Two Days out

Well, I did it. I've officially been "sleeved". It's been a long couple of days.

My mom and I arrived at Heartland Spine and Speciality Hospital at 6 a.m. I signed in, and was callled to get registered about 10 minutes later. About 10 minutes after that, a very nice nurse called my name, and took me up to the pre-op area. Once there, she took a quick history, gave me a gown to change into, and a pair of anti-embolism stockings. Let's just say, I looked HOT.

After I was changed, the nurse came back and put an iv in my hand. It was a bit of a tough stick; she said a lot of the gastric surgery candidates have trouble with iv because they are usually dehydrated.

After the nurse left, the anesthiologist came by to introduce himself, and to talk about the kind of gas he would be giving me as well as the anti-nausea patch that I would wear behind my ear. Apparently, these patches are usually worn by people on cruises to prevent seasickness but doctors have started using them for surgeries.

Then, Dr. Hoehn came by to see how I was doing, and to ask once more if I had any questions. My mom showed up shortly after that. She kissed me on the forehead, told me she loved me and that is the last thing I remember before waking up in the recovery room.

Dr. Hoehn had already spoken with my mom and told her the surgery went very well, and that he was very confident that this procedure was going to work well for me.

Then, I was moved into my room. It was a private room, very nice view of a courtyard and very quiet. Which was a good thing, because I was more exhausted than I have ever been in my life. Another nurse came in to take my vitals and to show me how to use the morphine drip pump. The morphine drip pump then became my new best friend.

More later...