This week I have had my blood work done (only two vials, no big deal!) and answered what seems like a million and one questions about my medical history from both a personal and family standpoint. It was a lot of somewhat difficult questions to answer as I'm not 100% sure exactly what my parents and grandparents have/had as medical problems over time. I was also kind of depressed having to answer her questions about my current weight. I hadn't weighed myself in a while so I told her what it was when I last weighed myself and she wrote it down. I got home that night and almost had a heart attack when I stepped on the scale and I was TWELVE POUNDS more than what I had told her!!! It was a definite, "OMG!!!!" moment. I'm not quite up to where I have been at my highest but it was a freak-out moment! (I just wanted to point out that weighing myself at the end of the day, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt was NOT my best choice. For future reference, weighing myself in the morning is a MUCH better plan!)
The nurse also gave me a bunch of information that I need to know. The list is as follows:
- They will call me the night before with the surgery time. I need to be at the hospital, up and freshly showered for breathing tests and having the IV put in two hours before my surgery time.
- Last meal before 10pm the night before and nothing (not even gum, water or lozenges) after midnight.
- The incision will start at my sternum and be approximately 8 inches long.
- I will have a feeding tube up my nose for 4 days. After that I switch to liquids and then to soft solids. If I switch too early or eat too much/too fast, I will throw up.
- I will be wearing compression booties and they will inflate and deflate as I am lying in bed to prevent the blood from clotting in my legs.
- I am expected to get up and walk around a bit as well as have a shower the day after surgery (the nurses will help me shower).
- Either the 4th or 5th day the drain is removed and a leak test is done. Providing no complications, I should be out after 5 days in hospital.
- I need to remove all facial piercings and earrings. No metal near my face and nothing that can be aspirated. (I do find it ironic that I worked at Disney for 6 months and fought to keep my nose ring, only to find out I'll have to remove it for surgery.)
- No nail polish or toenail polish when I arrive at the hospital. No one said anything about my nails needing to come off due to their not being real and when I asked I was told they should be fine. (I am considering calling and checking on that.)
About Me
- Summer
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- I love to meet new people. I have done a bit of travelling and I look forward to doing more once I am completely finished school. In June 2007 I graduated with a BA in Music with a minor in Kinesiology and english. I intend to get my BEd and possibly my MA in Music in Musicology of Popular or Rock’n’Roll Music. I LOVE to sing and I play clarinet and I played in the U of L Wind Orchestra from 2004-2007. I LOVE to swim and I used to teach swimming. I used to work at Camp Chestermere and I was the lead instructor for Photojournalism. We organized the weekly “newspaper” and the children would write the stories and take the pictures. I edited everything and published it. I was also a counsellor. It made the weeks busy but fun! I want to be a teacher and it helped prep me for that! I am a member of Scouting, specifically a part of the Knights of the Westwind. We run and attend camps and activities and so far I enjoy it. I am having weight-loss surgery in January of 2009 and I'm nervous and excited, all at the same time!
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