Post Surgery!

Tuesday, March 30.
Scott dropped me off at the hospital about 8:30am. He needed to get over to school for his field trip. I checked in and sat down to relax for a bit. About 8:50, they called me back to start pre-op prep. I got into my lovely hospital gown and put on some beautiful white thigh highs. Then sat and waited. My friend who was to sit with me showed up which was awesome! I had someone to chat with! I had all the pre-op stuff like vitals taken and an IV started. The anesthesiologist stopped by to check my airway and if I had any removable dentures or anything. My surgeon, Dr. Myers, and his side-kick, Mike, stopped by to see how I was doing and to make sure I had followed my plan.

I was so thankful that D. was there. I had to wait with very few interruptions until about 11:30. That would have been so hard by myself!!!

They took me back into the surgery room. Put the mask on me and I was out. Don't remember much of that area!

Scott swapped with D. about 1:30 when he got there. He was there when I woke up. Although that is a general term. Not sure I actually woke up much on Tuesday. They didn't have a room ready for me until 7:30. Didn't bother me. :)

Wednesday (3/31) wasn't too bad. I was woken up for vitals and to walk. I was to make a lap of the corridor every two hours during the day and every four hours at night. Didn't make for very good sleeping! The hardest part was having to drink 1 ounce of water every 15 minutes. It doesn't sound like all that much, but it is when your stomach is only about an ounce or two big!!

Dr. Myers and Mike stopped in to check on me. The nausea was to be expected. It will pass. sigh.

I had a terrible time with nausea. Dry heaves mainly. When all you're taking in is water, you don't have much to get rid of. But it hurts!!! And, of course, the pain medication increases the nausea feeling.

A couple of my friends came to visit on Wednesday evening. Fabulous! I love having visitors! Sadly, the first set came while I was dry heaving. Then I got another round of anti-nausea and pain medication. That was the first time I really felt nausea free. I don't know if it was the energy of having friends around or what. But I turned a corner at that point. Scott brought the kids over to see me for a few minutes, too. Didn't stay long but it was good to see them.

Thursday was more of the same. Less nausea. More walking. Was tired of sitting in bed. Reinforced my knowledge that there really is nothing decent on cable.

Scott came about 5pm to pick me up. Wow. What an incredible day!!! It was gorgeous out!! I had been able to see the sunshine, but I didn't realize how nice it was.

So happy to sleep in my own bed. The kids and the dog were ecstatic to see me. Got through the emails and went to bed.

Friday, 4/1. Slept in a bit. I had prepared my ProtiDiet drinks for the day the night before. They each have 15 grams of protein. You mix with water for about 6 ounces. Drink 5 a day. I can actually start adding in puree level foods. Anything that rolls off a spoon like milk. I think I will stick with the ProtiDiet for now. It's hard enough to get 5 of those in per day. Plus extra liquid. Not being able to drink more than a swallow at a time makes it very difficult to drink 64 oz in a day.

Saturday, 4/2. Finally up to sitting long enough to update my blog!! My lower back hurts. I think from laying on it so much. I can't lay on my side. My stomach slides and that hurts.

I had an anesthetic pump in me that I removed this morning. It was a ball about the size of a tennis ball that was full of liquid and it was connected with tubing into a hole in my abdomen. It constantly pushed anesthetic in to decrease the pain at my incisions. Then I had a fanny pack that carried the ball. Kind of weird, but worked well. Pulled it out this morning. Weird. There was about a foot of tubing inside.

I still have the drain in my side. That will be removed at my one week post-op appt. I wish I had taken the office number with me to the hospital so that I could have called from there to make the appt. By the time I got home on Thursday and called, they were closed. And they were closed on Friday, too. Oh, well. It'll work out.

My back and tummy tell me it's time for a nap!!! I sat out on the deck for a bit earlier. Nice sunshine!!!