Adios, Crapband!

SO I had the band removed on Friday the 13^th (spooky).  I had a call time of 7:30AM to be at the hospital.  I got there at 7AM and they wouldn’t take me for all the pre-op stuff until my actual appointment time even though I was literally the only person there.

Once I got called into the back rooms of same day admitting the waiting started.  I did the usual stuff like a urine sample, blood pressure etc but then just sat for a longggg time.  At around 8:30AM my surgeon came in and said he hadn’t even started his first case of the day but was on his way in.  Ugh!  The waiting room they had me in was nice though and they gave me the remote for the tv in the room.  I just sat with my mom talking through my nervousness.  I’m not sure why, but I was nervous.  I suppose it’s normal for anyone to be nervous before going in to surgery. 

Around 10AM, the anesthesiologist came in to do the run down.  He was nice enough but kept asking me why I was having the band removed.  At first I laughed and was like “Uhm, because it obviously doesn’t work?” I received a blank stare on that one so I elaborated a bit and he was just very stoic and kept asking questions.  I just wanted him to get on with it.  He also kept pointing out things about my blood pressure and why I really need to lose weight.  Yeah, no shit Sherlock!  Thanks, Captain Obvious.  After that, it was time to go back to the OR.  I said bye to my mother and took the long walk back to the OR which was small and cold.  

I’m a hard stick which means I have bad veins.  It took the doctor FOUR times to get me with the needle for anesthesia and once they got it, I was OUT.  They didn’t even tell me they were starting the medication but all of a sudden things got a little woozy.  For some strange reason, I think I had a dream while I was under.  When I came to, I was extremely disoriented and WHAM the nausea hit.  I’ve never had a bad experience with anesthesia but this time was bad.  I also know that the tube in my throat causes discomfort but my throat was on FIRE.  The nausea plus the fire in my throat plus the disorientation immediately made me cry.  I’m a big baby when it comes to pain and illness so crying was my immediate response.  The anesthesiologist was actually very nice at this point.  He held my hand and told me it would be ok, that he knew it was an emotional event.

Once in recovery, I also noticed my vision wasn’t clearing.  Since I was a fire breathing dragon at this point, I couldn’t express this to my nurse very clearly.  I told her “blurry” and she immediately knew what I was saying.  Apparently they rubbed Vaseline on my eyes to keep them moist (never had that done before) and it would take a little while for them to clear.  Well isn’t that just fun!  The nausea or grogginess didn’t go away for a while until they finally gave me a shot for it.  I came out of surgery at a little after 11:30AM and stayed in recovery until 3:30PM.  After that, they moved me upstairs to the women’s ward in a smaller recovery room with 3 other women.  Once up there, they got me out of bed and moving around.  I jumped through all the hoops to get the hell out of there and go home and by 5PM I was on my way.

It was a long day and a hard recovery from anesthesia but I’m doing better and better every day.  I forgot how hard/annoying it is to have wounds on the stomach but I’m becoming more and more mobile.  After surgery, I saw my surgeon on the way out of the hospital.  He said it took a little extra effort to get my port out so I’ll be more sore in that area.  I expected that anyway.  He also mentioned the dreaded “scar tissue” and said we have to talk more when I follow up with him.  That follow up appointment is set for Monday so we’ll just have to see how it goes.

Overall, I’m glad to finally have the band out and start the process to get my sleeve.  A friend asked me if I’m having second thoughts after the bad anesthesia experience or the soreness in my stomach area but I’m not.  It will be a long road of recovery but I’m ready and prepared to do it and do it right this time!  

-D

It's America, do what you want.

Well, it has been some time since I last updated.  Having a blog is hard!  Time just gets away from me.  Lots of stuff has gone on since my first posting.  For example, tomorrow I will be getting my crapband removed.  I’m a little bit anxious because I don’t really know what the next few months are going to be like.  My surgeon claims that I will only be a little sore after the removal, mostly where my port was but I’m becoming anxious about gaining a ton of weight in the three months I have to wait for my sleeve.

My eating habits have not been great since I have no fluid in my band.  I don’t go all out crazy but I definitely don’t try too hard to be good either.  I don’t track my food anymore which is a bad habit that I need to break.  I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for my post op life with the sleeve as much as I can.  I’ve also been spending a lot of time reading up on protein supplements.  I really was never good with my protein even with the band but I’m taking this new opportunity to start over and be successful.   

           
In other news, I have latent TB.  Yes, that tricky tuberculosis.  I went in to my PCP for blood work for medical clearance to get the lapband removed.  For some unknown reason he decided to run the Quantiferon Gold test which is apparently the new way to test for TB.  It came back positive.  Since then, I’ve gotten a chest xray and seen a specialist.  My lungs are clear which means I have latent TB and therefore I have to go on nine months of medication.  This medication is called INH and it is a very strong antibiotic which means no drinking, for nine months…

           
So that was pretty much a death sentence for my 26 year old social self but I have since come to terms with it.  I’d rather take care of it now than later or wait to possibly contract active TB and run into a whole other slew of problems.  This whole experience, however, has made me realize I need a new PCP.

          
My current PCP has a bit of a “god” complex and thinks he’s the all mighty.  Something about me that you should probably know, I tend to get easily upset at doctor’s appointments when they tell me something strange and horrifying (such as “you have to take nine months of medication”).  I also have amassed a large amount of medical bills thanks to my crapband and various other illnesses.  So, we were talking nine months of medication and blood tests every month to watch my liver on top of my surgery costs. Needless to say, I was upset.  Well, just like lapband doctor #1, my PCP really didn’t give two shits about me or my concerns.  In fact, when I asked normal questions like “Do I really have to take this medication?” or “Are there any other options?” his response was (and I quote) “It’s America, you can do whatever you want”.  Also, when I started to cry he asked me “Is that allergies or are you really crying?”  Like seriously, dude?  What a big ‘ol jerk! 

          
 Anyway, I can’t seem to get any luck with these doctors.  I decided that day to go to the specialist my surgeon recommended and I’m glad I did.  My surgeon and the pulmonary specialist are both affiliated with NYU in Manhattan.  Not only are the doctors SPECTACULAR, the offices/hospital are well maintained and are very modern which I appreciate in this day and age.  All the modernity, however, cannot change the fact that I have to take this stupid INH and not drink for nine months (and also worry about my liver) but on the upside not drinking should really help me lose weight with or without my sleeve surgery.

           
Tomorrow begins the process of revising for me, crapband out, sleeve in (not until October though).  I hope to not be too sore but I will try to update more frequently in the future to avoid long rambling posts such as this one ;).