Rob's Adventures in Surgery
rpyle111
Posts: 1,060 Member
Warning: There are no actual adventures here. Everything went so well, so much better than I expected!
Tuesday morning: I reported to the hospital at 9:15 for surgical prep. They took us back into a cubicle, gave me a wonderful hospital gown and started prep. IV started, lots of questions (including me telling them what surgery I was having to make sure I knew). Anesthetist, interns all over the place, and finally my surgeon came to talk with my wife and I. He knew I had lost 100 pounds pre-surgery and was extremely impressed. I told him I had been having second thoughts and he told me that this was my last chance to pull out, and we talked for a few minutes and I decided to continue.
He left and then they wheeled me into the surgical suite. The last thing I remember was moving myself from the transport be to the surgical table and that’s it.
I woke up in recovery and was quite disoriented, but not in a ton of pain. The guy next to me was being belligerent about needing to pee and not believing that he had a catheter that was taking care of things for him. He was getting very anxious, but eventually they calmed him down. My room was not ready yet, so I had to stay there for about an hour (I wasn’t keeping great track of time, though). I was dozing off and this nice nurse kept telling me to breathe. After a few times, I remembered to tell her that my CPAP was under the bed and she should hook it up for me. After that i could doze in peace.
They eventually moved me to my room, and when I moved myself from the transport bed to my room bed, that was when I felt the pain. Moving my legs over didn’t hut, but when lifting my shoulders off the bad, I could feel the ‘too many sit-ups’ pain. It was not nearly as much pain as I expected. Within about an hour, they wanted me to get up and move, and I felt great! I was up and striding the hallways with no real pain. No food or drink Tuesday, but they brought me some ice chips to keep my mouth moist. Tuesday’s excitement was staying up way too late watching the super exciting Royals/A’s baseball game.
Wednesday started too early with nurse visits and vitals, and the breakfast! proteined chicken broth, decaf tea, SF jello and watered down apple juice. They gave me one ouch little cups and I had to put everything in the little cups and drink them out of that, while keeping track of how many I consumed through out the day. I also got up and walked a ton, creating a walking path through the ward that gave me about 3/4 of a mile per trip. I ends up walking 11k steps (5.6 miles) on Wednesday and the nurses were all very happy. I have to believe that my pre-surgery fitness success really helped me here. I also managed to get down 80 ounces of stuff throughout the day
This morning (Thursday) started similarly, breakfast and walking, there was nutrition class to go over the post-surgery plan, and then I was discharged about 11:00 and was free! On the way home, we stopped by my work (which is also where my wife started working Monday) to see her and to sop by my group to let them know everything was going well and I would see them in a few weeks. Now I’m home and laying out the plan for all of the med and food of my new life!
All of the nurses and staff at the hospital were fantastic, there were 5 others who had surgery either Monday or Tuesday and we would see each other in the hall walking. Everyone was doing well, but they were in a lot more pain that I was. Three of us sat together in the nutrition class this morning and everyone was doing better that they were yesterday.
I never thought that there was a chance I would feel so good this quickly after surgery!
My advice to all of the pre-surgery folks is to get in as good shape physically as you can, because I am sure it had a lot to do with how good I feel.
Rob
Tuesday morning: I reported to the hospital at 9:15 for surgical prep. They took us back into a cubicle, gave me a wonderful hospital gown and started prep. IV started, lots of questions (including me telling them what surgery I was having to make sure I knew). Anesthetist, interns all over the place, and finally my surgeon came to talk with my wife and I. He knew I had lost 100 pounds pre-surgery and was extremely impressed. I told him I had been having second thoughts and he told me that this was my last chance to pull out, and we talked for a few minutes and I decided to continue.
He left and then they wheeled me into the surgical suite. The last thing I remember was moving myself from the transport be to the surgical table and that’s it.
I woke up in recovery and was quite disoriented, but not in a ton of pain. The guy next to me was being belligerent about needing to pee and not believing that he had a catheter that was taking care of things for him. He was getting very anxious, but eventually they calmed him down. My room was not ready yet, so I had to stay there for about an hour (I wasn’t keeping great track of time, though). I was dozing off and this nice nurse kept telling me to breathe. After a few times, I remembered to tell her that my CPAP was under the bed and she should hook it up for me. After that i could doze in peace.
They eventually moved me to my room, and when I moved myself from the transport bed to my room bed, that was when I felt the pain. Moving my legs over didn’t hut, but when lifting my shoulders off the bad, I could feel the ‘too many sit-ups’ pain. It was not nearly as much pain as I expected. Within about an hour, they wanted me to get up and move, and I felt great! I was up and striding the hallways with no real pain. No food or drink Tuesday, but they brought me some ice chips to keep my mouth moist. Tuesday’s excitement was staying up way too late watching the super exciting Royals/A’s baseball game.
Wednesday started too early with nurse visits and vitals, and the breakfast! proteined chicken broth, decaf tea, SF jello and watered down apple juice. They gave me one ouch little cups and I had to put everything in the little cups and drink them out of that, while keeping track of how many I consumed through out the day. I also got up and walked a ton, creating a walking path through the ward that gave me about 3/4 of a mile per trip. I ends up walking 11k steps (5.6 miles) on Wednesday and the nurses were all very happy. I have to believe that my pre-surgery fitness success really helped me here. I also managed to get down 80 ounces of stuff throughout the day
This morning (Thursday) started similarly, breakfast and walking, there was nutrition class to go over the post-surgery plan, and then I was discharged about 11:00 and was free! On the way home, we stopped by my work (which is also where my wife started working Monday) to see her and to sop by my group to let them know everything was going well and I would see them in a few weeks. Now I’m home and laying out the plan for all of the med and food of my new life!
All of the nurses and staff at the hospital were fantastic, there were 5 others who had surgery either Monday or Tuesday and we would see each other in the hall walking. Everyone was doing well, but they were in a lot more pain that I was. Three of us sat together in the nutrition class this morning and everyone was doing better that they were yesterday.
I never thought that there was a chance I would feel so good this quickly after surgery!
My advice to all of the pre-surgery folks is to get in as good shape physically as you can, because I am sure it had a lot to do with how good I feel.
Rob
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Replies
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Excellent job Rob! I knew you could and would do this, you are a champ. Onward and upward to success my friend. I am sooo freak'n happy for you I am wordless. WTG!!! Glad to see you back and on the move.
Tracy.0 -
So happy to hear from you Rob, and SO happy it all went well for you! I am so excited for you and I can't wait to see your continued progress. Tracy is right, you ARE a champ!!!0
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Fantastic job Rob! *golf claps*...
Thanks for keeping us posted. I'm very impressed. I didn't have any complications per se but I'm a crappy exerciser, so I got what I had coming
Mark off your weight the day before surgery as your "Day 0" and you'll have something to measure the success of the surgery against (versus your Lou Ferrigno exercise method beforehand)...
Good luck sir, and welcome to the rest of your life...
Wayne0 -
GREAT news! Keep on keep in on!0
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That's great Rob! So happy for you! And yes, you are so right. The more you do presurgery to get in shape and ready for all the walking post surgery, the easier it is.
Great job my friend!
Pat0 -
So glad everything went well and you are feeling good!! Yay!0
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Rob,
I've been anxiously awaiting your return to the message boards, welcome back!!! I knew that you would be able to describe your experience in a way that will help all of us here. The only thing that can make something like your major surgery look so easy, is hard work and diligent preparation.
You sir, made it look easy!!! Plus, you've provided a road map for me to do the same.
Thanks again,
Mark0 -
Great news! So glad everything went so smoothly for you. I am certain you are going to rock this whole thing!0
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Hi!
So good you made it through everything!
Wow, they took you in quick
So happy for you and now youre on the road to recovery and an even healthier You!
:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:0 -
I was going to sat the same thing. You have already done so much already your body was ready for anything! AWESOME JOB ROB!:drinker:That's great Rob! So happy for you! And yes, you are so right. The more you do presurgery to get in shape and ready for all the walking post surgery, the easier it is.
Great job my friend!
Pat0 -
Great to hear from you! glad everything went well, As a pre-oper here, hearing about how well you did pre-op helps, I will likely not get down 100 lbs before my time but I am down 20 and have ramped up my activity, lots of walking, elliptical and I even started swimming. I believe that the prep sets you up for the success post-op so it is reassuring to hear that from you! Keep it up, keep us posted and keep well!0
