1) If you cannot handle reading or imagining gross stories that involve bodily functions and fluids then you should move onto another blog post or wait for my next post!
2) If you are not mature enough to keep your comments positive after reading about my personal and embarrassing situation, then please find another blog to follow.
And now I will begin...
(^^^^^^Me/ Not Me^^^^^^)
I used to be a whopping 321lbs. That was my highest recorded weight. It is very possible I was heavier than that by a few pounds, too. I was miserable, depressed, and too fat for comfort. I should also mention that in November of 2008 I had Lap-Band surgery. I was about 18 years old then. I was desperate to get my weight and eating habits under control. I have always been overweight and I'm not sure what happened. One day I was a reasonably healthy kid and the next, I was an ever-growing kid.
(I don't remember what I was having done or why I was in the hospital here. Lol )
I don't know what it is like to be thin or entirely healthy. I am, however, working on it.
So, I spent just over 5 years with my Lap-Band. I struggled with it constantly and was always throwing up immediately after taking a bite of food. I, initially, lost 40lbs with the band, but due to my struggling with the proper diet and lack of discipline, I ballooned back up.
I had started experiencing acid reflux. I'll say that it was definitely mild, but it was not something I had ever had before. My lap-band and I were just never meant to be and that's alright. I don't think I was ready to have the surgery. I just wanted a fix for my obesity and I was not mentally mature enough to handle it back then. I do not have any regrets, though. My several years with the band taught me about my eating/drinking habits and how I was sabotaging myself from actually making a change. Despite the constant vomiting and discomfort, it was all very worth it.
Now that you have the backstory, let's continue.
After my band was removed, a month or so later, I was back in the hospital for the gastric bypass surgery. The surgery itself went very smoothly and I was back in my own hospital room in no time at all. After waking, I felt fine. There was some soreness and I was extremely tired/groggy as I was still coming off of the anesthesia.
Then it started, the dry heaving. There was, obviously, nothing in my new stomach to throw up so I was continuously dry heaving. This is completely normal. I experienced this after the lap-band surgery, too. Only, this continued over the course of several days and nights. Every time I opened my mouth just to speak, my heaving would begin again. This, was not normal.
And, I was terrified that I was never going to stop heaving and would have to go back into surgery or something.
The doctors and nurses were concerned because it should not have gone on for so long. I was not allowed near food or water during this time (it would have come back up anyway). Then, one day I just stopped. I believe it was about 3 days in. I could not have been happier, but I was still not allowed near food or water. At this point, I was so thirsty I could have cried. I just wanted a small sip of water to satisfy me, but it wasn't allowed.
During my stay, I was constantly hooked up to an IV pump. I was being pumped full of fluid bags. I was told that when you're getting that many fluids, you shouldn't feel that dehydrated, but I was.
(Note: This was all strange, but not life-threatening or anything I was *too* concerned about.)
Then sometime on my 3rd or 4th day in the hospital (Most patients only stay 2-3 days), I began to hiccup uncontrollably for an entire day. Also, not normal. My surgeon was growing worried and decided that I was not ready to go home yet and that broke my heart.
If you have ever stayed in a hospital for a few days, you know it is uncomfortable, boring, and you are constantly interrupted from sleeping by nurses who have to check up on you or give you medication. (And I am so thankful for every nurse out there. They are awesome and you should always thank them for taking care of you! Mine certainly went above and beyond.)
(This was my view. Talk about boring!)
I wanted to cry, I wanted to go home, and I wanted to feel normal again.
My surgeon had been busy so I had only spoken to him on the phone after the day of my surgery. After my hiccups, he wanted to come talk with me. Hours and hours of hiccups and the MOMENT he stepped into the room, my hiccups went away. I was only upset he didn't come sooner. He was genuinely concerned and wanted me to be just as informed as he was.
There was wrong as far as they could tell, my body was just reacting and recovering differently than most people. We figured that after days of constant dry heaving, my body reacted by hiccupping. Which, I believe is just muscle spasms. It made sense to me and so we waited.
I was feeling fine for another day, I was still very thirsty, but definitely not heaving or hiccupping or having some other reaction. Then, finally, I was allowed to start taking in some liquids. I was given a set of tiny 1oz cups to sip from, a sugar free lime flavored popsicle, beef broth, water, and crystal light lemonade water. This was the most delicious meal I've ever had. Starving for several days will do that to you. Nothing will ever taste as good as that lime popsicle.
Okay, so from here on out all I had to do was prove to them I could get in enough fluids by myself to stay hydrated. This would ensure my release from the hospital. I was so determined. I kept track of how many ounces of fluid I drank every hour and was able to report back to the doctors when they came to check up on me.
On the 4th night, I was watching MTV and chatting with my new nurse, who was a male. I love how nurses are so easy to talk to and they can make you laugh and cheer you up. We were joking around about the music video that was playing and that totally made my night. Some time after he left the room, this was probably between 1 and 2 am. I felt pressure from below and you are not supposed to hold in any gas you feel after surgery. They pump you full of air to expand your abdomen so they have more room during the surgery. Your body absorbs it and releases it like normal gas. You can walk around and try to get it moving, but if you hold it in, it can crawl up your body.
(After my lap-band surgery, the air gas crawled up to my shoulder and caused the worst pain I have ever felt. I was in tears and had to walk around my living room for hours to try and break it up and move it out of my system.)
So, as I was saying, I pushed it out. Except, this was not gas. This was a huge lie my body told me by making me think it was gas. All I felt was thick, warm, wetness coming from my back end and I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom.
Disgusting, right?
At least you didn't have to experience it.
Now, there were several things wrong with this decision I made to get up.
1) I was hooked up to the IV pump. I had to unplug and roll it to the bathroom with me, and this took up quite a bit of time.
2)I now was dripping all over the bed, myself, and the floor of my hospital room.
Here's the kicker!
3) It was not poop. Nothing about this was even remotely fecal matter. Nope, what came out of me (from back *there*) was indeed blood and lots of it.
My hospital room and bathroom looked like I had been massacred. I ran to the toilet to get as much out of me as I could, and then I jumped into the shower and pulled the "call for help" line. A nurse rushed to my room and I stood embarrassed in the shower trying to hide behind the shower curtain. Everything was covered in blood and I was scared I was dying.
Several people, including my male nurse, were called to the room. They cleaned up everything while I was coerced back to the bed by the nurse. I begged him to just let me take a shower and change into another hospital gown before doing anything else but he insisted that I needed to get checked out. He, was right of course, but I was really not happy about it.
To make matters worse, before he even ran tests on me he grabbed a bunch of warm wet wipes and wiped me down. This was the absolute lowest I have ever felt in my life. I think I would have preferred that the wipes were cold. Warm wet wipes told me he cared about my comfort, but it only made me more uncomfortable.
(Please don't judge me, I can laugh about it now, but back then it was the scariest and most embarrassing moment of my life.)
So, they did blood work, ran some tests. I had a fever and a headache. I started feeling awful after this incident. I had hardly noticed because I just wanted to go home and that was all I could focus on. Several hours later, the blood work came back and showed my blood count was super low and I was given a blood transfusion. A couple bags of blood and 8 hours later and I felt amazing. If you ever have the ability, please donate blood. If it can make me feel a ton better, imagine how much better it could make someone who is actually suffering from a life-threatening illness?
Seriously guys, my headache was gone, I felt hydrated finally, I had a ton of energy which I hadn't noticed I was running low on before. I just thought I had a major surgery and was feeling like I was supposed to...miserable. I could have gone home right then and there, sprinting down the highway. Naturally, after my big blood loss, I was not allowed to leave and was stuck for another day.
I, finally, gained control of my bowels and was able to change into my own clothes, without fear of having to leave them in the biohazard waste because of something awful like my previous experience. What was even better was that every time I had to go, I noticed the blood was darker and darker until it was pitch black. Still scary, but that tells me that the blood was no longer fresh so there wasn't any open wound or something that wasn't healing.
After all of this, I was finally released and sent home. This was only over the course of a week but it felt much longer. My surgeon had a heart to heart with me and let me know that I was one of FIVE patients this had ever happened to. He also had no idea what makes that happen.
I have no idea, either, but I am RELIEVED that it is all over. I will say that I was never in a lot of pain, just sore, and I had a lot of bruising. I haven't had a single problem since I was released from the hospital and it is now 9 months later.
(Hospital Selfie)
(My stomach after I returned from the hospital. There was way more bruising, but I don't have any photos of them. I'm sorry!)
(I'm still not sure exactly what all this bruising on my wrist was from.
So, there you have it.
-Do I regret having the gastric bypass?
No.
-Would I do it all again?
Yes, but hope I never ever have to.
-Do I recommend it to someone who is interested and a good candidate for the surgery?
Absolutely. Please keep in mind that what happened to me is ABNORMAL. So chances are, this will not happen to you!
If you have any questions regarding the surgery, feel free to ask or email me! Also, I will be posting more on this topic so if you don't get a direct response, check the coming blog posts for the rest of my GBS stories and information!
XOXO
-Captain O'Reily
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