Blog 5- Joining the Losers bench (Surgery day and day 1 post op)

As always, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my previous blogs! My apologies for the delay in this blog! I have just lost track of time and am getting myself ready to return to work next week as I will be 6 weeks post op! My blog today is going to talk about my surgery day and my stay in hospital. As mentioned in my previous blogs, I had my surgery done privately in the UK so other hospitals may have different guidelines.

Monday 17th October 2022- Surgery Day

I had my gastric sleeve surgery on the 17th October 2022 at London Spire East. The hospital sent me a list of instructions prior to my admission to follow. I had to stop eating about 20:00 the night before my surgery, needed to drink a glass of water an hour before my admission time and be at the hospital at 07:00 the day of my surgery. I ensured my bag was all packed the night before and tried to get an early night as we had to be up at 04:30 to be picked up by France (Jacks mum) who was going to drive us to the hospital. The night before my surgery, I couldn’t sleep. I was anxious about the operation and whether I was making the right choice. I even said to Jack in the middle of the night that I wasn’t going to go through with it. Deep down I knew this was the choice that was going to change my life and that no matter how anxious and scared I was, I needed to do it not only for me and my future but also for Jack and my family. The morning soon came around and I was up showered and dressed and ready to head to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 06:45 and checked in at reception. I had to check through some paperwork and was then shown to my room where my nurse introduced herself. This was the first time I had ever stayed in a private hospital, and I was very pleased with my room. It was a good size had an ensuite bathroom and a TV.  I was given a gown, dressing gown, disposable net knickers (these were horrible), TED stockings (to prevent blood clots), hair net and slipper socks and was told I needed to provide a urine sample to check I wasn’t pregnant (thankfully this was negative). My observations (blood pressure, pulse, and temperature) were checked and then my consultant Mr Agrawal came to see me. He discussed the risks again, asked me to sign the consent form and informed me that I was first on the list and would be going to theatre at 08:15. The anaesthetist then came and saw me. He discussed what would happen in theatre, pain relief options and asked me if I had any questions or concerns. My only concern I had was about inserting the cannula as I have terrible veins. He reassured me that he would be able to cannulate me with no problems. Before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Jack and France as I headed to theatre. Mr Agrawal had taken Jacks number and promised to call him when I was in recovery. Jack and France headed back home once I was in theatre.

Once in theatre I was introduced to the ODP who supports the anaesthetist, and we ended up discussing the midwifery crisis and whether I would end up working privately! The anaesthetist managed to get a cannula in and before I knew it, I was asleep. Three hours later I was in recovery being woken up by a nurse, feeling relieved it was done and that I was ok. The first thing I remember is feeling sick, bloated and I had a lot of pain in my left shoulder blade. As gastric sleeve surgery is done keyhole, they inflate your abdomen with carbon dioxide gas so they can visualize your organs better. As a result, some people get referred gas pain into the shoulders which is what I was experiencing. I was given some anti sickness medication and pain relief which helped. I was very groggy so am unsure how long I was in recovery for before being transferred back to my room. Once in my room, my observations were being taken every 15 minutes and I had flowtron boots on my feet which inflated and deflated, another preventative measure against blood clots. The next few hours were a blur, I was in and out sleep and different members of staff were checking in on me. At about, 13:45 a nurse came in and told me I needed to get out of bed and start walking around. I was so groggy and dizzy I wasn’t keen but did as I was told. I was then able to see my tummy for the first time. I had five incisions on my belly with a drain coming out of one the incisions. The drain was there to monitor any fluid that was accumulating around my stomach which could indicate there was a complication. The nurse encouraged me to stand to start with, but I remember telling her that I wanted to walk as I had a lot of gas pain in my shoulders. I managed to walk all the way down the corridor and back to my room. At this point, Jack had come back to the hospital, and he helped me back to my room and to the toilet. My surgeon doesn’t like putting catheters in so it was important I got up and went to the toilet.

The rest of the day was spent either sleeping in bed, going for walks around the corridor or sitting in the armchair. The first day I struggled with feeling sick and was often trying to be sick, however I had nothing to bring up. The nurses regularly came in with medication such as: paracetamol, diclofenac (given as a suppository), IV antibiotics, stomach protector, IV fluids and anti- sickness medication and to check my observations were ok. I created a group chat so Jack could easily update my friends and family and it was nice to have some encouragement. I was allowed to drink some water in the evening, but only managed a couple of sips. It was very painful to drink, and a few sips left me feeling very sick. I was reassured it was normal by the nurses and as the days go by it will become easier. Jack had to leave by 20:00 but before he went, he helped me to freshen up, brush my teeth and to put my own nightie on and settle me into bed. My nurse during the night was so lovely and supportive. We spent lots of time talking about midwifery and the reasons for my surgery. I was given a blood thinning injection at around 22:00 and then was left to get some sleep. I had my observations taken every 4 hours and was given medication regularly through the night. I found it hard to get comfortable, so I didn’t sleep very well the first night. My cannula was also not working very well so had to keep my hand in a certain position for it to flow. Although, it was a rough day and at times I regretted my decision, I was equally pleased it was over so I could focus on my recovery.

Not the best picture of me but Jack took this when he saw me after my surgery ! I was feeling so groggy !

Tuesday, 18th October- Day 1 post op

My day started at about 05:00. I was awake and just couldn’t sleep. I had been very undecided about sharing my decision for weight loss surgery on my personal social media accounts. I was terrified of being judged and people thinking I had taken the easy way out. Fortunately, this decision was taken out of my hands, as Jack had made his own post on Facebook talking about my surgery. Jack still claims that he asked my permission first, which I believe as I was so groggy the day, he asked my permission. I woke up that morning and saw I had loads of notifications on my phone. So many people had messaged and commented on jack’s post offering their support. I am so lucky to have so much support around me and I instantly relaxed knowing my surgery was no longer a secret. I was given my morning medication and then hit my first complication. As the nurse was giving me my IV antibiotics, my cannula blew the vein and I had to have another recited. Luckily, the doctor was able to cannulate me and take bloods to check my levels were ok. After this I headed for a walk around the ward. The walking really helped with the gas pain and would recommend it to anyone having any kind of keyhole surgery. The incisions were tender with movement, but the pain was bearable. I just continued to mobilise as I could.

I set myself the goal of drinking more, something that I was still struggling with. I continued to have IV fluids throughout the day and made sure I sipped water as much as I could. In the morning, the doctor gave me permission to have something else to drink other than water. I chose apple juice and ordered a chicken consumme for dinner. I managed to drink all the apple juice and had half the consume. Jack returned to the hospital in the afternoon, and he brought my laptop with me so I could watch some things on Netflix and Disney plus. We spent the afternoon watching greys anatomy and going for regular walks around the ward.

The gas pain in general was better on this day, but I was still feeling very nauseous. One thing I remember about this day was the gas coming out of my body. I was unable to burp but found I was passing lots of wind. This is a question that the doctor regularly asks when you have had bariatric surgery as they need to know whether your digestive system is working. Jack left the hospital about 18:30 this day but helped me again to have a wash and put on a clean nightie. We had agreed to watch the great British bake off together (him from home and me at the hospital). My nurse found it funny that I was watching a baking show after having weight loss surgery, so we had a laugh about that. After watching bake off I did a WhatsApp call with my family which was lovely. This evening feeling emotional really started to hit me. The nurse came to give me my evening medications and found that once again my canula had blown the vein. The doctor came back to re-cannulate me, but I was told she would only be able to get one in my foot as all my veins were bruised from having several bloods taken and cannulas. I felt uncomfortable about having a cannula inserted in my foot, so she then discussed moving me onto oral medication a day early. If I could tolerate it and cope with the pain, I didn’t need another cannula. Thankfully, I tolerated everything fine and didn’t need another cannula. I decided to put my ear plugs in that night and thankfully slept a lot better. I was told by the doctor that if my bloods in the morning came back normal and I felt well enough that I would be able to go home that day.

Watching Greys Anatomy together xx

As this is quite a long blog already, I have decided to break my hospital stay into two blogs. My next one will talk about 2 days post op and going home. I hope whoever takes the time to read my blogs, find it useful. If anyone has any questions, please feel to contact me either through my website or on Instagram @sleevedmidwife. I am very open to talk about my experiences as I really want to help others thinking about going through with surgery or who have gone through it already.

Thank you for reading

Heather AKA The sleeved midwife