BrianT
Illegitimis nil carborund
Ok so gang so here goes....no apologies for a long post it sort of needs it really...
Admitted on the Thursday evening to a small 6 bed room on a 30 bed ward, General surgical ward and so no other WLS peeps in there. Most of them in there were seriously ill and so the curtains were round most of the time so it was like being private in a way. Usual stuff in the evening with BP checks and the like, other than that it was put your feet up make yourself comfortable and you've got the rest of the night to reflect on what you've let yourself in for
0630 Friday morning woken for BP etc and told that I am first on the afternoon list for Surgery should be around 1pm
0800 Surgeon comes round checks I still want to go through with it ask if I have any questions and I have to sign the consent form again.
0900 Anaesthetist pops in to check weight size of throat and then ask about medical history dentures bla bla bla, again asks if I have any questions and then smiles and says see you later.
1000 Wifey turns up and we sit there anxiously waiting
1200 Nursey comes in with gown and sexy white stockings and says "kit off they're coming for you." (despite carrying out Weight Loss Surgery Kings College Hospital appears only to have gowns for supermodels) still I get changed and hop back into my bed.
1215 porter arrives and they start to manoeuvre the bed to get it out of the ward..not a great moment this as I start to think I'm going off to die and so both me and the missus get a bit emotional :cry:
it's a good 5 minutes push from the ward to the entrance to the Operating Theatre and by the time we get there I'm laughing and joking with the two porters, and I felt fine by the time i started talking to another anaesthetist.
He went through all the same stuff as the previous one and said that he was 1 of 3 anaesthetist that would be helping out. few more of the same questions and then im wheeled into theatre and positioned alongside the Operating Table. They ask me to slide across onto the table at which point the Surgeon Miss Chang Walks in and comes over and says hi.
The 3rd anaesthetist now joins in as and again ask the same questions as between the 3 of them they start to put a cannula into the top of my left hand. general chit chat and a few jokey moments to put me at ease a few pillows placed under my head because I didn't look comfortable apparently.
The anaesthetist said I'm going to give you an injection now that will start to make you feel at one with the world and within 30 seconds.........:4635:
I can't tell you what time i went into recovery as I couldn't see a clock but I do remember having a pain in the middle of my chest. The nice nursey who stayed by my side in recovery gave me a couple of shots of morphine and told me to stop rubbing it and it very soon passed, I was obviously still very groggy but was able to see the machine that was monitoring my BP heart rate and O2 sats and could see that everything was good. I kept drifting off but I remember hearing them say "he can go back up to the ward now" but every time they rang t ask someone to come and get me there was nobody available and so I ended up in recovery for about 3 hours instead of the 2 that they had predicted.
1745 wheeled back onto the ward to be met by wifey and my eldest, nursey asked if there was anything I wanted and I said no but I needed a pee He offered my the usual bottle thing but I said I was happy to go to the loo. He pointed out that I had a drain in the left side of my abdomen and so I carried it around like a handbag. He walked with me too the loo just to make sure I was stable on my feet and then left me to go about my business. he walked me back to bed I got back in and started chatting to the family.
Apart form this mildly (by now) annoying pain in the middle of my chest I felt fine but drowsy and kept nodding off. I remember my youngest coming in with his Girlfriend and I remember them all going but other than that and the nurses coming round doing BP etc the rest of the evening I was comfortably in the land of NOD.
I woke up in the middle of the night again needing to pee and I would get up unaided albeit very gingerly trot off to the loo and back into bed always conscious of my wounds and of the drain.
Nurses called a few times to check BP and offered paracetamol pain killers which I took although I wasn't actually in any pain.
Saturday was a strange day as I felt OK but very very tired (not surprising really) Surgeon came round at 0800 and said it all went well, routine op and that I could have clear fluids only for the next 2 days, drain out on Monday and probably home. The rest of Saturday was a bit of a weird day I spent most of it sleeping in spurts and questioning what i had done and what a mistake i had made. The family came in in the evening for a couple of hours which took my mind off of the negativity that I had felt and when they left I went out like a light.
Sunday I began to wonder if anything had actually been done as I actually felt great and so I started taking short walks up to the main corridor and back that sort of reminded me that I'd had "work" done. Surgeon came round again and said that I could move onto free fluids and so I was able to have a small amount of soup for lunch and again for dinner.
Monday morning surgeons rounds I had nice chat with her and said thanks for giving me the opportunity and she said "I've done the easy bit you've got the hard bit to do" she arranged for the drain to be removed and said that I could go home and back to see her in 1 month. I would also have to continue with the Clexane injections twice a day for 1 month after leaving hospital so I had to wait for the pharmacy to supply all the syringes and sharps box (to put the old ones in). Nursey eventually came round, took the drain out and then changed all my dressings at which point I got changed into my home gear.
By the time all this had been done, the Doctor had signed off on the Clexane and Omeprazole capsules, Nursey had also supplied me with a huge bag of dressings so if i could change them myself and they are easy enough to do, and my Eating plan guidelines had arrived it was now 3pm and so wifey and i said our thanks and goodbyes and called for a cab and I was home by 4.
I t was good to be home but then you start to realise that most of the things you need for the next 4 weeks aren't in your food cupboard so Tuesday will be spent chilling out and putting in an order for Tesco's to deliver. Lot's of smoothies and Healthy choice soup for the next 4 weeks along with Complan and "double milk" shakes.
So even on my first day home I've realised how much more tiring being at home is versus being in hospital and so I'm going to listen to the missus for a change and do nothing
My wounds for those that are interested are 4 pencil sized holes (3 from the surgery and 1 for the drain) and a larger 2 inch incision going from left to right just above my navel (it's where they remove the stomach from) which has been glued shut and steristrips used to keep it closed. There's no pain from any of them apart form a slight pulling sensation if I over stretch.
For those that were worried about having the mask put on, Mine wsa ut on after I'd gone to sleep and It was on when I came round in recovery but I was so out of it I really wouldn't have cared.
I have the Eating Plan Guidelines for Sleeve Gastrectomy Patients from Kings College Hospital in London which I will scan in over the next few days and will send to anybody who wants them if they PM me. I don't want to post them on here as it may break some rules or other.
My weight surprisingly had only gone down by 3 pounds (first thing I did when I walked though the door) considering I'd effectively not eaten since the previous Thursday Lunchtime, but it's not about what happens week by week any more it's about what happens long term and so any loss is a good loss.
So that's it "my Journey" (god I hate that phrase) has now truly begun and if I can answer any questions about my last few days that haven't been covered above then please feel free to ask.
Admitted on the Thursday evening to a small 6 bed room on a 30 bed ward, General surgical ward and so no other WLS peeps in there. Most of them in there were seriously ill and so the curtains were round most of the time so it was like being private in a way. Usual stuff in the evening with BP checks and the like, other than that it was put your feet up make yourself comfortable and you've got the rest of the night to reflect on what you've let yourself in for
0630 Friday morning woken for BP etc and told that I am first on the afternoon list for Surgery should be around 1pm
0800 Surgeon comes round checks I still want to go through with it ask if I have any questions and I have to sign the consent form again.
0900 Anaesthetist pops in to check weight size of throat and then ask about medical history dentures bla bla bla, again asks if I have any questions and then smiles and says see you later.
1000 Wifey turns up and we sit there anxiously waiting
1200 Nursey comes in with gown and sexy white stockings and says "kit off they're coming for you." (despite carrying out Weight Loss Surgery Kings College Hospital appears only to have gowns for supermodels) still I get changed and hop back into my bed.
1215 porter arrives and they start to manoeuvre the bed to get it out of the ward..not a great moment this as I start to think I'm going off to die and so both me and the missus get a bit emotional :cry:
it's a good 5 minutes push from the ward to the entrance to the Operating Theatre and by the time we get there I'm laughing and joking with the two porters, and I felt fine by the time i started talking to another anaesthetist.
He went through all the same stuff as the previous one and said that he was 1 of 3 anaesthetist that would be helping out. few more of the same questions and then im wheeled into theatre and positioned alongside the Operating Table. They ask me to slide across onto the table at which point the Surgeon Miss Chang Walks in and comes over and says hi.
The 3rd anaesthetist now joins in as and again ask the same questions as between the 3 of them they start to put a cannula into the top of my left hand. general chit chat and a few jokey moments to put me at ease a few pillows placed under my head because I didn't look comfortable apparently.
The anaesthetist said I'm going to give you an injection now that will start to make you feel at one with the world and within 30 seconds.........:4635:
I can't tell you what time i went into recovery as I couldn't see a clock but I do remember having a pain in the middle of my chest. The nice nursey who stayed by my side in recovery gave me a couple of shots of morphine and told me to stop rubbing it and it very soon passed, I was obviously still very groggy but was able to see the machine that was monitoring my BP heart rate and O2 sats and could see that everything was good. I kept drifting off but I remember hearing them say "he can go back up to the ward now" but every time they rang t ask someone to come and get me there was nobody available and so I ended up in recovery for about 3 hours instead of the 2 that they had predicted.
1745 wheeled back onto the ward to be met by wifey and my eldest, nursey asked if there was anything I wanted and I said no but I needed a pee
He offered my the usual bottle thing but I said I was happy to go to the loo. He pointed out that I had a drain in the left side of my abdomen and so I carried it around like a handbag. He walked with me too the loo just to make sure I was stable on my feet and then left me to go about my business. he walked me back to bed I got back in and started chatting to the family.Apart form this mildly (by now) annoying pain in the middle of my chest I felt fine but drowsy and kept nodding off. I remember my youngest coming in with his Girlfriend and I remember them all going but other than that and the nurses coming round doing BP etc the rest of the evening I was comfortably in the land of NOD.
I woke up in the middle of the night again needing to pee and I would get up unaided albeit very gingerly trot off to the loo and back into bed always conscious of my wounds and of the drain.
Nurses called a few times to check BP and offered paracetamol pain killers which I took although I wasn't actually in any pain.
Saturday was a strange day as I felt OK but very very tired (not surprising really) Surgeon came round at 0800 and said it all went well, routine op and that I could have clear fluids only for the next 2 days, drain out on Monday and probably home. The rest of Saturday was a bit of a weird day I spent most of it sleeping in spurts and questioning what i had done and what a mistake i had made. The family came in in the evening for a couple of hours which took my mind off of the negativity that I had felt and when they left I went out like a light.
Sunday I began to wonder if anything had actually been done as I actually felt great and so I started taking short walks up to the main corridor and back that sort of reminded me that I'd had "work" done. Surgeon came round again and said that I could move onto free fluids and so I was able to have a small amount of soup for lunch and again for dinner.
Monday morning surgeons rounds I had nice chat with her and said thanks for giving me the opportunity and she said "I've done the easy bit you've got the hard bit to do" she arranged for the drain to be removed and said that I could go home and back to see her in 1 month. I would also have to continue with the Clexane injections twice a day for 1 month after leaving hospital so I had to wait for the pharmacy to supply all the syringes and sharps box (to put the old ones in). Nursey eventually came round, took the drain out and then changed all my dressings at which point I got changed into my home gear.
By the time all this had been done, the Doctor had signed off on the Clexane and Omeprazole capsules, Nursey had also supplied me with a huge bag of dressings so if i could change them myself and they are easy enough to do, and my Eating plan guidelines had arrived it was now 3pm and so wifey and i said our thanks and goodbyes and called for a cab and I was home by 4.
I t was good to be home but then you start to realise that most of the things you need for the next 4 weeks aren't in your food cupboard so Tuesday will be spent chilling out and putting in an order for Tesco's to deliver. Lot's of smoothies and Healthy choice soup for the next 4 weeks along with Complan and "double milk" shakes.
So even on my first day home I've realised how much more tiring being at home is versus being in hospital and so I'm going to listen to the missus for a change and do nothing
My wounds for those that are interested are 4 pencil sized holes (3 from the surgery and 1 for the drain) and a larger 2 inch incision going from left to right just above my navel (it's where they remove the stomach from) which has been glued shut and steristrips used to keep it closed. There's no pain from any of them apart form a slight pulling sensation if I over stretch.
For those that were worried about having the mask put on, Mine wsa ut on after I'd gone to sleep and It was on when I came round in recovery but I was so out of it I really wouldn't have cared.
I have the Eating Plan Guidelines for Sleeve Gastrectomy Patients from Kings College Hospital in London which I will scan in over the next few days and will send to anybody who wants them if they PM me. I don't want to post them on here as it may break some rules or other.
My weight surprisingly had only gone down by 3 pounds (first thing I did when I walked though the door) considering I'd effectively not eaten since the previous Thursday Lunchtime, but it's not about what happens week by week any more it's about what happens long term and so any loss is a good loss.
So that's it "my Journey" (god I hate that phrase) has now truly begun and if I can answer any questions about my last few days that haven't been covered above then please feel free to ask.
