VSG - My Journey 3 (Route to Recovery)

WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS PICTURES OF SEXY ME. SORRY FOR THE PUKE INDUCED.

In this post I will share my route to recovery. For the story of the start of my weight-loss journey click here and for the journey of my surgery, click here.

On November 28, 2014 I had laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. The surgery itself was only two hours (9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.). When I woke up, I was being wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for recovery. I was placed on Bed 5, next to a window. Still felt a little bit woozy from the anesthesia. The intubation tube  was still attached to my throat which was very uncomfortable. Made me want to gag all the time. When my nurse came to me, I signaled to her (because I couldn't speak with the tube attached) to pull the tube out. "Okay, we'll pull it out, just wait a minute." And she went away. When she came back, I signaled to her the tube again. Ha ha ha I was so pushy that time (I was drugged okay!). When they finally pulled the tube out I was so relieved. I heard the nurses said to each other, "He recovered so fast! He just came from the OT."

I afterward realized they have attached a catheter (be advised, link contains pictures of male sex organ) to me to collect urine from the bladder. I also have a drain on the left side of my stomach. I have my compression sock on and given intermittent pneumatic compression. They checked my blood pressure and oxygen level all the time. They also have attached wires to monitor my heart rate. I don't really feel much pain, maybe because of the anesthesia. I was slowly feeling the pain, but the pain was not that unbearable. Breathing in making me felt some pain, so the oxygen mask was a real savior.

In recovery. The bottle on the bottom of the picture was to collect fluid from the drain.

Only at about 3.30 p.m., my family members were allowed to come into the ICU. Abang Irman was the first one who visited me. And then Ben followed by Kak Afizah, Abang Surahman and kids.

Me with kak Afizah in the Intensive Care Unit recovering from the surgery (5 p.m.)

Woozy but I'm okay!

A physiotherapist came to teach me some light exercises that can be done in bed. Most of the time there I just sleep, no drinking and eating at all and yet I was not thirsty nor hungry. I stayed in the ICU overnight and in the evening of November 29, I was brought back to Kenanga 7B Ward, Bed 31. My nephew Asyran was there waiting for me. He took care of me there.

One day post-op (Nov 29, 2014) with Haziq and Sajjad.

I was feeling much better, the pain was minimal. However breathing by myself was quite hard because when I breath in, I felt a little bit pain in my stomach. I needed oxygen mask for the whole night. I can't lay flat and I was only feeling comfortable sitting and sleeping like in the above picture. I don't have much sleep because the nurse always checked me every hour. In the morning of November 30, I saw my incisions for the first time when the doctor opened up the bandages, cleaned the incisions a bit and sprayed some glue.

5 small incisions all together. One over the belly button (censored for aurat) and one for drain.

Surgical drain to remove blood and other fluid from wound.

The doctors constantly asked me to go walk around to minimized the risk of blood clot. I am more than happy to oblige. The first time I went down the bed I did it slowly. Been laying  in a long time make us feel light-headed. The drain and catheter really making walking quite uncomfortable.The first time I got up, I went to the bathroom washed my face, brushed my teeth, shampooed my hair and wiped my body. Felt so refreshed afterward.

Me, first time walking around after surgery (November 30, 2014)

The nurses and doctors always track the liquid collected from the drain and urine from the catheter. Not yet drinking, a lot of urine still came out maybe because of the constant iv drip on me. On December 1st, 2014 I have my very first drink: a contrast mix with orange flavored juice for oral contrast study to look for any leakage which I have none, thank God! However drinking the liquid really filled me up quickly. My stomach pouch really felt full.

Back in the ward, I have my first drink of water at 6.30 p.m. Sipping just 20 ml of water filled me up. I was told to drink every 15 minutes but I just can't do it. I only drank 40 ml of water that day and it was for me to have some crushed pills. I walked more all around the room. The pain almost  all gone now. Only the drain and catheter making me uncomfortable. 

December 2nd, 2014, I felt really good. No more pain. I can walk a whole lot further along the Kenanga 7B corridor. Four days after surgery I defecated for the first time. It felt really good... In the afternoon, two doctors came to pull out my catheter. Oh what a relief! In the evening, Dr Siti informed me that I was good enough to be discharged. I was so happy hearing that. Then one doctor came to manage my discharge out of the hospital another one came to pull out the drain. When the drain was pulled out I felt so free, no more discomfort in my stomach. A nurse then came to pull out the drip needle that were just put in, in the afternoon. 

While waiting for all the documentations and appointments were set up, I cleaned up my things ready to check out.

All of my things from the day I was admitted.

A nurse then came in and gave me a drug prescription and also hospital bills to settle. I then went to take the drugs from the Pharmacy at the Ground Floor. Then went to  Unit Hasil (Revenue Unit) to "pay" my bills. My out of pocket expense were a mere RM 0.20 (USD 0.06) for a photocopy of my blood donor book. I gave the copied page of my blood donor book to the women in Unit Hasil and that was it. My bills were all settled! That is the privilege of blood donors in Malaysia, we'll get free healthcare and hospital stays. 

Then I went back up to Level 7, went back to my room and told the nurse that I have "settled" the bills and took my prescriptions from the pharmacy. Then I just stayed in my room, waiting for abang Irman to come and send me back home. The nurse gave me my appointment book and said good luck!

I was so happy going back home after staying 2 weeks in the hospital (10 days of pre op preparation and 4 days after my surgery). A pillow is very important for us after the gastric sleeve surgery. You must place it over your stomach on your way home so that you can minimize the shaking from bumps on the road. I was glad that I read the suggestion from a member in Gastric Sleeve Support Group in Facebook about the pillow. It really helped!

Me arriving home at night (December 2nd, 2014)

Thank you Allah for a safe surgery. Thank you to Dr Siti for your great skill. Thank you to my family members and friends for the support. Thank you to all the doctors, nurses, dietitians, physiotherapists, pharmacist, and all that made my journey of weight-loss surgery a success!