About Weight Loss Surgery

Surgery Time!

The Hospital Stay

In my case, I will be having surgery at North Colorado Medical Center (NCMC).  I'll be admitted to the hospital early in the morning on the day of surgery.  

Two family members will be able to accompany me to the pre-op area, where I'll be prepped for surgery, given IV medication to relax me, and given medication to reduce nausea and vomiting.  I'll also be given blood-thinning medication and have anti-embolism stockings placed on my legs to decrease the chance of blood clots.  

The surgery time depends on exactly which procedure is being done, but requires an average of two hours.

My surgery ended up taking close to three hours, I believe.  I honestly don't remember a single thing from the time I saw the anestheologist in the surgery holding area until I was in my private room that evening.  

I guess I took a long time coming out of the anesthetic or something, because I was in the recovery room for quite a while.  

That first evening is pretty much a blur to me, except I remember my back hurt a lot from the operating table and my left shoulder hurt terribly, which they said was referred pain from the gas they use to inflate your abdomen while they do the surgery.

I had a PCA pump and I could push the button every 10 minutes to get pain medicine (morphine).  I didn't use it very much however, because it seemed to give me a bad headache.

I had a nasty allergic reaction to the tegaderm (clear bandage/tape) they used to cover the central line in my neck.  Left a very nasty, itchy, red, rash of blisters.  That will take a while to heal up!

Of all the things I took to the hospital with me, the major things I used was my bathrobe and birks for hall walking, and my journal to write in.  I never touched the TV or my CD player.  I just didn't care!

Probably one of the most difficult things was getting a shower (a shower was right in the bathroom in my room, you just sat on a bench and hosed yourself off).  That was difficult getting there, but the water felt absolutely wonderful!  And I felt so much more human after washing my hair.

© 2002 Vicki S. Mossman
All rights reserved

vmossman2@attbi.com
Last updated on 12/7/02