It's been one week since I had the surgery, and I feel great. I know I need to update everyone on this last week, and sorry it's taken me so long. I'm going to be pretty detailed, so if you don't want to read a lot, skip the rest and just know that I'm doing really well.
On the morning of surgery, I got to the hospital at 5 am. I was immediately put into a small pre-op room with a nurse who did all of my initial stuff like drawing blood, hooking me up to an IV and asking me every question under the sun, several times. I brought these very cute knitted knee-high socks to wear, but she informed me that if I "wasn't born with it," I couldn't wear it. I was not happy to hear this...anyway, I then had about 30 minutes to hang out with my family who all showed up super early to see me before the surgery. They also brought great fun gifts, so it was like Christmas morning, only instead of wearing fun pjs, I was in my birthday suit under a hospital gown and three blankets! About 6:30, I had to say goodbye and the nurse wheeled me back to the holding room. I met a million nurses and they asked me a million questions. I saw my Drs and Dr. Cross prayed over me. The fact that my surgeon prayed over me before the surgery made me feel sooooo much better. I was very scared, and knowing that I had a surgeon whose hands were being guided by Someone bigger than all of us made me a lot calmer. My friends Katie and Tasha, both nurses, came by to see me, and that also made me feel better. Ok, so then someone hooked me up to something or gave me a pill or knocked me in the head, because I don't remember anything else until I was in my room.
Once I was in the room, I had to ask three times for someone to get my mom. Nurse Destiny kept saying that someone else should have done that, and that wasn't her job, but she would ask. Finally, another nurse came in and asked if I had someone outside waiting for me. I said yes, a lot of people, and said that I had asked several times. This nurse acted very perturbed with Destiny and immediately got my family. I had been out of recovery for an hour, and they had no idea what was going on with me. (Thankfully, I had wonderful, amazing nurses after Destiny went off shift. For more Destiny stories, ask my Aunt Renee. She had to put the fear in Destiny, and if you know Aunt Renee, you know that is very scary, haha!)
The Doctors said the surgery took less than two hours and they were very pleased. I was on a lot of meds, so would try to stay awake and say hi to all my visitors when they came in and then I would fall back asleep. Dr. Cross came in the next morning and said everything looked great and I could go home whenever I felt like it. So, I went home on Wednesday, pretty sore and very incoherent, but pleased with the surgery. I also had four drains, which look like clear grenades attached to tubes that come out of my sides. Weird. And very uncomfortable. My mom was taught how to empty them, and was supposed to empty them several times a day. Thank goodness for Mom, because I don't know what I would do without her. These things are not easy.
I spent the next two days sleeping. I apparently watched movies and talked to people, but I don't remember. My pain pills made me VERY nauseous, so I just tried to sleep after I took one. They also made my pupils dilate to the point I looked like an alien. I tried to stop taking them a couple of days after surgery, and haven't had one since Friday morning at 5 am. I feel sooo much better now that I'm not taking those pills. And thankfully I haven't had too much pain.
Yesterday, I went back to Dr. Stacey and he removed one set of drains. Thank goodness. I hate these things. The other set will probably come out next week, and I will be sooooo happy.
Today was a momentous day for not just me, but everyone who lives with me and who visits me. I got to take a shower!!!! It was kind of tough, and I got pretty dizzy, but it felt soooo good to finally feel clean. I will probably take a nap this afternoon, because actually doing something like showering wears me out.
Overall, I'm very pleased with how things are going. I feel so much better than I thought I would, and the pain is much less than I thought it would be. I'm enjoying this time with family and really enjoying wearing pajamas every day. It feels like college break! Thanks everyone for checking on me. I love the texts and visits and emails and calls!
No comments:
Post a Comment