The Actual Surgery
June 20 finally arrived and I was so excited, I couldn't sleep the night before. We arrived at Methodist hospital at 6:00am for my 8:00 surgery. We first went to Admitting where we had to answer questions we had already answered 10 times and we gave them my advance directive. Then someone escorted us to a waiting room where I had to sit on a table because the chairs had arms and were too narrow (you'd think with the number of GBP surgeries performed there, they'd get chairs their patients could fit in). Finally, they called me back to take my weight and asked me some questions I would answer again and again. My wife tried to come with me, but they wouldn't let her. When I was in a room, my wife came in, I changed into my hospital gown, and got into this fancy new bariatric hospital bed that nobody knew how to work. After they were done with me there, they wheeled me - bed and all - to the surgical floor. There my IV was started and I talked with the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurse who would be performing my surgery. I don't remember much of that because of the sedative they gave me there.
I spent a couple of hours in recovery before going to the Intensive Care Unit (which had been planned for in advance due to my sleep apnea). As soon as I woke up I asked to walk, but they said I couldn't yet. My wife and other family members joined me in ICU and stayed as long as they would let them. A nasal-gastric (NG) tube was in my nose sucking out drainage and whatever water I drank. They gave me morphine in a Patient Controlled Analgesic (PCA) machine and periodic shots of Toradol for the pain. I expected a lot of pain at the incision site, but it wasn't bad. What hurt the most was my back. That was from being flat on my back for almost three hours during the surgery. The morphine didn't do much for that. In the evening, I finally got up to walk for the first time. The next day the NG tube was removed.
Later the next day I was moved into the room where I would spend the next three days. From that point on, my wife stayed with me around the clock with a couple of breaks provided by my father. That was really a blessing for me, because when I needed to turn over in bed or get up to use the bathroom (after my catheter was removed), my wife could help me get started while we waited for a nurse or aide to arrive. As the days went by I walked more and more and got stronger and stronger. They gradually weaned me off the PCA, IVs and monitors. On the fourth morning the doctor said I could go home. During one of my walks that morning I passed a scale in the hallway. I was thrilled to discover that I had already lost 21 pounds!