Day 44 : Flashback Day 3 - The Discharge

Continuing my back filled of first couple of days after surgery:

Day 3 came along, I was walking 20 laps in the morning.  By now, I was under the effect of both CO2 that was pumped into my stomach cavity to make room for surgical instruments seeping into the rest of my body, and the after effect of the CAT scan dye.  This makes my entire body muscle ache.

The on-call physicians made their round in the morning, and was happy enough with my result that I was getting discharged that day.  Call my brother to come pick me up, finally I get to remove Peripheral Cannula (the thingamajig installed on my right forearm) and not getting hooked up to the saline solution dispensing machine.  That device is just another mildly annoying things in the hospital stay (the other being wearing nothing but a hospital gown and flip flaps).

I took both of the prescription (Prilosec and liquid Codeine) and fill them at my local pharmacy.  The Prilosec I'll be taking for the next 40 days.  Surprisingly enough, I don't have enough pain to justified using liquid Codeine, and I stopped altogether 2 days after discharge.  I also went and buy some chicken broth to supplement the protein shake that'll become my constant meal choices.

One thing I think I kind of messed up is how I take my medicine.  I grind all of the morning medicines with a marble mortars and pestles into fine powder.  I than use Magic Bullet to blend the medicine into the protein shake.  3 weeks later, I decided to just take the medicine powder, bitter as it was straight up with a sip of water, and not alter the protein shake.  Blending the shakes increases the volume of the drink by about 20%, and I really don't need more air in my digestive system. 

Today's on-call onslaught isn't quit as bad as yesterday.  I'm only awaken at 2AM and then a couple more times at 4AM.  At that junction, I decided to just drive into work right away and take care of it.

136/92/84 288 lb 90 mg/DL

Day 43 : Things You Missed When You're On-Call

For example, sleep.  Today's number was an eye-opener. Yeah, it's hard to get any sort of rest when the PDA wakes you up every 30 minutes, plus the 2 hours spend at 2AM praying for network to improve. And 2 hours later, even more emergency that required my attention. Retook the blood pressure measurement, at least it's more reasonable.

Here's a different picture of the tabard effect:

135/93/86 288lb 91mg/DL

Day 42 : Flashback Day 2

After the excitement of the first night, where my test ran until about 5AM, I basically didn't get much sleep.  I was also amazed at the sheer amount of saline solution that went through my body through the night.

When the morning came (and the changing of shift of the nurse staff), I took the recommendation of walking the wing's lap as a challenge.  They recommend 10 laps a day, so I decided to do 20 laps in the morning and however much I can stand in the afternoon.

The parking at the hospital and nearby places continued to be astonishingly bad, my brother and father managed to get to the place at 10AM, took them an hour to park.  I was surviving on my droid the first day for internet information.  My brother was kind enough to bring the laptop, which helps tremendously. 

I believe they start feeding me beef broth, protein drink and clear jello by the middle of the 2nd day.  I drink what I can, trying not to push myself.  By the end of second day's afternoon, I actually have genuine sign of my digestive system working.

Oh, since this item is kind of hard to get, I finally completed my Lightbringer set (spanning about 3 years to get all of the necessary pieces, including matching axe and shield).  The tabard is one of the reward item for completing Shadowmourn.

123/83/74 287.8lb 93mg/DL

Day 41 : Photos (2 Days prior to surgery & Day 41) Week 6

Not too exciting of a day thus far, but I should go ahead and show the before and after pictures, so here they go:

First off my front and side view pictures from 2 days prior to surgery:

08-07-2010 Front

08-07-2010 Side

And then Today's pictures:

09-19-2010 Front

09-19-2010 Side

Frankly, I don't see much of a difference :)

Now that I'm going back and back fill information, this is the first entry of this blog that has Milestone reach.  This is when I cross over the 40lb mark.

130/93/77 288lb 93mg/DL
Week to Week 3.2lb
Total Weight Loss 40lb
Body Mass Index 41.35
Milestone 40lb

Day 40 : Back to Usual Routines - Flashback Day 1

Nothing terribly earth shattering today.  At least I'm back doing my weekend chores prior to my surgery, another step  back to normality.  Was tempted to visit the forbidden noodle shop and try their fried tofu again, but since I'm running late as it is with the trip to the cemetery to put flower at my mother's urn, that temptation is suppressed.

Back to back-filling my pre-blog narrations.

The surgery is at 08-09-10 (hum, just noticed, 8-9-10 :).  My brother was kind enough to take a whole week off to help me out.  Due to the fact that the surgery took place at 9AM, our actual check in time is 6:45 AM, which means we have to leave a wee bit earlier than that.  Following the surgery protocol, I actually dressed fairly down (as it turns out, I won't be wearing anything more than the hospital gown for 3 days) with T-shirts and gym shorts.  Didn't carry my wallet, took 2 ID with me for identification.  I did bring my Droid phone with me with charger.

Since this is my first major surgery, most of what happens is brand new territory.  Pre-op involved the staff taking a bunch of reading and fitting my right arm with a IV drip thingamajig that I'll be carrying for the next 3 days as well.  After getting work up in pre-ops for about 2 hours, I was wheeled into the surgery room.  My impression of the place is that it's rather empty, and COLD.  There the last thing I remember prior to me loosing 2 hours of memory is the assistant anesthesiologist pressing down on my chest to straighten my windpipe so they can fit a breathing tube through.

Roughly 2 hours later, I awoke in the post-op room with a tremendous muscle cramp near diaphragm that really acted up when I cough, which given the amount of nasal discharge and my coughing habit is a bit painful.  Fortunately, one of the nurse at my room told me about putting a pillow on top of that muscle, press down with my arms.  That makes my coughing tolerable.

One of the necessary discomfort that I had while in the hospital is the leg squeeze wrap that worked the muscle on my calf muscles.  I understand the purpose of that contraption, but none the less, it's a wee bit discomfort as every time I want to go to to pee, I have to ring the nurse to unstrap me and strap me back in.

The surgeon and other medical staff were a bit unease with my blood pressure and pulse rate.  So much so by 9PM, they ordered the full barrage of tests, blood work, chest x-ray, and my least favorite CATS scan.  Now, everything else I've done before, CAT scan is a new thing.  The CAT scan requires them to inject me with a dye that fill my vein with fire.  That sensation spread to other part of my skins, and the entire process is rather uncomfortable.  As it turns out, this dye have other after effect that's annoying.

This barrage of test lasted until 2AM, at which time I attempt to sleep.

Ok, last night, I actually managed to raid until 2AM on my death knight.  That goes a way to explain my number.

142/97/68 290.4lb 91mg/DL

Day 39 : Company Picnic - Flashback 2 Days Pre-Surgery

Another note to myself, raiding until 1AM is somewhat bad for a restful night of sleep.  My morning blood pressure measurement sort of bear witness to that.

So today is the company picnic.  Took the smallest slice of the BBQ chicken, and tried to scrape off as much sauce as I can.  Took some potato salad, which I know I can digest.  Eating a whole hot dog is probably not a good idea.  Currently, I'm still having difficulty judging when I'm full, which is odd, since I think I got the sensation of hunger back.

Since I started this blog on Day 38, I should tried to back fill a bit of my progress.

My surgery took place on Monday 08-09-2010.  My measurement journal actually started on 08-07-2010, just prior to the 2 day clear liquid bowel preparation.  My weight at that time is 328lb.  Amazingly enough, 2 days of clear liquid cleared almost 9lb off me.  Thus, my day of surgery weight is 317.6lb.

138/98/77 290.0lb 91mg/DL

Day 38 : Surgeon Post-Op Appointment

Day 38 post surgery.  Attempted to broaden my lunch menu by going across the street and trying out their version of Mongolian Beef.  Note to self, avoid greasy food for a while.  Other than that, the surgery teams are rather pleased with my progress, 26.8lb lost since the day of the surgery. 

Find out from the surgeon that I'm supposed to dissolve the b-complex under my tongue.  Learn something new every day.

135/91/81 290.8lb 91mg/DL