6 days POST OP

Well, finally, I am back at work and able to talk a bit. Ok, first off, thanks everyone for your encouragement and comments on my last post. I was quite nervous. So much has happened since my last post. Let's see. My surgery date was last Wednesday Feb 24th! My mother, stepdad, little sister, and I rented a hotel room 5 minutes from the surgical center the night before my surgery because my arrival time was scheduled for 7:30am and with traffic that would have taken us like an hour and a half to get there. So we rented the room for 2 nights so that I would be close after surgery in case I needed to go back.

Arrival: My stepdad dropped me off at the center and I wore PJ's and some cute slippers. The pre-op nurse brought me into pre-op and weighed me and I officially lost 13lbs on the pre-op diet!!!!! yay for me! They were very pleased with that. I got into my hospital gown and she got my IV started and then I waited for an hour.
Surgery: They gave me a something in my IV that made me totally loopy as they wheeled me into the OR. I had these pressure cuff things on my legs to help prevent blood clots and stuff and then I had to slide over onto the OR bed and they tied my arms in the foam holders and then gave me some anesthesia and I was out like a light. I think I might have taken like 2 breaths before my lights were out!
Post-op: I woke up in the post-op area and I remember I had an oxygen mask on and I felt very panicky and I was in lots of pain. The nurse saw I was awake and took the mask off of me. It was very hard to breathe for me because of the excruciating pain in my back, chest, and shouder from all the trapped air in my system. She helped me get dressed and gave me some ice chips and some pain medicine. Then I had to stand up and walk into another room and do a barium swallow to make sure everything was going down ok. I was totally out of it. It was VERY hard for me to stay awake. They put me in the recovery room and handed me a bottle of water to begin drinking. I think they took my vitals a few times. Then my family showed up and I saw them and the nurse kept making me try to walk but I felt soooo nauseous when I would walk. But eventually I got the hang of it and felt a tiny better and they let me go. Apparently my doctor gave me a 4cc fill already when he put the band in. So I am ahead of the game a bit, I guess.
We went back to the hotel room and I was so exhausted and short breathed that I just fell in the bed and passed out. My mom went out to get me a few things from Walgreens and I basically slept on and off all night long. But I woke up every hour or so to walk for a couple of minutes. I was extremely sore and uncomfortable. I don't wanna scare anyone who hasn't done this yet but it was not at all what I expected. Much more difficult to deal with. The gas pains are immense!!!! I have never felt pain like this before. My stomach didn't hurt so much except trying to get up and sit down/lay down. It kinda felt like I had done 1000 situps or crunches. Then by day 3 my back was killing me because I used my back so much to get up and down and do everything that my muscles were screaming! The trapped air has made it very difficult to breathe deeply so I was given an incentive spirometer to use several times a day for a week to improve my breathing.

I am now 6 days post op and each day is getting a lil better at a time. My soreness is less and my back feels a lil better and it's not as hard to breathe. My only issue I am still dealing with is the gas pain. When I drink too much or too fast I have this awful pain rise up through my chest and into my shoulder like I need to burp badly but I am unable to so it just sits there and finally goes away. It is very uncomfy. I have lost 3lbs since surgery according to the scale this morning.

Liquids post op: So the first week I have been allowed 2 protein shakes a day and also I can have clear, thin liquids. I am sooooo DISGUSTED with these chocolate and strawberry protein shakes that I could vomit just thinking about them. So I came up with an idea today and I am going to go and buy the unflavored egg white protein powder and some V8 or pureed soups and add it to that as my protein shake. I am so sick of sweet stuff! Then on Wednesday I can start my thick liquids and have lil texture. So I will by some creamier soups and some baby food! yay can't wait!

Whew I have said alot! Sorry there's soooo much to read. I am including a picture of my incisions. I took this the day of my surgery. Not too bad even though the squiggly line is actually a burn from the laser they used. I just love that! Hopefully it doesn't scar too bad. It's not painful at all! My stomach is still very swollen and I can't wait til that goes down back to normal. It just pooches out right now. Aww well...I am keeping my head up!