First Surgery Update

I was supposed to go in on Monday and have two things done: gastric bypass and gallbladder removal. The doctor only did the gallbladder removal because he found a mass on my lower intestines. Rather than possibly get over his head in not knowing what the mass was by trying to remove it, move it or disturb it, he opted not to do the gastric bypass.

I was very upset when I found out, but I understood. It makes sense and I'm glad he didn't do anything to jeopardize my life. I had a CT scan of my abdomen today. Funny thing about that. I had to drink this big container of this barium stuff. Yuck. Well, it really wasn't too yucky since all I've been able to have for the past two has has been ice chips. So I drank that down and went for the CT scan. The technician tells me I he's going to put iodine in my I.V. and do I know if I'm allergic? I've never had it so I say go for it. He tells me I might get warm in strange places. What the heck does that mean? So he injects the iodine and guess what gets warm, well hot, actually? My genitals! Yes, my pussy lips are on fire, but I cannot move.

Back to the room and I have to wait for the doctor get out of surgery to get me my results. In the mean time, John and I are walking the halls and I'm doing my breathing exercises. After a bit, I get tired and decide to lie down for a bit. All of a sudden, I get very weepy and start to cry. I'm pissed because I didn't get the surgery I really wanted. I can't stop crying and John holds my hand and he's sad, too. I cry for awhile to get it all out and then take a nap. Dr. Callery comes in and tells me the results of my CT scan. The mass on my lower intestines is just fat. Probably some fat that rolled over on itself. I'm glad, he's glad.

He tells me that he can reschedule me for gastric bypass on July 7th. At first, I was mad, but then I realized it's only a few weeks away. I told him that would be great and he put me on his schedule. I'll have my follow-up appointment with Kelly at the office on July 2nd and that would be my post-op/pre-op appt at the same time.

Ok, so now the only thing is this: Since I've had the laparascopic gallbladder removal, I know what to expect pain-wise with the laparascopic gastric bypass. I know the recovery, the discomfort and the pain. The only new thing will be food, or the lack of it for a while. I don't have a problem with not eating for a while. Besides the yogurt I just ate, the only thing I've had since midnight on Sunday was ice chips. The pain kind of takes over and I didn't feel hungry.

I wear a wide elastic binder around my middle. It really helps out with the pain. It doesn't seem to make much sense to put something constrictive on parts of your body that are painful, but it really does help. I'm grateful for that. The only apparatus I have attached to me right now is a little pump. The pump is filled with a marcaine type stuff. The end of the very thin tube is inside my stomach area next to where the gallbladder came out. It helps to numb the area so it doesn't hurt so much. This thing is called On-Q and it's great. It has 60-70 hours worth of medicine in there and when it's done, I just pull out the tube. Isn't that interesting?

John and I went for a walk down the block and back today. It was a gorgeous day outside. The rest of my walks were inside the house because I was really hurting this afternoon after the walk. I took a 3 hour nap after the walk, so I'm still feeling awake at the moment. I'm catching up on my Facebook and emails for the day. After that, I may finish up a couple of cards I started on Saturday.