50 Yrs Old, Preparing for the Sleeve - Spokane, WA

Hi Everyone, I had the Vertical Sleeve procedure on April 02, 2015. The night before surgery I had to apply a nausea patch behind my ear at bedtime. The morning of surgery, I had to take a nausea pill 3 hours before surgery (9:15am). My surgery was scheduled for 12:15pm. The morning of, I arrived at the clinic 1 hour prior to surgery, as I had to fill out a bunch of consent forms. I was then taken to a room, to wait for surgery. It had a tall sturdy recliner for me to sit in. No bed, just the recliner. The nurse then gave me a hospital gown to put on and asked if I'd like to try and use the bathroom. After getting into the gown, she (the nurse) put an IV in my arm and informed me of the procedure again, to make sure I knew exactly what was going to happen in surgery. I then met the anesthesiologist. He came in to get my weight and some measurements, so he would know how much of the General Anesthesia to give me. 

I was then walked down to the surgery room and asked to get up on the table. I got to keep my gown on. (It was very cold in there) I got up on the surgery table and they immediately covered me up with warm white blankets. I was asked a few questions, like, what I did for work, how did I like my job, etc...to make me feel at ease, I suppose. Then the Anesthesiologist asked me to count down from 10, I said Ok, and that's all I remember. I don't even think I was able to say 10, before I was out. I woke up in recovery, it didn't even seem like they had started yet, because as soon as I was out, it seemed I was awake again. When the nurse saw that I was waking up, she came over and said I had to get up and walk with her back to my room. I didn't think I could do it, out of fear of white blinding pain, but I did walk, and there was no white blinding pain, but I was extremely sore and could feel it with each step back to my room.
Once I made it into the room, I was placed in the recliner with more warm blankets, (there was no bed, just that tall recliner) The recliner had a good range, from sitting up to laying flat out, my choice. I chose slightly reclined, flat out was not very comfortable, it felt like my insides were being pulled.
I was then given a pain pill and immediately fell asleep. I remember my husband coming to see me, but I couldn't keep my eyes open to even say HI. I do remember saying, sorry, I can't keep my eyes open!
I woke up again around 7pm. There was a 12oz bottle of water and a 12oz bottle of Raspberry Ice, Crystal light on the stand beside the recliner. All my liquids were room temperature. I was to sip at my leisure. Whatever I could get in, without having discomfort. After a few sips, the nurse had me get up and walk 2 laps up and down the hall. It was a very short hall. I did this every couple of hours, and added more laps, my choice, as it felt good to walk around instead of just laying in the recliner. (Which was comfortable too, but walking was better) When I was in the recliner, I was given liquids via I.V. So that I wouldn't dehydrate right off the bat. When I came home I was 10 lbs heavier than going in because of all the fluids from the IV. I am still plump with the liquids. I think they gave me a total of 5 bags through out the night.
I was told I could check out between 5:30 and 6:00am. I called my husband who was staying a few blocks away at a motel, and said I was ready to go. It was a 4 hour drive home and we were home by 9:30am. So nice.
I have been religiously taking my pain medication every 4 hours, instead waiting until I am hurting. I want to stay in-front of the pain, not behind it. I have never taken pain pills before, have never had any sort of surgery, but the pills are fine, they don't make me act weird, or feel weird, as I was afraid they might. They just keep me comfortable so that I can move around in the day. They also dry my mouth out and make me extremely tired for about an hour. I haven't had real food since my last meal Wednesday night before surgery, and as of right now, I am not even hungry. I am doing water, broth, sugar free popsicles and jello. Tomorrow I will start my protein shakes and yogurt, puddings, etc... Each time I drink something, my stomach gurgles and sometimes does this slight spasm thing, I am assuming that it's kind of in shock and waking up to do it's job of digesting the liquids.
***Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, when my stomach does that little spasm thing, it almost feels like deep hunger pains, but after sipping down some water, they go away. If I could eat right now, I don't think there is anything I am hunger for.
I do have pains now that I am more mobile, they are fast and sharp, and over as soon as I feel them. It happens when trying to stand by myself, or sit even. The sharp pains are always on the right side of my belly button. I am sure that is where they pulled the stomach out. I took a photo of my stomach when I got home. Its still really swollen, but I am happy with how tiny the entry wounds are. maybe 1/2 inch at the most.