Recovering from complications after weight loss surgery.

Well...weight loss surgery is done. The actual surgery itself was no big deal to me. I was pretty calm the whole time leading up to it. I got to the hospital with Mike bright and early, they did all the pre-op stuff. No problems. As they started to wheel me away and I looked at Mike and saw the worry in his face, that's when it set in what is about to happen. I get to the OR and the whole staff was awesome. The nurse put some Phil Collins on and set it by my ear. By the second song I was out and didn't come to until after the recovery period. I have NO idea how long that was. I just remember getting to my hospital room at some point.
The couple of days in the hospital after the surgery went better than expected. I was walking around not long after. I even had the energy to take a shower the next day. I couldn't drink or eat the day of surgery so I was super thirsty and my lip kept sticking to my teeth which made for some pretty funny pictures. The day after I could have clear liquids which was awesome to be able to drink water and drink some warm chicken broth, that was so soothing. Mike and I would take small walks around the floor to help keep things moving. I had lots of visitors which was so nice to feel the love. The biggest headache while I was there was the drama with my IV. The first site did fine for a day then it started to burn real bad when the fluid would push through. In order to find another vein, the nurse had to get one of those ultraviolet light gadgets to help locate a vein. This took forever with lots of unsuccessful pokes, but he finally got one. The next day this location started to pool the fluid under my skin, so this IV had to be removed. Now, the pros had to be called in. I was without an IV for about 6 hours, which meant no fluids. This guy brought in an ultrasound machine to locate a vein. I apparently have small wavy veins that are deep and roll around. Lovely. Again, this attempt took forever with lots of poking and at one point causing numbness in my fingers. Ummm. I don't think that's supposed to happen. Finally, he found a winner and that one stayed put till I was discharged.
The biggest worry with having the surgery was my history of  Pulmonary Emboli (blood clots in my lungs). I had 3 clots in January 2016 and then 4 clots again in August 2017. After this episode I was put on a blood thinner medicine for the rest of my life. Before the surgery, my Hematologist was managing my blood thinner medicine. I did what was called a "bridge". I stopped taking my normal medicine on Sunday, gave myself an injection of a different medicine on Monday, no medicine on Tuesday and then surgery on Wednesday. After the surgery, they resumed the injection medicine (not my normal stuff) because I couldn't swallow pills. The dose they gave me was based on my weight. When my Hematologist came by to check on me he thought the dose was too high, so he ordered a special blood test. It was a Friday so he wouldn't get the results till Monday.
I went home on Friday and the next 2 days went just fine. The only thing that worried us was a small bruise that was on my leg on Friday had spread like wildfire all over my thigh over the weekend. We called the on call doctor and they ordered an ultrasound to rule out infection. It was just a deep bruise, no infection detected. At the end of the day, the blood test came back and I was prescribed too much blood thinner. So, the doctor called in the correct dose and I started taking that.
Little did I know, this extra blood thinner was creating all kinds of problems internally that I had NO clue was brewing.
Over the next few days I was struggling with pain of what I assumed was gas pains. I knew the gas pains were no joke and all apart of the process. But, this pain was nothing like I've felt before. And, I'm usually pretty tough and have a high threshold for pain. We called just about every morning and walking was what I was directed to do. I did my best to do this and get up and move around. Everyday I was doubled over in tears leaning against the kitchen counter from the overwhelming pain. I was getting piercing pains that made me wail out in pain. Mike and the kids were terrified and just stood there staring at me not knowing how to help. I was dependent on Hydrocodone, which only helped partly for a couple of hours, I took Tylenol and tried ALL kinds of gas medicines. Nothing was helping this pain go away.
Saturday morning at 3am I got up to go to the bathroom and was able to pass a lot of gas (TMI 😉). I went back to my chair and got up at 6am needing medicine for the pain again. I went back to my chair and rested till Mike got up. I got up to go to the bathroom and this is when everything hit me SUPER hard. I was lightheaded to the point of passing out, beyond exhausted and winded and I kept getting a flood of heat through my body. This was NOT normal!! Mike took me to the ER. By this point I was experiencing a flood of different things. I was miserable, in pain and scared.
This whole day was the worst day of my life!
The wait and multiple doctors, multiple pokes and OF COURSE the headache of finding a vein. Not to mention I had a UTI to top it all off. Every inch of my body was under stress!!
I got into a room and they got the results of the blood work. I was severely low in the hemoglobin count. It is supposed to be 12-14 and mine was 8. The hemoglobin is the red blood cell count that carries oxygen through the blood. They sent me in for a CT scan which showed that I had a belly bleed. Two large hematomas (big bruises) in my abdomin. These bruises were causing the pain in addition to soaking up my too thin blood (remember my medicine dose was too high for several days). While in the ER room they started treatment to help me. BUT...I was at my wits end by this point. It was a small room and I was in pain and stressed out. When the nurse tried to put an antibiotic into my IV and couldn't get it to pass through, she kept trying and twisting and asking another nurse to help. I couldn't take it anymore. I LOST IT!! I got up and sat at the side of the bed experiencing what I call a nervous breakdown. I got up.., Mike told me to sit down. I didn't care. I needed air!! I literally wanted to strip down to nothing! I made my way to a chair in the room to sit down...with no pants at this point or hospital gown. I ripped off the pulse ox thing attached to my finger and all the heart monitor wires and just sat down in that chair in pain, in tears and heat flooding through my body. I could not calm down, I was hyperventilating thinking "this is it! I'm a goner" Mike was finally able to get through to me to slow down my breathing. I slowly came to and settled down.
Now...time to find a vein again. Three different people came in to look. They were all so kind and compassionate and understanding with my breakdown. They each did the best they could to find a vein without a ton of digging around and knew when it was time to pass me off to the next nurse. After several minutes, one of the nurses picked a winner and it lasted the WHOLE hospital stay!! Thank goodness!!
My surgeon showed up, made me get back in bed and explained what was going on and ordered 2 units of blood to give me a blood transfusion, along with meds to help with the UTI. I was then admitted and sent to a room to continue treatment. By this point, I was beginning to feel better and able to relax. Mike...not so much. For him to witness all of this and not being able to help was terrifying for him. He was an emotional basketcase too.
So now, it's all a waiting game. Every day and night I got blood drawn to check my hemoglobin level. Which was no picnic because depending on which phlebotomist I got I could end up with a blown vein, a big bruise, a very painful poke in my knuckle or wrist or on a rare occasion no pain at all. I never knew what to expect. I also had to get my vitals checked on a regular basis, so sleeping all night was not a luxury I had. I also still had the pain and bloat in my belly. I was uncomfortable ALL the time!!
I was in the hospital for 4 days. My blood level was inconsistent, it would raise then it would drop. I ended up getting 3 units of blood. My blood sugar numbers skyrocketed again, so I got put
back on insulin. Finally, I had several tests in a row where the numbers began to stabilize. My surgeon and Hematologist and the hospital doctor checked on me everyday to watch my progress and once everything looked stable they agreed to start me back on my old blood thinner medicine. I was off all blood thinners during this hospital stay.
I'm back home now. Slowly recovering. I'm not out of the woods yet because they are still checking my blood level to make sure it continues to raise. The bruises in my belly make it hard for me to bend, I'm still exhausted with little effort and my legs have swollen up big time again,  so that adds more weight to lug around. I'm trying to gauge how much activity I need to get better, but also how much rest I need to heal. Each day is different. My flexibility is getting better because the bruises are healing. But, my body looks like it's been used as a punching bag because the internal bruises are surfacing.
I haven't lost weight yet because of all this extra water weight. I'm getting used to the new way of eating and understanding the signals my stomach gives me when I'm done.
I am excited to get past this and start feeling better again. I can't wait to see the pounds and inches drop and live life in a smaller and healthier body.
I am so grateful for all the medical staff that took such good care of me. I am grateful for all my family and friends that checked up on me AND Mike to make sure we were doing ok. I am grateful for parents that give me kisses and tell me they love me and just sit with me during those long days. Most of all, I am thankful for my husband that has been my rock and nurse and has had to take care of me in ways that no one likes to ask for. True love.