1-yr post-op update - the downside

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

It's been a long time since I posted to this group, and was recently (thank you Chrissie!) reminded that it's important to let pre-ops know how it goes for us, long-term. It will take a lot of words (I'm not known for economy of verse) to discuss the last year , so I've broken it into two parts, the good and the bad. I'll start with the bad. There is no ugly. If you want that, find another post-op.

My pre-op weight was 348. I was no lightweight. I'm 5'9", had a BMI of 51, had diabetes, hypertension, and likely also suffered from Lymphedema and Sleep Apnea, and although neither was diagnosed the symptoms were classic.

I had tremendous back, ankle and especially knee pains, daily. I couldn't stand for more than a couple of minutes at a time. I couldn't walk from one end of the mall to the other (and it was a small mall) without stopping to rest. Walking up a flight stairs robbed me of breath. I hated to travel, and refused to even try to sit in a booth in a restaurant. I'd broken chairs, ruined beds and couches, was incredibly hard on shoes, all the lovely things that just go with the territory when you're morbidly obese.

I wasn't depressed, didn't suffer with body image problems. If anything, I was in denial about how I looked. I was a high-carb, high-fat power eater. Chips and other crunchy things were my poison of choice. I was never full. Ever. I wasn't one who gained weight on 1200 calories a day. 1200 calories would have me climbing the walls. I regularly consumed 3000 calories, maybe more, who knows?

I didn't quite sail through surgery, but it wasn't too bad. I had a lap DS with Dr. Gagner on Dec 13, 99, which was completely uneventful. Except for the choking in recovery. Recovery was strange anyway. VERY dark. Pitch black, really. Couldn't see a thing. I only learned later that it's actually brightly lit, and I must have had my eyes closed. Goofy, but there you are. I almost choked to death on my own vomit, 3 times. At least, that was my impression at the time. Reality is a bit different. The good nurses aspirated me, I didn't choke, didn't come anywhere near dying. Here's a hint for you; if you begin to gag or vomit while intubated (or at any other time!) TURN YOUR HEAD TO THE SIDE! That's right, turn your head. Keeping your chin pointed at the ceiling (which you can't see anyway because it's so dark, er, your eyes are closed) doesn't help matters. You don't have to test this theory, I've already done so. Just take my word for it, ok?

I was on a morphine pump which worked wonders for pain control. I was pretty much out of it the first 48 hours post-op, but that was partly due to a blood pressure problem. Remember that I was hypertensive pre-op. Post-op, my BP wouldn't come up to pre-op levels. Nowhere close. I was stable, but not returning to normal. Dr. Gagner administered 2 units of whole blood, no improvement. He figured I had some internal bleeding, which turned out to be the case. Back to the OR I went, where Dr. G repaired a bleeding vein on my spleen. Not common, but not uncommon either, and not something that's really a life-threatening 'gotta fix it NOW' thing. It's just something that needs to be repaired. Once that was fixed, I returned to normal quickly.

My post-op course went pretty much as most do, which means it was completely unique. I never regretted, for a moment, having WLS. I didn't experience undue pain. Went home with T3 w/Codeine, but only took it a couple times. Some minor back pain was treated with Naproxin, OTC. Once home, I needed no meds for anything. Not even the diabetes and hypertension that I used to have. I was able to keep most things down, in fact didn't hurl until I tried macaroni and cheese at 3 weeks. Big mistake. I began experiencing nausea at about 5-6 weeks post-op. Not the bad "I think I'm gonna toss my cookies" nausea, just low grade morning sickness that lasted all day. It was only annoying, not debilitating. I didn't take anything for it but food. Niccole advised me it was likely a protein deficiency (which my lab results quickly confirmed). Once I upped my protein to 80-100g per day it quickly went away. I say quickly, but it felt like the longest week of my life. I was tired of feeling like crap, you know? Anyway, it never came back, so upping the protein helped. I still eat more protein than most post-ops, but we're all so different, this should surprize no one.

My stools were never really firm post-op. But they'd never been really firm pre-op either, so that was no change and no big deal. I did experience some gas early on, and stinky farts. No longer. Can't say when I stopped having gas and farting, but sometime around the 6th month, I think. I'm much less gassy now than I was pre-op, maybe because I eat healthier now? I still spend more time than your average person in the bathroom, but usually it's only in the morning once or twice, and over with for the day. But now that I think on it, I've known a LOT of people my age (late 40's) who begin spending more time in the bathroom, and they're normal. So maybe it's as much age as surgery. I have hemorrhoids now, but got them so soon post-op that I think I had them pre-op and didn't know it yet, or was about to get them anyway. We're talking within 2 weeks of surgery. They're still with me, but only bother me in the morning when I poop, and then it's not excruciating or anything. Lots of non-WLS people have them, too, so who knows why I got them. Anyway, I don't need ointments or suppositories, just wipe with Cottonelles and then I'm fine. Pain free for the rest of the day.

I've got an incisional hernia that will be repaired by Dr. Anthone on Feb 15th. I'll have my tummy tuck on the same day. The hernia was sometimes painful when it was new, but now it's just there. My tummy gurgles a lot more than anyone else's that I've met, but I don't know why. I'm hoping it stops singing when my hernia is fixed, but don't know if it will. It doesn't seem to bother others, they mostly, if they hear it at all, find it amusing. I hear it quite well, thank you. But others seem to not notice it.

That's the extent of my problems. Major morbidities pre-op. Minor problems immediately post-op. Long-term it's just loose stools that require me to spend, on average, about 15-20 minutes on the toilet in the morning. No gas, no farting, no eating problems. So in exchange for diabetes, hypertension, apnea, lymphedema and joint pains, I've got loose stools that take 15-20 minutes of my morning. Sold. Oh, and did I mention that I'm not morbidly obese anymore?

It's 4:02 pm here, the Caps are about to face off against the Penguins, and I've got to see it. I'll tell you about the upside later tonight. After my beloved Capitols introduce Lemieux to the boards at MCI Center. :-)

Duffy