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Mum and Dad came to stay the night before my operation so they could take me as we were now left with just one car and it was not a very reliable car to take Michael and I, besides mum and dad were going to meet us there anyway. My admission time was a later one than last time but let us do things at a more relaxed pace as the admission time was 9am. We headed off at about 7.30am to allow for any problems and also for Michael and Lilly (my niece) to get McDonald's for breakfast and Mum and Dad to get the McDonald's coffee too, funny enough it didn't really bother me.
We arrived at the hospital at about 8.45am and i paid my $400 access again and we waited just a couple of minutes until a nurse came to collect me. I was taken and shown my bed where i then waited about an hour before i was weighed, then my blood pressure was taken and i was given the horrid, dreaded pre op meds, and no they were not better than last time, they were YUCK to the max, after that i was then sent for my shower to wash with the betadine wash and change into my hospital gown, i was so excited this time getting into the gown as i only needed the one. 16 weeks before hand i needed two as just one didn't come close to covering up much so i was stoked when one worked for me, i felt normal, i didn't feel like the extremely fat chic that wont fit anything specially made for the overweight.
I laid in my bed with the stockings that pumped air to prevent clots and waited and waited. I meet the lady across from me who also was going in to have the same thing as me, She was going in before me and her operation was also pushed back a little as there was a day patent in the operation rooms first. I got feeling hungry at about 11.30am as lunches were getting delivered to other patients and it smelt so so yummy, plus oh my was i thirsty as i hadn't been allowed to eat or drink anything since midnight. It was my time at 12.55pm when they came and wheeled me down to the theater where i was greeted by Tamaris and her assistant, i used this moment to express my feelings on the needle that i had inside me, I told her i really wanted it to go at almost any cost, it just scared me being in there no matter how many times i was told it will be ok i still hated the idea it being there, it had already caused problems in the bedroom as i was to afraid that bedroom activities would cause the needle to move around and cause damage and then the fear i had when i thought about the future and what if i got pregnant and it caused problems then. Tamaris understood my feelings and told me she will get it. After that any nerves i had all went, seems they were there only because of the needle and my hang up on it.
In the small prepping room in theatre i was greeted by Des the anaesthetist who did checking of his own then his assistant who also did her preparations on me. I was then wheeled into the actual theatre where i had to once again slide across to the operation table cut without the thought that i wouldn't fit as i fitted last time. This time everything seemed to go much quicker with getting me in the right position and getting the gas on me along with the sedation needle. I tried my best to focus on the things above me to see if i could remember going to sleep with things getting darker or blurrier but no all i could remember is focusing on the things above and then waking up, hmmm darn that.
I remember coming in and out of consciousness trying to wake but my eye lids were just to heavy, but i do remember hearing my mum and husband talking, telling me all went well and the band was in, at some stage i also remember Tamaris telling me but to be honest i don't know which way around it was as i was pretty out of it. My brother Craig, niece Lilly and my Dad left not long after i woke but before i was aware of things properly as they had things they had to get done back at home but they stayed until they knew i was ok, so that was great. Mum and Michael left after they assumed i was with it and fully awake but turns out i was still high as a kite with me complaining of a sore hand and some other weird things. My hand was sore as i had my drip in it and i was trying to bend it backwards, i mean come on why should it be sore with a long needle stuck under my skin that dose not bend the same as my muscles, who knew??? Apparently after Mum kissed it better i smiled and went back off to sleep, aww what would i do without my Mum?
It was a while before i do remember waking properly at about 8pm when i had massive pressure around my calf muscle on my right leg, it turned out to be the blood pressure monitor cuff because i wouldn't play the game for them in my unconsciousness to put it in the right spot on my arm so that's where it ended up, it kept feeling like a nasty cramp that i just had to stretch but only lasted seconds so i managed it ok. I called the nurse over to ask if i had heard right or if i was just dreaming that the band was in and the needle was out, but the nurse could only confirm the band was in and i couldn't trust myself to believe that what i had heard was right as i remember from last time that i was the nurse who told me it was all ok and it wasn't but i understand she was not allowed to tell me anything different. I thought id wake up a little then ask to call home and speak to Michael or Mum to see what they had to say but with Mum and I having this weired connection in knowing when to call each other Mum called me, and to my relief she was able to confirm i was not dreaming, that i really did have the band and the needle was gone, i felt like i was on cloud 9. After speaking with Mum and Michael i managed to go to the toilet and i was amazed on how little pain i was in, i was able to push myself up out of bed and walked upright to the toilet and was able to move any way i wanted, i even managed a small walk up the hall with the nurse right beside me. The nurses were great and kept asking me if i was sure i had an operation as i didn't seem to be in much pain apart from some horrid shoulder pain from the air pumped into me for the operation. I think in my memory bank i still had the pain from that last operation 16 weeks before where walking upright was not even possible nor getting myself out of bed so i was stoked to not have that and so i felt normal. Sleeping was not so bad that night but was very broken but i had slept allot in the day so it was to be expected. Tamaris came to see me in the morning at about 7.30am and she explained how the operation went and what each hole was for as i ended up with 6 hols again. That confused me as i was told it was a straight forward procedure so i should only have 4 for the band placement and 1 more for the removal of the needle, but the extra one was because i had lost so much weight (24kg) Tamaris needed to try a higher up spot to get in right, i was a little excited about those words to be honest. I then got up and went for a shower before the nurse changed my dressings and i could go home.
Once Mum and Michael picked me up we didn't go straight home, instead we went to a couple of shops as i felt i needed to move around and it felt great. Even after Mum dropped Michael and I off at home i had a little nap but later i was back up and at it, heading off to do a few hings down the street and then visit Sally one of my best friends who i shocked walking in her front door after she saw me in so much pain last time. Still i only had the shoulder pain and a little discomfort from air bubbles getting trapped up in my chest but still nothing i couldn't manage.
For dinner i ended up having a treat of Yo-Go, i know it's not the best choice but after having so many shakes for so long and i hadn't gotten any soup ready i was defiantly not going to kick myself for it, but oh boy was it nice, funny though as i took my 15-20 minutes to eat a small tub of Yo-Go where before i could have that gone in less than a minute and id have two not just one.
So at the end of it all i finally became a "Bandit" one step in the right direction, one giant step at that.
We arrived at the hospital at about 8.45am and i paid my $400 access again and we waited just a couple of minutes until a nurse came to collect me. I was taken and shown my bed where i then waited about an hour before i was weighed, then my blood pressure was taken and i was given the horrid, dreaded pre op meds, and no they were not better than last time, they were YUCK to the max, after that i was then sent for my shower to wash with the betadine wash and change into my hospital gown, i was so excited this time getting into the gown as i only needed the one. 16 weeks before hand i needed two as just one didn't come close to covering up much so i was stoked when one worked for me, i felt normal, i didn't feel like the extremely fat chic that wont fit anything specially made for the overweight.
I laid in my bed with the stockings that pumped air to prevent clots and waited and waited. I meet the lady across from me who also was going in to have the same thing as me, She was going in before me and her operation was also pushed back a little as there was a day patent in the operation rooms first. I got feeling hungry at about 11.30am as lunches were getting delivered to other patients and it smelt so so yummy, plus oh my was i thirsty as i hadn't been allowed to eat or drink anything since midnight. It was my time at 12.55pm when they came and wheeled me down to the theater where i was greeted by Tamaris and her assistant, i used this moment to express my feelings on the needle that i had inside me, I told her i really wanted it to go at almost any cost, it just scared me being in there no matter how many times i was told it will be ok i still hated the idea it being there, it had already caused problems in the bedroom as i was to afraid that bedroom activities would cause the needle to move around and cause damage and then the fear i had when i thought about the future and what if i got pregnant and it caused problems then. Tamaris understood my feelings and told me she will get it. After that any nerves i had all went, seems they were there only because of the needle and my hang up on it.
In the small prepping room in theatre i was greeted by Des the anaesthetist who did checking of his own then his assistant who also did her preparations on me. I was then wheeled into the actual theatre where i had to once again slide across to the operation table cut without the thought that i wouldn't fit as i fitted last time. This time everything seemed to go much quicker with getting me in the right position and getting the gas on me along with the sedation needle. I tried my best to focus on the things above me to see if i could remember going to sleep with things getting darker or blurrier but no all i could remember is focusing on the things above and then waking up, hmmm darn that.
I remember coming in and out of consciousness trying to wake but my eye lids were just to heavy, but i do remember hearing my mum and husband talking, telling me all went well and the band was in, at some stage i also remember Tamaris telling me but to be honest i don't know which way around it was as i was pretty out of it. My brother Craig, niece Lilly and my Dad left not long after i woke but before i was aware of things properly as they had things they had to get done back at home but they stayed until they knew i was ok, so that was great. Mum and Michael left after they assumed i was with it and fully awake but turns out i was still high as a kite with me complaining of a sore hand and some other weird things. My hand was sore as i had my drip in it and i was trying to bend it backwards, i mean come on why should it be sore with a long needle stuck under my skin that dose not bend the same as my muscles, who knew??? Apparently after Mum kissed it better i smiled and went back off to sleep, aww what would i do without my Mum?
It was a while before i do remember waking properly at about 8pm when i had massive pressure around my calf muscle on my right leg, it turned out to be the blood pressure monitor cuff because i wouldn't play the game for them in my unconsciousness to put it in the right spot on my arm so that's where it ended up, it kept feeling like a nasty cramp that i just had to stretch but only lasted seconds so i managed it ok. I called the nurse over to ask if i had heard right or if i was just dreaming that the band was in and the needle was out, but the nurse could only confirm the band was in and i couldn't trust myself to believe that what i had heard was right as i remember from last time that i was the nurse who told me it was all ok and it wasn't but i understand she was not allowed to tell me anything different. I thought id wake up a little then ask to call home and speak to Michael or Mum to see what they had to say but with Mum and I having this weired connection in knowing when to call each other Mum called me, and to my relief she was able to confirm i was not dreaming, that i really did have the band and the needle was gone, i felt like i was on cloud 9. After speaking with Mum and Michael i managed to go to the toilet and i was amazed on how little pain i was in, i was able to push myself up out of bed and walked upright to the toilet and was able to move any way i wanted, i even managed a small walk up the hall with the nurse right beside me. The nurses were great and kept asking me if i was sure i had an operation as i didn't seem to be in much pain apart from some horrid shoulder pain from the air pumped into me for the operation. I think in my memory bank i still had the pain from that last operation 16 weeks before where walking upright was not even possible nor getting myself out of bed so i was stoked to not have that and so i felt normal. Sleeping was not so bad that night but was very broken but i had slept allot in the day so it was to be expected. Tamaris came to see me in the morning at about 7.30am and she explained how the operation went and what each hole was for as i ended up with 6 hols again. That confused me as i was told it was a straight forward procedure so i should only have 4 for the band placement and 1 more for the removal of the needle, but the extra one was because i had lost so much weight (24kg) Tamaris needed to try a higher up spot to get in right, i was a little excited about those words to be honest. I then got up and went for a shower before the nurse changed my dressings and i could go home.
Once Mum and Michael picked me up we didn't go straight home, instead we went to a couple of shops as i felt i needed to move around and it felt great. Even after Mum dropped Michael and I off at home i had a little nap but later i was back up and at it, heading off to do a few hings down the street and then visit Sally one of my best friends who i shocked walking in her front door after she saw me in so much pain last time. Still i only had the shoulder pain and a little discomfort from air bubbles getting trapped up in my chest but still nothing i couldn't manage.
For dinner i ended up having a treat of Yo-Go, i know it's not the best choice but after having so many shakes for so long and i hadn't gotten any soup ready i was defiantly not going to kick myself for it, but oh boy was it nice, funny though as i took my 15-20 minutes to eat a small tub of Yo-Go where before i could have that gone in less than a minute and id have two not just one.
So at the end of it all i finally became a "Bandit" one step in the right direction, one giant step at that.
