Blake's RNY Surgery - Part 2

So what can I say about my actual surgery. Well the guys wheeled me into the room and my first thought is 'wow this is much bigger than where I had my RNY." Then I looked around a bit, the anesthesiologist was there and introduced me to the people in the room. And there were lots of people. I lost count after nine of them. The put my guerny right up beside the operating table and got me to slide over onto the narrow narrow bed. I wasn't as concerned about it this time as I was when I had my gall bladder removed. Dr. Amson came in and said "Okay everybody, this is Blake and today he is going to have gastric surgery." Very cool I thought.

The anesthesiologist said "okay, lets get that line in. Now Blake your going to" ....... and I was out. From here on out I don't remember anything. I woke up in the recovery area momentarily. But then I was off to sleep. Finally I opened one eye an one of the angles of the recovery room were there. Her name name is Sarah and she was one of the four wonderful ladies who took care of me. I also had Maureen, Andrea, Charlene (from before) and Sarah not to mention all their colleagues who were nothing but nice to me.

The next time I work up it was to Sarah saying "I'm going to poke you now - Little poke" and then jabbed me with a needle of dilaudid http://www.rxlist.com/dilaudid-drug.htm. I am not a big fan of Dilaudid when it comes to drugs. It does have the kick of a mule punch that absolutely takes away any pain. But there is no good 'trip' with the drug. I used to get the best dreams on morphine when I was having kidney stones. So all I got to do was sleep which in this case was just the thing I needed.

I think everyone is trained to say "I'm just going to poke you now - Little poke." I got that each time they tested my blood sugar (4 times a day), Heprin (1 a day), Dilaudid (at least six times). A note about the Dilaudid - it is not so bad going in but about half way through the dose it burns a bunch, and then you fall asleep.

The best wake up was when I looked up from my bed and there was Marla. Marla has been my biggest supporter throughout this process. She has been a joy to have around and just lights up my day when I see her. She, apparently, likes me under the influence of strong chemicals. I would wake up "Hi hon, I love you. I missed you. How long have I been asleep? That long? Oh Hi hon, I love you. I missed you. How long have I been asleep? That long? I missed you." She like the attention and apparently I am more futzer when I am not drugged.

But there I was, bright and awake. It has only been about seven hours since I had my operation and I wanted to do a walk. My first walk was around the ward area. In the recovery area there are about 16 paddock stalls that hold surgery patients. I noticed there were even a couple of bariatric beds in there for wider patients. I walked about and talked to a few of the people who were awake and approachable. There were some really nice people there. The lady next to me was also a Dr. Amson patient as well. We had a good time comparing notes about him.

I finally settled down and watched a couple tv shows on my PSP and iPhone. I learned from my last hospital stay that it is imperative that any entertainment lasts only 20 or 25 minutes. Any thing you read must have large text or lots of pictures. The worst thing I did was watch a comedy special by John Pinette. His bit about diets and juicing just about killed me. http://youtu.be/WLdNTMa1xZA It is very hard to laugh a lot when your stomach has been sewn down to one eighth its normal size.

Another Shot in the arm and I was ready to call it a night. It was amazing how quiet the room was. I remember Kerri telling me to take ear plugs and I couldn't find mine but it turned out there were no problems. Nobody snored except me. :)