My Sleeve Gastrectomy Experience

I will not spare the details! So, this is your warning to not continue reading if you don't like hearing about surgery and all it's loveliness. :)
If you don't care about the days leading up to my surgery, just scroll past the first three pictures.
My surgery was on a Tuesday. Sunday night, Connor was up all night crying and coughing. Josh was up with him all night so that I wouldn't get exposed to his illness before surgery. When he woke in the morning, the cough was completely gone and he acted fine. Wyatt and Landon went with their Uncle Jon that day to visit Gladstone for a field trip to check out some satellites.

Josh and I took Connor to Disneyland. I was on the liquid diet, and hoped that would help me take my mind off the hunger.

When we got home that night, Connor started having an asthma attack...or at least that's what we thought. As soon as we put him in bed, he started crying and then he couldn't catch his breath. We called the ambulance and they came and took his pulse oxygen which was at a beautiful 99. But, they took him anyway with his history of asthma and pneumonia. With surgery the following day, Josh volunteered to go be with Connor at the hospital, where he was diagnosed with croup and discharged at 2. He was so tired, being that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before either. We would be leaving for my surgery in a couple of hours. I was determined to have someone take me. But, he said he didn't want to miss it for the world!

That being said, we got there around 4am. We got to the hospital a little early, and sat in the car to pray. I was so scared, but so ready to hit the reset button on my life! Debbie and Monica were both watching the boys, and my Grandma was coming to meet me at the hospital. The hunger pain in my stomach was so painful that it made me nauseated. I prayed that I wouldn't get sick so that they would still do the surgery. I got checked in at about 5:30, and then was called back around 6 to have my blood drawn and vitals taken. 

Reality didn't start to settle in until they wheeled me back into the room, had me transfer to the operating table, and started strapping my arms and legs down. The nurse introduced herself and said she was giving me something to help relax, and I was out. When I woke up, I was in the worst pain of my life! My stomach hurt both inside and out, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I kept crying and saying, "it hurts!" I was so in and out from anesthesia that I kept remembering the nurses come over and bring me pain medicine through my IV. I told the nurse I was going to get sick, and she said to just do it in the towel on my chest. There was nothing in my stomach obviously. But, I never ended up getting sick that I knew of. 

On Josh's end, they said that they waited two hours after surgery until they finally got me a room. Josh and my Grandma were so worried about me! I finally got wheeled back, and I still was in and out of consciousness. This picture is so unflattering, but here's the reality:

I was still in pain and just wanted to sleep. I didn't have any regrets about it. I just wanted the pain to go away. It's hard to remember everything I felt since I feel so amazing today! My Grandma was worried and kept trying to comfort me. But, I hardly remember just moaning because I was in pain and couldn't get more than "it hurts" out. She finally kissed me and left, and Josh stayed. When I finally started coming around, Josh forced me to get up and walk. I hardly made it to the front desk of the nurses station and back. The pain was starting to go away, but I felt very dizzy and weak. He was there every step of the way through my recovery.

After Josh left, I was a trooper! I wanted to get home. So, as soon as the pain meds kicked in I was up walking every two hours like they wanted. I even walked in the night when I couldn't sleep. I did my breathing exercises and drank my liquids. I did such a great job that they were thrilled to let me go home the following day, where I was told I could go home and eat full liquids. Blended soups anybody? I was so thrilled, though..you have NO idea! I was only a little panicked about leaving because there was quite a bit of air bubbles that kept going through my IV from the banana bag I was given. I kept thinking something would go wrong. 

Anyway, I was supposed to be wheeled out of the hospital. But, I wanted to walk and they let me. I got home and the house was clean and there were posters from Josh and the boys everywhere! It was so nice. Recovery at home was a cake walk compared to Josh's surgery. Rolling over was hard because my muscles and incisions hurt. I had staples, whereas Josh had glue. But, I was off the heavy pain meds at about a week post op, and off Tylenol by about 2-3 weeks post op. I wasn't supposed to take any vitamins or supplements until 2 weeks post op. But I was on clear proteins until I found out that I could drink the regular protein a week later. I was so thrilled because clear protein doesn't taste good to me. I started drinking the ready to drink premier proteins. But, I could only drink about a quarter of one before I was full.

The hardest part for me was remembering to eat and trying to get enough water and protein in. 

Two weeks post op, I got my staples out. I was told I could go to pureed foods. Nothing sounded more appealing than blended up hot and ready chicken from Walmart with some gravy (recommended by nutritionist to help the food go down easier). Josh and planned an overnight stay with the boys in Anaheim to do a two day trip at Disneyland to celebrate his birthday. Looking back, I don't regret it. But, I had to stop a lot because I was weak and it took me out for a few days when we got back. We prepped and made food at the hotel for me to eat. So, I didn't fall off my diet, and did very well considering I had just had surgery two weeks before.

So I know this is probably all over the place. But, I'm one month post op now, or four weeks and 28lbs down since the day I got home from the hospital. I am officially on solid foods. I can eat about 3-4oz a food, which is a lot more than Josh could eat. But, it also allows me to get plenty of protein in. When I drink more water in between meals, I eat a lot less. I only drink one protein shake a day: Isopure Dutch Chocolate in a shaker cup with water. I do this because I'm able to get my protein intake through eating, which I would rather do because all shakes are sweet and I'm on more of a salty kick right now. My favorite thing to eat has to be ground turkey in all forms: on it's own, meatballs, meatloaf, as a taco casserole or zucchini lasagna. Josh and I meal prep on Sunday nights for the week, and it has helped me to stay on track. I haven't eaten too much and gotten sick...yet. I'm sure that will happen at least once or more in the future! 

I'm on daily vitmains, Calcium Citrate supplements, a probiotic, and an acid reducer for a month and a half to let my stomach heal. My only complaint right now has to be that I can't lift Connor since I'm not supposed to lift more than 15lbs until after 6 weeks (Nov. 20th). 

I have a ton of energy that I don't know what to do with. But, I'm still trying to take it easy since I know my body is healing and have seen what overworking myself does. The hormone fluctuations are REAL! When I'm emotional I could cry over a pen not working. I'm already having hair loss as I did before. But that's just because of my thyroid issues. I'm praying it doesn't get worse! 

So, obviously Josh's and my surgery stories were completely different from each other. But, I feel very blessed that I healed so well because it allowed me to return to my "normal" ways as much as I could. We didn't get behind in homeschool like I feared. Weight loss is slower in comparison to Josh's. But that's because I'm able to eat more than he did, and I have less to lose. My goal right now is to reach six weeks so I can start doing some weight lifting and have enough strength to start running without being knocked out for a few days. 

Can't think of much else...if you have any questions feel free to drop them below.