12/9/04 - My Gastric Bypass Surgery Date

The big day finally arrived. I had to be at the hospital at 6:00am, my parents came to pick us up at 4:30am. Of course there was no traffic so we ended up being at the hospital at 5:30am. We had to wait a few minutes before we could go upstairs. When we got upstairs, we wanted a few minutes and then they brought Rodney and my parents back to one of the waiting rooms and I changed into my hospital gown and slippers. It was pretty funny when I went back to the waiting room with my parents and Rodney and I realized I forgot to take off my panties! After a little while I was brought back to get ready for the surgery. The iv was put in and I met with another anesthesiologist. He was going to be there during the surgery and did not think I would have to be entubated awake. That was a big relief. After that I went back to the waiting room and I was told that my surgery would be at 7:30am. There must have been some "relaxation juice" in that iv, because I really didn't have much anxiety while I was waiting. A couple of doctors came and said they needed to ask me a couple of questions, so I went off with them. They finished and said, ok let's go. I asked "To surgery?". They said yes, but I told them I need to say good-bye to everyone first. So, off to the waiting room we went and I said good-bye to everyone. I did pretty well until I was done and getting ready to leave and saw tears in my Mother's eyes. That was almost my undoing. I walked back to the OR with one of the doctors. Did I mention how massive the hospital is? When we got there Dr. Pomp was waiting outside? He looked chipper and alert which gave me a good feeling. I went into the OR before him so they could get me ready. It was absolutely freezing in that room! Luckily for me after I got on the table they put a warm blanket on me. It was business right away in there and the anesthesiologists began their work. A mask was put over my nose and mouth, I was told to breath and the next thing I was waking up in the recovery room. I was absolutely miserable when I work up in the recovery room – I was nauseous and freezing! They put some warm blankets on me and some medication in my iv and soon I started to feel better. I felt so bad when I first came out that when the patient advocate asked me if I wanted my family to visit I told her no. I ended up staying in the recovery room until around 4:00pm the next day (a total of about 28 hours). It was frustrating because my family couldn't stay with me due to limited visiting hours and there was no tv or anything to distract your attention. There was a tremendous upside – the nurses were wonderful and very attentive. I was able to get up and walk anytime. In fact I got up a couple of times during the night to walk, after all the recovery room was not conducive to getting any sleep. I was told that I would not be able to have anything to eat/drink until I had the swallow test the next day.