am. I then got up to take a walk. I was walking like a old man. It was quite a different feeling from the day before. I actually had a little energy and made it all the way to the elevators and back. I took a few seconds to break every little bit to catch my breath and to keep the energy up.

The walk kind of wore me out so I took a small nap from 10-11:15pm. Then Andy (another nurse) came in to give me some medication through the G-Tube. Celebrex and Tylenol. These medications are an anti inflammatory. That along with the epideral really helped with the pain. I hardly felt any pain. Andy also removed the bandages around the scar. And replaced the dressing around the G-tube. When the bandage around the scar was removed, it hurt quite a bit. The stomach muscles felt week and couldn't keep up with the tearing of the bandage. She also flushed the G-tube after the medicine was injected.

Dr Shapiro came in again around 5:30pm. He instructed that the JP drain tube will be removed tomorrow. I will also be weaned off the epideral and also the urine catheter will be removed.

Very uneventful day. The nurses came in regularly to take vitals, temperature, and check my oxygen level. Always good. I also got a blood thinner shot every 8 hours.

Day of the surgery Part 2

Surgery took roughly 3 hours. At 10:50 the nurse came out and told Jeff that he was closing me up and at 11:30 Dr Shapiro came out and told Jeff that everything went well. I was in recovery for 2 hours. I woke up for a little bit and the nurse said that the surgery went well. I DIDN'T feel any pain at all. I was wrapped so tight in blankets. Then the rolled me up to my room on the surgical care unit around 1:15. I was still out of it but I could hear talking. I came to around 2pm. See below. This is a picture of me right after I woke up.

I had to nostril tubes in inserted. They did remove one of them when I woke up but the second one didn't come out til the next day.

At 6pm that night they got me out of bed. I tried to walk. I walked to out the door and then had to turn around and go back. I think my blood pressure dropped because I felt to weak and the my hearing started to go. They put on me on oxygen and then I started to feel better.

I then sat up in my chair for a few hours. They had to fix my IV because the vein in my arm must have stopped working. My hand began to swell. The switched arms. They put the IV in my hand and worked very well.

I went to bed around 10 pm that night and slept choppy most of the night.

Stay tuned for Day 2...........

Day of Surgery

I will be writing as much as i can. Bare with me because it gets to be uncomfortable to sit at the computer for long periods of time.
Above is a picture of me right before i was wheeling into anesthesia. I arrived at the hosptial at 4:55 am. Walked to the center of surgical care. Got checked in at 5:10 am and then they sent me to a private preparation room. I got changed into the hospital gown, robe and slippers. The Nurse, Heather, was awesome with taking care of me. She got me all prep'd, took some blood, got myt vitals, and pre op weight (which was 363) and then explained to me what would be happening before during and after surgery. I received a shot of blood thinners to decrease the chances of a blood clot. I was then rolled into anesthesia at 6:30 am. They couldn't find a vein to stick the IV tube so the woman in the anesthesia room found it. They let me lay there for a little bit. I was extremely COLD in that room and they were throwing WARM blankets on me to keep me warm. The anesthesialogist came in to talk to me and explained how the epidural worked. I got a visit from Dr Shapiro and he reviewed all my paperwork. The Anesthsialogist injected me with some of the calm down medicine. I felt loopy and wavy and tired. They then wheeled me into the operating room

Dr Shapiro was standing there and i saw a bunch of people running around me preparing for things. The Anesthesiologist came in, had me sit up. He inserted the Epidural and that is the last thing that i remember. I was out cold.............

Before pictures

Night before Surgery. May 18th. 369 pounds.

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

Yes, it is finally here. Surgery is tomorrow. I am honestly not scared. I am anxious like you wouldn't believe. I just want to get it over with and I can start the healing process.

I have to be at the hospital at 5:15am tomorrow morning. Surgery is scheduled at 7:15. It has been said that the surgery is about 3 hours long.

I should be in the hospital for 4 days. I should be home Monday. I will update the blog as soon as i can after surgery. I will try to do it when i get home on Monday. It depends on how i feel.

Til then-

One Week Left

Well the anticipation certainly has invited anxiety. The dreams have gotten better, I don't have the intense nightmares anymore. Now that I am down to the last week, the feelings of just wanting to get it over and done with are settling in.

I also realized that worrying about the pain is not productive. Once I have the surgery there is no going back. They won't be able to take the pain away, other than what the pain medication will do. So there really is no worth in the worries I have about the pain.

I have started taking my before pictures. It is going to be cool to document this surgery and my journey to a healthy weight.

I will find out early next week what time my surgery will be on the May 19th. Since it isn't a normal day for the surgery that are working with the hospital to see what time is best for them. They say that it will be in the morning.

I will be in the hospital for 4 days. If all goes well and there are no complications, I will be out of the hospital on the following Monday.

Check back for pictures. I will take pictures of the surgery scar and G-Tube and post those. There will be a warning on the blog so if you are not up to seeing graphic pictures like that, please wait a couple days so that the posts push it to a second page.

I will post before pictures this weekend.

Nick