I'm on the Other Side!! First Post-Op Blog

I’m finally on the other side! My surgery was on Monday, June 4th, and everything went well. The last week has been up and down, and today I'm feeling okay. My first two weeks I will be on full liquids. I'm doing pretty well with fluid intake (tolerating everything pretty good so far), the first full day I was home (Thursday), I took in 59 1/2 oz of fluid! I surprised myself. Friday was a little lower, but I had a very tough night (almost passed out after a shower, and had strong pain on my right side). The other days I’ve been around 46-52oz per day. I'm noticing I'm going further without taking my "happy juice", which is good. My bruises were apparently worse than normal, but they're healing up pretty well. Just glue on the incisions, and the color of the bruising indicates healing.

 I’m just taking it one day at a time, and reminding myself that this is just temporary and it will all be worth it. I’m happy to finally be on the other side, and no longer waiting and anticipating. I'm very thankful for the help my family has given me, especially my mom (who stayed with me in the hospital the entire time, and has been my main "at home nurse"). I don't know how I would have gotten through this last week without their help. Thank you to my friends who were with me when I went into surgery, were there when I got out, and visited while I was in the hospital. Thanks to everyone for your support and well wishes!

 ((If you are on the front page of my blog and want to read a detailed account of my experience, click the title of this entry, and you will be taken to the full post.))

For those who want details, here you go! :] (for those that don’t know, this was my first surgery and first time being put under general anesthesia).

Monday:

Before surgery:  Checked in 8:30am. Did paperwork, and was pulled in for pre-op prep (blood pressure taken, weighed in, changed into gown, got hospital bracelet, blood drawn to get blood type, given Heparin shot [note on Heparin shot: the shot, given as a blood thinner to prevent blood clots, was painful! Stung really bad. Instinct is to rub the area where the shot was given, which was in my abdomen, but didn’t learn until the next time I received the shot that I shouldn’t do that… the big nasty bruise looks worse than my incision bruises!). IV inserted, ouch! When I first got in, I told the nurses I didn't want to be worked on by a student.. so when the only student I saw came to my bed with another nurse ready to do my IV, I was like nope, sorry. Especially after watching her with another patient for 15 minutes digging in his arm, and then telling him "sorry, sir, I hope that didn't hurt too bad"! And THEN hearing that that was only her 2nd IV! haha, no thanks. Anyways. The man that did my IV tried on the outside of my arm (because, as he was telling the student, there are less pain receptors there than in the hand) but my "vein disappeared", so then it was inserted into my hand. I had told the nurse I wanted to know the soonest someone could come in because I wanted someone back there with me, but was never given an okay. After being in there for over an hour, my mom and a friend came looking for me. I was sitting on the edge of the bed, crying, because my anxiousness had really caught up with me. I was taken back to the holding room at 10:15am, my surgery was scheduled for 10:45am. I sat back there for almost an hour and a half, as surgery didn't start until 11:45am. Everyone knew I was very nervous, I was told I would be given something to calm me down, and was never given anything. My surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and a few nurses came to see me in the holding room during that time. At first I was alone in the room, but then another patient was brought in, followed by one more who, with her constant yelling, crying for doctors/nurses, and complaining of pain certainly didn’t help to calm my nerves.  I went to the restroom one last time, then was taken into the freezing cold operating room. I was wheeled in on my bed, and then moved over to the operating table/bed. As my arms were being strapped down, I just looked up at the big, round lights above me. The anesthesiologist told me he was going to give me something to sleep and said I would feel warmth moving through my hand, and arm, and then the last thing I would feel is warmth in my face...I didn't even make it past the middle of my arm before I was out. 

Post-Op: My surgery was from 11:45am-12:30pm. I woke up, obviously extremely groggy, and I remember my chest hurting a lot. In my anesthesia haze, I kept saying "ouch" and "my chest hurts", and I remember nurses just saying "well, you just had surgery" (well, THANKS for letting me know!). That was the worst of my gas pain, immediately after.  I was taken to my room at 2:10pm, where my parents, sister and nephew, and a couple friends greeted me. I was very groggy, not really caring what people were saying to me, eyes closed but hearing everything. I was put on a morphine drip (I pushed the button several times immediately to no avail, haha). No liquids all day, and my mouth was very dry. Chapstick was definitely good to have, and my friend and mom ended up giving me a little ice cube every now and then to wet my mouth and then spit out. Surgery day after the operation was pretty much a big blur for the most part. I slept on and off. I remember bits and pieces, but not a straight sequence of events. I was able to get up to use the restroom within 4 hours or surgery (if not, I would have had to get a catheter, which I didn’t want!), and did walk around the floor within 10 hours. I had some wraps on my legs that did automatic compressions, or what I referred to as a free massage. I do remember a janitor coming into my room not long after I was brought to my room, and while mopping the floor he kept bumping my bed. He talked, and talked, and talked…and after he left I said that he needed to stop talking. I also told my friend she needed to shut up, and mentioned that even though I wasn’t cold my nipples were very hard. YAY morphine! I was also able to video chat with my husband, which I was thankful for.

Tuesday:

The day after surgery… anesthesia wearing off, definitely the toughest day in the hospital. Very sore and tired.  I got up and walked around the floor 4 times throughout the day, and it was slow and tedious. That morning, I was told the hospital “ran out of morphine”. I had a freak out moment of the pain that would surely come without my beloved self-administering morphine button. I was told I was going to be switching to the liquid vicodin later that day anyways, so I would just switch over sooner. (Another nurse the next day told me she hadn’t heard anything about that… weird).  I was given a lecture by the respiratory therapist about the breathing treatments, and how what I was blowing wasn’t good enough (she repeated a couple things several times, which only annoyed me). At the time, it hurt to blow out too hard, and her talking to me like a 5^th grader wasn’t going to help anything. Later that day, she had a completely different demeanor...maybe she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I had a few visitors that day, which was nice. This was my first day consuming liquids. I was given several one ounce medicine cups to sip out of. I tried water, chicken broth, beef broth, and diet Snapple. The only thing I didn’t like was the chicken broth, it just didn’t feel good going down. 

Wednesday:

I had blood drawn at 5am, from a woman who (in my mind at the time) didn’t know what she was doing. She stuck a needle in, and dug around for a few minutes until pulling the needle out, and starting another.   Good thing I didn’t have the strength to swing my arm at her.  Just after 9am, Dr. Fedorka came in to see me, see how I was doing, and let me know I would be discharged later that day. He told me to get in a minimum of 46oz of fluid a day, but shoot for 64oz. At 11:15am, I took my first shower, which was very difficult, and couldn’t be done without help. I was discharged at 1:20pm, and made it to the house at 2:45pm. I was glad to be out of the hospital, not to be woken up and poked and prodded, and in a familiar place again. 

The Days Since My Discharge:

The days following my discharge were just taken one day at a time, really. I tried to focus on getting in as much liquid as I could. I also had to continue the breathing treatments, and walk a little at least 4 times a day. In comparing my recovery to others, I feel my getting up and around is slower than others, and my pain is lasting longer. It seems I’m doing pretty well with tolerating everything I’ve tried so far (water, crystal lite, broth, jello, pudding, cream soup), and am doing okay with getting in a good amount of fluid. Friday was the first day I'd been able to consistently get up, walk around, use the restroom, and sit down on my own. You really appreciate the little things you normally take for granted when you can’t do them on your own! Friday was also the toughest day out of the hospital, as well. I came close to passing out after a shower, and experienced a lot of pain on my right side. 

Currently, I'm on a few different medications: liquid vicodin for pain (weening off), liquid Zantac to prevent acid reflux and ulcers (will take this for a month), a medication to prevent gallstones (will take this for a month), and a nausea medication (which I've been lucky enough not to need). I'm SO thankful I haven't experienced nausea, I was very worried about that. I've been tracking all intake, water or otherwise. It's tedious work to constantly be sipping.

Today I’m feeling pretty good. I’m able to get up easier, walk a little quicker, but still have that pulling feeling inside my belly and a lot of soreness. I didn’t expect to be this immobile, but I knew from the beginning I have a low pain tolerance, and everyone heals differently. I’m happy to finally be on the other side, and no longer waiting and anticipating.