My surgery play-by-play ~ Part 2

I have to be honest here, I don't remember much about waking up in recovery.  I do remember the postop staff saying my name, telling me that my surgery was all done and responding to them.  I don't remember being in any pain. I was in-and-out of sleep my entire time in recovery - about 2 hours.

I remember feeling happy about being moved to my room but I don't remember much of anything else.  My family came to my room shortly after I was moved there and now report that I was "out of it" and stated that I had pain and was tired.  I don't remember any of that.  I came out of surgery with a NG Tube, JP Drain and Foley Catheter. What bothered me most was my dry mouth.  Keep in mind, I had not had anything to drink since midnight the night before...this was 13+ hours later. I do remember my second shift nurse getting me out of bed to walk me around the halls.  And, I did it.

Day 1 Post Op: My dry mouth bothered me more than anything.  Making things worse was the damn NG Tube.  Now, I know many surgeons do not use this after surgery but my surgeon, for some reason which I will not complain about, loves to take all precautions possible.  His feeling is that the tube helps to keep pressure off of the new staple line.  So, I knew it was for the best. Still, I didn't like it at all and it was very uncomfortable.  To combat the dry mouth, the nurses bring you cups of ice with sponge lollipops.  While it felt great, it got old rather quickly.  I will admit, a few times, I took one or two of the very small ice chips and just let them disolve in my mouth. I also kept a cold face cloth around all the time and continued using it to wipe my face.  I was also asked to walk again and I did...not very long walks but I was, at least, moving.  One very unpleasant thing that started on this day was some sort of odd nausea - I've never experieinced anything like this before.  What would happen is that my mouth would fill up with very hot spit/saliva and I would have to spit it out into tissues.  When I mentioned this to my surgery fellow and nurse, they both mentioned the possibility that the NG tube may be contributing to this issue as it seemed to have something to do with my gag reflex as well.  Whatever it was, I didn't like it.  They were very kind, though, and started ne on a nausea med.  Not sure if it helped or not but the nausea came and went over that 1st day. This nausea issue made for a rough visit for my family.  I wasn't happy with the new problem, still had my tube, drain and catheter and was just pretty miserable all day. My surgery fellow informed me that I'd be having my swallow test the following morning.  And, he gave me hope that my NG Tube would be coming out as well! For some reason, it was about 5:00 and I (out of the blue!) felt like someone had "flipped a switch" on my general feeling.  Not sure if it was the anesthesia wearing off or what but, after 5:00, I felt so much better!

Day 2 Post Op: At 8:30, my surgery fellow entered the room to take out the NG tube.  I was so nervous and asked him if it would hurt. He said no.  There was also another surgical staff member with him to offered to hold my hand while the fellow took the tube out.  I was all for that!  The tube came out rather quicky.  It was a bit gross in that you can feel it come up all the way from your stomach to your nose.  A tad painful, mostly awkward and uncomfortable and it certainly makes you want to gag quite a bit. Regardless of all that, we got it out!  I was thrilled!!  I did, sadly, end up with a bloody nose...I think it was a combination of the tube and the dryness in the room.  It didn't last long and if that was the price I had to pay for getting that tube out...no problem!  One down...two to go.  But first, my swallow (aka "leak") test. 

I was taken to my test at around 10:00 on Day 2 Post Op.  It wasn't that bad.  First, I had an xray of my stomach taken.  Then, I was asked to drink a "big gulp" of the first contrast.  It was a thin, but bitter, liquid.  And, yeah...sorry xray tech, I haven't had anything by mouth in nearly 40 hours....there is no way in hell I was going to take a "big gulp" of anything.  So, I took what I thought I could handle, swallowed and then they took a few images.  The second contrast was a much thicker barium.  It tasted like chalk (aka not good) and was very thick.  Again, I took what I could and swallowed and, again, they got the pictures they needed.  Immediately afterwards, the tech showed me the images and I actually got to watch the contrast move through my (TINY!!!) sleeve and into my small intestine.  Talk about pretty cool. Everything looked good.  The only problem after this....two (rather large) sips of these contrasts and I was stuffed!

After I returned to my room, I was given methylene blue.  Another dye to check for any sort of leakage.  If there was a leak, the contents of my drain would be blue.  This stuff was HORRIBLE.  Bitter, tasted like old ass and just plain wrong.  I'll also confess...I didn't drink all they asked me to.  I drank 2 small medicine cups of it mixed with water...well, mostly water.  And, the rest...well, I chucked it.  That's how bad it was.  Imagine drinking pure food coloring. My lips were blue, my tongue was blue. Ugh. On the good side, shortly after this, I started on the Stage 1 Diet....water only...small sips and my goal was 1 to 2 oz per hour.  No problem!  It felt great to drink water! Within a couple of hours, I was advanced to Stage 2...clear liquids and 2-4 oz per 15-20 minutes.  My choices were Raspberry or Lemonade Crystal Light.  I chose Raspberry and it was YUMMY.  Unfortunately, I started to find out then and continue to find out that my sleeve isn't really crazy about Crystal Light.  I'm not sure why this is yet.  I love the stuff, it tastes great but it makes my sleeve gargle and gurgle and gives me some sort of tight feeling in my sleeve - strange.

A short time later, my nurse came into my room and said she was going to remove my catheter...yeeehaaa! Now, I won't lie...I was petrified.  The thought of something being pulled out of my bladder didn't leave me with the best feeling in the world.  I had a cystoscopy a few years ago and remember it hurting like hell.  So, thus the reason for my nerves.  Truth is, it wasn't bad at all and it came out within a matter of seconds.  I will say that my bladder felt puffy for the entire day afterwards...something to do with the balloon they use, I guess.

I spent the rest of the day sipping, visiting with my family, going for short walks around the floor and just resting. 

Day 3 Post Op: Got a great night sleep and I was ready to go home!  At around 7:00, my fellow came in, checked my incisions and commented he'd be back in awhile to remove my drain.  He did note that my incisions were quite red but wasn't all that concerned as it wasn't just one of them, it was all of them.  I did tell him that I had a similar experience with Steri-Strips in the past so he assumed it might be a specific reaction.  I thought that as well...and, continue to think that.  Thus the reason I mentioned my past experience to the preop nurse.  Oh well.

When it was time to remove my drain, of course, I was scared as heck all over again!  I asked the fellow if it would hurt and, again, he said "no" and that it was more likely just "uncomfortable" - well...he was only partially right as it was a bit painful.  I very odd sensation, that's for sure.  He cut the stitch that was holding the drain to me...this thing was such a pain...I felt it pulling all the time even though it was pinned to my gown.  Anyway, after cutting the stitch, he told me to take in a few deep breaths and he began to pull it out.  I had no idea how long it was and you can really feel it pass through your entire abdomen.  Odd.  All in all, it went by rather quickly and then it was out.  He placed some gauze where the drain was, taped it and told me it should close within a few days.  I hope he's right!

Right after my drain was taken out, my family arrived to take me home!  Thankfully, my wonderful Santa had brought a pillow for me to use on my belly on the ride home.  If you are preop - it helps!!!  I then had my IV ports removed, got my discharge information, filled one of my scripts and was on my way.  All in all, my hospital stay wasn't bad at all.  A few of the staff were actually WONDERFUL!  And, everyone at BIDMC was extremely friendly.

So, that's it - my entire surgical experience.  Hope it helps someone like other stories have helped me.  Questions?  Please don't hesitate to ask!