Sleeve Truth

Well I never thought I would be writing this blog post. Prior to the surgery, I was someone to loved drinking water and never needed to flavor it or add anything to it. That is why I never thought in a million years that I would be having issues with consuming enough fluids and the fact that I couldn't would lead me to the urgent care and then the infusion center. 

Every time that I tried to drink water, I became nauseous to the point that I was afraid that I would throw up the little amount of food that I was able to consume. I became very dizzy, lightheaded, and the room was spinning and I was seeing spots. I endured this for about a week, if not longer. After almost taking a tumble, I decided that there was no way that I could fix this myself (as I tried) and decided to call my doctors and let them know that I could not take this any longer and really needed help. 

I called the doctor at the bariatric center, she has been so wonderful and even provided her cell phone number to text with any questions (I am trying not to abuse that privilege) and I explained that my blood pressure was extremely low, that the room was spinning, that I saw lights when I get up, and that my urine was extremely yellow. She indicated that I needed to go to the Urgent Care and get IV fluids. I also ended up calling my surgeon, and since it was after hours I spoke to the on-call doctor who also told me to get IV fluids. 

At the Urgent Care

When I called Urgent Care, they indicated that I would have to be assessed by their physician before they could give me fluids, and I indicated that that was just fine but that my surgeon  and bariatric doctor are saying I need them. They took a sample of my urine, and it came back that I was extremely dehydrated (surprise) and the doctor ordered two (2) IV fluid bags. 

At the urgent care

After the first bag, one of the nurses let the blood flow out of the vein and apparently could no longer use that vein and needed to find another one. I have never experienced this, but they kept saying that they don't want to keep "poking" me and the specific nurse that found my first vein was no longer available. I then put the two together, and noticed that it was almost closing time for the Urgent Care, and understood that they wanted me out. One of the nurses came back, and told me that the doctor was probably being "excessive" when he ordered two bags, and just to follow up with my doctor and that they would send me to the infusion center instead. 

The vein that they were no longer able to use

I have to admit, I was upset at that moment because I felt like I needed that second bag desperately and even the Doctor agreed, but after taking a breather, I decided that it was not worth getting upset over or complaining. At least they gave me one bag, and I was feeling much better at that point and they were probably overwhelmed by the end of their day. I just wish they were honest, instead of placing blame on my veins.

Follow-up with the Surgeon 

The next day, I called the surgeon and spoke with his nurse and explained what happened. She called back and said that the surgeon set me up at the infusion center to get IV fluids for three days (Friday, Monday, Tuesday - since they were closed on the weekend). 

Infusion Center 

The infusion center called to set up the appointments, and when going there it was a relatively simple process, after checking in I was taken back and they inserted the IV and then I was taken back to these comfy chairs (see picture below) where I sat until the IV fluids were done and it took approximately 1 hour.

During these IV sessions, they had issues finding my veins especially since I was so dehydrated. So that was actually the most difficult part of this whole ordeal. Since I was back to work at this point, I was able to bring my laptop and work while there and it made the time go by super fast.  

Final thoughts: I never thought in a million years that my biggest struggle (so far) during this whole ordeal would be hydration. I thought it would be food (or the lack thereof), or pain from the surgery. I am determined to drink my water. The doctor prescribed anti-nausea medicine, which should make drinking water easier. Over the past week, I received four bags of IV fluids and hopefully this will be the end of this issue and I can get back to counting my protein intake and focusing on taking my vitamins.