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Some of you may remember from this thread that I have been experiencing very bad acid reflux/regurgitation issues and that one of the possible treatments was surgery. Well, I had a partial nissen fundoplication wrap (aka a toupet) as well as a hiatal hernia repair surgery on Friday. Overall it was a very excellent experience.
My surgery was scheduled for 10:30am on Friday morning so I was supposed to be there at 8:30am. My husband and I checked in at 8:28 and they called us back to get us registered and give me my armband. The person who was registering us said that at first they would just call me back to get me prepped with the IV and such, but after that my husband could join us. I was nervous, and asked her if he would be able to join me right away so I could hold his hand during the IV prep. The registration person said that some nurses are okay with that and she would check for me. She said as the patient, it was their job to make me comfortable, not the other way around.
We had to wait till a little after 9 before the pre-op nurse, Will, came to get us. He said it was fine if my husband came with us, in fact he preferred it that way so he wouldn't have to come back out to the lobby to find my husband later. He took my medical history and wrote an allergy armband for me (I have a lot of food allergies) and had me sign all the consent forms. Then I had to get into the gown. We went through about 4 of them before we found one that worked. The first one was a bit small; I'm a bigger gal and the first one felt like it was a little tight around my neck. The second one fit fine but the cords used to tie it in the back were broken. The third one tied in the front, but they wanted one that tied in the back. The fourth one finally worked, even though it only had one set of cords, around the neck; but it worked out better that way as I was able to just sort of drape it around myself while I was sitting down.
Then the IV. As with my last experience at this hospital, it went well. He gave me a small injection of lidocaine, a local anesthetic, which burned like hell for about 2 seconds. But then the actual IV injection didn't hurt at all. I was squeezing my husband's hand like crazy and later on he actually asked me if I'd taken Aikido lessons since I apparently had his hand in a vice. During the IV prep, Roxy, the nurse from my surgeon's office came to see me. She has been really supportive through the whole thing and has answered a lot of questions regarding the surgery for me so it was really great to see her. Also, we had learned that the Operating Room was backed up; my surgeon was currently in surgery with one patient and there was another patient up before us, so we were essentially 3rd in line and it would be at least early afternoon before I got the OR. Roxy stayed with us for about an hour to help pass the time. During this time, my surgeon came in to tell me he was done with his first patient and there was one more ahead of me before we could start with my surgery.
After Roxy left, another friend of ours, Phil, showed up. He was going to sit with my husband during the surgery so hubs wouldn't be alone in the lobby, but since the surgery got pushed back, they let Phil come back to see us. Pretty soon the anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and tell us that it was almost time. It was about 12:30 at this point so time had gone by pretty quick. My surgeon came in for a moment to check on me and tell me they were almost ready. Then Dale, the nurse who was going to be in the OR, came in to finish getting me prepped. He put a cap on my head and gave me an injection of something to relax me. It didn't knocked me out completely so I said bye to Phil and my husband and Dale wheeled me into the OR. I remember getting into the OR and hearing the anesthesiologist tell me he'd be there the whole time, and I think I crawled onto the operating table with some help from the nurse and the techs.
The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery. The nurse there (I forget her name) told me the surgery was over and it had gone very well and the surgeon was very happy with the results. I was in a decent amount of pain but nothing completely overwhelming. The worst was trying to breath. They needed me to breath deeply to keep my oxygen levels up, but it hurt really bad to take deep breaths. I kept dozing off, and the machine that indicated I was low on oxygen would start beeping so I'd wake up and start breathing deeply again. They gave me ice chips and some warm blankets since I was freezing.
I was in recovery for several hours, mainly because they were looking for a room for me (I knew from the start that I'd be staying the night.) I was mostly awake for at least the last hour or hour and a half of the recovery stay, but very groggy and out of it. Finally they said they had gotten a room prepped for me and the nurse wheeled me out onto a big elevator and upstairs to the third floor into a private room. Her and an assistant were able to slip some kind of plastic mat under me, which they used to transfer me from the gurney onto my bed (since I was still pretty out of it and they didn't want me moving around too much.) My husband and Phil were able to come in and see me then. Phil had stayed with my husband the whole time but left shortly after I got to my room. It was about 6:30pm at this point.
Pretty shortly after I got to my room, someone brought me a tray of food. I was (and still am) on a liquid diet, so "dinner" consisted of cranberry juice, strawberry jello, a cup of iced tea, a cup of yogurt, a Popsicle, and a bowl of tomato soup. I ate part of the popsicle but wasn't really feeling hungry right away. It was also change of shift at 7pm so I didn't actually see a nurse for over an hour (and I was looking for some pain medication, and some help going to the bathroom.) Finally a nurse and an aid showed up. They wanted me to try using the bedside commode first since I had not been up yet. That didn't really work so well and I asked to go to the real bathroom; I was feeling much more clear at this point and managed to walk to the bathroom without any incidents. They were very pleased when I was able to go.
I fell asleep for about an hour and woke up sometime around 8:30 and felt really good. I ate some more food off the tray and then my husband and I went for a walk around the nurse's station. After that I was really tired again so I told my husband to go home and I tried to sleep. It was kind of a bumpy night since they kept coming back to take vitals and check on me. Fortunately my blood pressure was coming down steadily; it was around 160/100 right after the surgery, but was closer to 135/80 that night and even lower the next day. The most sleep I got was a solid 2 1/2 hours from 3:30 to 6am. I was feeling really good again and took another walk around the nurse's station, going further and longer this time. I tried eating again but was nauseous, and finally around 10am asked for some anti-nausea medication. It worked but also made me really sleepy, right when both my husband and our friend Phil and his wife came to see me.
Fortunately, by that afternoon when the surgeon came to see me, he said I was doing good enough to go home. Hooray! My husband packed up the car and the nurse wheeled me downstairs at about 3pm. We had to stop to drop off RXs for both pain and anti-nausea medication, and got home around 3:30. I slept most of the afternoon and still went to bed around 9:30. I slept much better at home and was even able to sleep on my sides, which I was not anticipating being able to do right away.
It is now Tuesday, 4 days after the surgery, and I feel pretty great. My shoulder is sore, which the surgeon said is referred pain from what he had to do to my diaphragm, and I am still on the liquid diet until 2 weeks after my surgery. I alternate between being really hungry and really full. The partial nissen, or toupet, that he performed basically involved him wrapping part of my stomach around my esophagus to reinforce it and strengthen the opening that connects the esophagus to the stomach, which was very weak before and allowing food and stomach juices to regurgitate into my esophagus and lungs (causing the horrible acid reflux.) I have not had my anti-reflux medication (omeprazole) since the day before the surgery, and have not had any heartburn! It's a miracle, really. I am so happy with this surgery. It is a long recovery time since even after the initial 2 week liquid diet, I have to slowly re-introduce soft, semi-solid, and then solid foods to my stomach. But so far I could not have been happier with the results.
The hospital stay was about as good as could have been expected. My surgeon and his team were wonderful. I wanted to share my experiences in case anyone is thinking of having this type of surgery, or any in-patient surgery, and has questions or concerns.
My surgery was scheduled for 10:30am on Friday morning so I was supposed to be there at 8:30am. My husband and I checked in at 8:28 and they called us back to get us registered and give me my armband. The person who was registering us said that at first they would just call me back to get me prepped with the IV and such, but after that my husband could join us. I was nervous, and asked her if he would be able to join me right away so I could hold his hand during the IV prep. The registration person said that some nurses are okay with that and she would check for me. She said as the patient, it was their job to make me comfortable, not the other way around.
We had to wait till a little after 9 before the pre-op nurse, Will, came to get us. He said it was fine if my husband came with us, in fact he preferred it that way so he wouldn't have to come back out to the lobby to find my husband later. He took my medical history and wrote an allergy armband for me (I have a lot of food allergies) and had me sign all the consent forms. Then I had to get into the gown. We went through about 4 of them before we found one that worked. The first one was a bit small; I'm a bigger gal and the first one felt like it was a little tight around my neck. The second one fit fine but the cords used to tie it in the back were broken. The third one tied in the front, but they wanted one that tied in the back. The fourth one finally worked, even though it only had one set of cords, around the neck; but it worked out better that way as I was able to just sort of drape it around myself while I was sitting down.
Then the IV. As with my last experience at this hospital, it went well. He gave me a small injection of lidocaine, a local anesthetic, which burned like hell for about 2 seconds. But then the actual IV injection didn't hurt at all. I was squeezing my husband's hand like crazy and later on he actually asked me if I'd taken Aikido lessons since I apparently had his hand in a vice. During the IV prep, Roxy, the nurse from my surgeon's office came to see me. She has been really supportive through the whole thing and has answered a lot of questions regarding the surgery for me so it was really great to see her. Also, we had learned that the Operating Room was backed up; my surgeon was currently in surgery with one patient and there was another patient up before us, so we were essentially 3rd in line and it would be at least early afternoon before I got the OR. Roxy stayed with us for about an hour to help pass the time. During this time, my surgeon came in to tell me he was done with his first patient and there was one more ahead of me before we could start with my surgery.
After Roxy left, another friend of ours, Phil, showed up. He was going to sit with my husband during the surgery so hubs wouldn't be alone in the lobby, but since the surgery got pushed back, they let Phil come back to see us. Pretty soon the anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and tell us that it was almost time. It was about 12:30 at this point so time had gone by pretty quick. My surgeon came in for a moment to check on me and tell me they were almost ready. Then Dale, the nurse who was going to be in the OR, came in to finish getting me prepped. He put a cap on my head and gave me an injection of something to relax me. It didn't knocked me out completely so I said bye to Phil and my husband and Dale wheeled me into the OR. I remember getting into the OR and hearing the anesthesiologist tell me he'd be there the whole time, and I think I crawled onto the operating table with some help from the nurse and the techs.
The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery. The nurse there (I forget her name) told me the surgery was over and it had gone very well and the surgeon was very happy with the results. I was in a decent amount of pain but nothing completely overwhelming. The worst was trying to breath. They needed me to breath deeply to keep my oxygen levels up, but it hurt really bad to take deep breaths. I kept dozing off, and the machine that indicated I was low on oxygen would start beeping so I'd wake up and start breathing deeply again. They gave me ice chips and some warm blankets since I was freezing.
I was in recovery for several hours, mainly because they were looking for a room for me (I knew from the start that I'd be staying the night.) I was mostly awake for at least the last hour or hour and a half of the recovery stay, but very groggy and out of it. Finally they said they had gotten a room prepped for me and the nurse wheeled me out onto a big elevator and upstairs to the third floor into a private room. Her and an assistant were able to slip some kind of plastic mat under me, which they used to transfer me from the gurney onto my bed (since I was still pretty out of it and they didn't want me moving around too much.) My husband and Phil were able to come in and see me then. Phil had stayed with my husband the whole time but left shortly after I got to my room. It was about 6:30pm at this point.
Pretty shortly after I got to my room, someone brought me a tray of food. I was (and still am) on a liquid diet, so "dinner" consisted of cranberry juice, strawberry jello, a cup of iced tea, a cup of yogurt, a Popsicle, and a bowl of tomato soup. I ate part of the popsicle but wasn't really feeling hungry right away. It was also change of shift at 7pm so I didn't actually see a nurse for over an hour (and I was looking for some pain medication, and some help going to the bathroom.) Finally a nurse and an aid showed up. They wanted me to try using the bedside commode first since I had not been up yet. That didn't really work so well and I asked to go to the real bathroom; I was feeling much more clear at this point and managed to walk to the bathroom without any incidents. They were very pleased when I was able to go.
I fell asleep for about an hour and woke up sometime around 8:30 and felt really good. I ate some more food off the tray and then my husband and I went for a walk around the nurse's station. After that I was really tired again so I told my husband to go home and I tried to sleep. It was kind of a bumpy night since they kept coming back to take vitals and check on me. Fortunately my blood pressure was coming down steadily; it was around 160/100 right after the surgery, but was closer to 135/80 that night and even lower the next day. The most sleep I got was a solid 2 1/2 hours from 3:30 to 6am. I was feeling really good again and took another walk around the nurse's station, going further and longer this time. I tried eating again but was nauseous, and finally around 10am asked for some anti-nausea medication. It worked but also made me really sleepy, right when both my husband and our friend Phil and his wife came to see me.
Fortunately, by that afternoon when the surgeon came to see me, he said I was doing good enough to go home. Hooray! My husband packed up the car and the nurse wheeled me downstairs at about 3pm. We had to stop to drop off RXs for both pain and anti-nausea medication, and got home around 3:30. I slept most of the afternoon and still went to bed around 9:30. I slept much better at home and was even able to sleep on my sides, which I was not anticipating being able to do right away.
It is now Tuesday, 4 days after the surgery, and I feel pretty great. My shoulder is sore, which the surgeon said is referred pain from what he had to do to my diaphragm, and I am still on the liquid diet until 2 weeks after my surgery. I alternate between being really hungry and really full. The partial nissen, or toupet, that he performed basically involved him wrapping part of my stomach around my esophagus to reinforce it and strengthen the opening that connects the esophagus to the stomach, which was very weak before and allowing food and stomach juices to regurgitate into my esophagus and lungs (causing the horrible acid reflux.) I have not had my anti-reflux medication (omeprazole) since the day before the surgery, and have not had any heartburn! It's a miracle, really. I am so happy with this surgery. It is a long recovery time since even after the initial 2 week liquid diet, I have to slowly re-introduce soft, semi-solid, and then solid foods to my stomach. But so far I could not have been happier with the results.
The hospital stay was about as good as could have been expected. My surgeon and his team were wonderful. I wanted to share my experiences in case anyone is thinking of having this type of surgery, or any in-patient surgery, and has questions or concerns.
And good luck with your surgery, SS. If you have a good surgeon who you trust, you should be fine. I have learned that finding the right surgeon is key. The surgeon who did my surgery has done hundreds of the same kinds of surgeries (nissen fundoplications and toupets) so he is very experienced and knew what he was doing. Most of the "horror stories" I read prior to my surgery were from patients whose surgeons had only done a handful of this type of surgery (since it is relatively uncommon) and problems arose simply from their inexperience. I will be thinking of you next week, SS, and hope everything goes well.
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