Out of the hospital...

On Wednesday morning at 4:00 AM, I woke up to my alarm and took a shower using a special body scrub that had been given to me by my doctor. I took the pills I was allowed to take with my last gulp of water for a while. We were out the door by 6:00 and at the hospital by 6:30, downtown Atlantic City. I had been to this hospital once before, when we had just moved here and I did not have a doctor to write a prescription for me. That morning, however, I was having surgery. My roommate dropped me off at the front door, and I found the surgical suite without any problem. I gowned up and within an hour I was under anesthesia.

Apparently there was a small crowd. 

I underwent roux-en-y gastrectomy. Behold:

This was a decision a long time coming. I think that I first heard it was an option was during graduate school, when a doctor mentioned it in passing. I had wanted to wait until I had tenure to do it, but that happened in the middle of the pandemic. So I waited. A year later, when we were vaccinated, I got the bar rolling and saw a doctor to consult about it. They envisioned a three month process of prepping and testing; I was only feeling it out to see what the options were. I was not really ready at the end of the summer of 2021 to have the surgery. I planned to do it over winter break. Then omicron came along, and I was not going into a hospital while that was on the loose. So it was delayed, and this time, I decided that work would have to accommodate me. I wrote a week into my syllabuses where I was going to be out.

When I came out of anesthesia, I was groggy and only vaguely remember moving up to 7 Harmony, the name of the floor I would spend the next 24 hours on. The nursing staff was great. The surgery went fine. I went home the next day after lunch. I was feeling pretty much like a boss when I downed hospital jello. Honestly, eating now doesn't feel any different, though I've been careful to sip and not chug. The clear liquid diet ends in a few hours and then I'll be on full liquids. I'm trying to get in 65g of protein a day and several bottles of water. I'm on vitamins and various supplements and will be from now on. But that's fine. 

Also, I'm sleeping really well. And frequently. 

B