Day of Surgery...and first week post

Well, this post is in reflection but kind of gives you an idea what to expect when you go to the hospital for Bariatric Surgery.

I had my surgery on March 30, 2009.

If you are scheduled to be at Barix in Ypsilanti at a certain time, expect your surgery to be 2-3 hours later.

Prior to surgery you will take off all clothes and put on a lovely gown and cap to cover your hair.

You will be weighed prior to surgery.

You will get on a bed and be prepped for surgery, IV, asked lots of questions, be given meds...for me I had a breathing treatment and an inhaled steroid treatment because of my asthma

You will wait...while you wait, you will meet your anesthesiologist...s/he is going to be your best friend...trust me.

You wait....and wait....and wait...

Finally you are given some "happy juice" to relax you.

You meet your surgeon. I prayed with mine, and then don't remember even being wheeled away...just waking up in your room...at least that is how it was for me.

Some of this advice came to me from Obesityhelp.com..the rest I learned as I went through it.

You may be a little scared, but that is normal. There will be such a flurry of activity around you that you won't have time to be scared.

You might wake up feeling cold but they will put warm blankets on you.

Expect to feel some pain upon waking...it is only brief..You will be given pain meds...at Barix you get a morphine pump and you hit it according to your pain level..They have it spaced out so you cannot overdose, don't worry. Unfortunately, for me, I got nauseatingly sick on morphine...so I had to have anti-nausea shots. Then they put me on liquid Vicodin...again, nausea...

Once awake you are transported to your room where your family can be waiting to visit you.

Expect them to get you out of bed a few hours after you are awake to walk. This is important so you don't get blood clots. If no one comes, you need to ring for the nurse...you have a bedside buzzer to get her there. Because of my extreme nausea, I did not get to walk the halls till 2:30 am. Mind you, my surgery was 3pm, the previous day.

Expect to take deep breaths in a respirex and another gadget as soon as you are able and they will wake you every few hours to do it...face it, you are going to sleep most of the time on the day you have your surgery. They will send you home with these to continue the practice...this breathing is important so you don't develop pneumonia. I use mine 6 times a day and I have found an improvement in my asthma...not having to use my emergency inhaler as much.

Expect to feel thirsty even though you have an IV. You will be given swabs and water...but you are not to sip water till they tell you...later you will be given ice chips and finally water...Hopefully, your IV will not go beserk on you like mine did. They had to remove mine early as it made my hand all the way to my elbow about 3 times its normal size.

Expect to gain around 10 lbs while in the hospital...IV fluids are retained for several days after you leave...It took about 5 days for me to flush the IV weight off.

Expect to be waken several times during the day and night for vital signs while you are in the hospital..it is important.

Expect to get shots in your stomach to ward off blood clots.

Expect good round the clock treatment: If you are having complications or troubles you need to tell them. That is what you have a buzzer for to buzz the nurse... I had a lot of nausea from Morphine, so they gave me an injection to stop the dry heaves and nausea.

My IV went haywire, but I was keeping fluids down well, so they took it out early.

They will work with you to find the right pain meds for you. If liquid vicodin makes you nauseated, like it did me, tell them.

If you have such painful bloating or gas that standing up straight to walk is hard, tell them...that is what suppositories and enemas are for...they will treat you and no matter how much you dread the treatment, you WILL feel better, I promise.

Expect to take your own temp at home for a few days after release...anything over 100 should be reported to the clinic.
Stay ahead of your pain so you can move more freely. I spaced my pain meds out to once every 5 hours...follow the directions on your pain med bottle.
It was hard so soon after surgery to swallow a Darvacet pill...I had to use a pill crusher and crush it into at least 8 pieces.

The first week, I was NOT hungry at all...more or less spaced on pain meds. I drank a lot of fluids though, as I knew it was important to maintain at least 64 oz per day. I had to push myself to eat.

The second week, I was ravenous...started making more creamed soups, using milk. I could not wait until I saw the doctor for my 2 week checkup...hopefully he would move me onto the next phase, pureed food.


Once home, it is up to you and whoever is taking care of you that you breathe several times a day in the gadgets they send home with you. you should also cough after these to clear your lungs..Use a pillow on your belly and try to imagine coughing into that. It helps relieve any pain coughing may aggravate.

It is important that you walk and sip yourself out of gas pockets. Trust me you are going to burp, toot, and use the bathroom a LOT in the next few days...and your stool will probably not be solid...more like black liquid. This is normal.

Anyway, I know I rambled on a bit, but I hope you found this information helpful as it tells you pretty much what to expect at surgery and soon after surgery.