All the rooms at the hospital that I was in were private! Thank goodness!! By the time I got up to my room all I wanted was a drink of water and to sleep. I couldn't keep my eyes open! I realize I had just gotten out of surgery but still. My mouth was SO dry and my throat hurt so bad from being inti bated. The problem was that I was not allowed anything by mouth until they did a swallow test on me. The problem with this was they weren't going to do the swallow test until the next day. Their answer, those stupid little sponge swabby things that don't do a damn thing but make you want a glass of water even more.
Swallow test: This is a test that they do where you drink this nasty thick syrupy stuff that tastes like a crap flavored creamsicle and as you are drinking it you are standing in front of an x-ray machine so that they can tell if there are any leaks or not from the surgery.
Anyway, so the day of surgery, day one, I spent most of the day in bed asleep, being woken up nurses and doctors and then when I was awake, reading the sweet things that people had texted, tweeted, and facebooked me.
About two hours after being in my room I decided that I wanted to try and walk. The nurse asked if I was sure and said that it was OK if I felt up to it. I told her that I didn't do this for nothin and I wanted to try. So with the help of Lady bug and the nurse I stood up. Hmmm....how do I explain how that felt? Being as heavy as I was means that I had an extremely large belly. When I stood up I had to hold my belly because it felt as if someone had attached cinder blocks to it and they were pulling so hard I thought part of my belly would rip off. Just a tad painful to say the least. So then the lightheadedness and nausea set it. Still I was determined. I am proud to say that I walked. I didn't walk very far. I only walked from one side of my bed to the other, but I walked. I was exhausted after that but so so proud and my nurses and doctors were as well. Lady bug thought I was crazy at first but she was proud as well. I slept the greater part of the rest of the day and all night, aided of course by pain meds.
The next morning, day two, I was DYING for some water. I wasn't hungry. I was thirsty and my throat felt like the Mojave desert in the middle of the afternoon with sun beating down on it in the middle of the summer. I was told that we were going to do the swallow test in the morning so that we would get the results back and I would could drink something. Transport came to get me around 10:30 am and took me down to radiology where I laid and waited for about an hour. I was wheeled back to the x-ray room and asked to lay flat on my back. This was not comfortable. Again I remind you of the large belly, only this time it felt like the cinder blocks were attached to either side and that my belly was going to tear right down the middle. Breathe in, breathe out. Breath in, breathe out. That is how I made it through that. So they tilt the table up and bring the x-ray screen in front of me and I begin swallowing this amazing (see how hard I can roll my eyes) syrupy dye while they watch it travel through my system. I finish this lovely procedure and am transported back up to my room.
I knew that I wold have at least an hour or two before I got the results so I slept a little and then decided that I wanted to walk again. My nurse sent the student nurses to come help me. I got out of bed and this time it was incredibly easier. I still felt like I needed to hold my belly as I walked but the cinder blocks felt as though they had been replaced by much smaller bricks. This I could handle. So we ventured out a little farther. I walked the hall of the floor I was on and did two laps. They asked me if I was sure and again my response was, "I didn't do this for nothin!". I was hoping that by the time I got back to my room I would have test results back and that I would be able to indulge in some cold water. No such luck. Good thing we did the swallow test early so I would be able to take something by mouth! Around 6 pm the nurse, Dr. Salameh, and the cafeteria guy all came in the room at the same time. My results were back and I think they knew they had better be prepared with something that I could consume. Although, all I wanted was some water, and some water is what I got.
That night I was on a clear liquid diet. My dinner tray consisted of lemon sugar-free jello, broth, a sugar-free Popsicle and that was it. Even though I can't stand the flavor of lemon, I ate one oz of the jello and had about one oz of water and I was STUFFED! How great it felt though to be able to drink water.
Now that it was confirmed that I didn't have any leaky parts they took me off of the IV pain meds and started me on liquid oral pain meds. I was given some percocet and boy did that take the pain away! Whoa that is some good stuff. About the time the pain went a way I started to feel like I had ants crawling all over me. I was SO itchy. What in the world was going on. Lady bug was hollering at me to stop scratching but it was just so unbearable. Guess we found out the hard way that I have another allergy, percocet. When it was time for my next dose they gave me some benadryl with it to counter act the itchy. Well kids, let me tell ya, this didn't do a lick of good. All it did was make me sleepy and I still was so itchy I couldn't stand it. I was supposed to let Minna, My nurse know when my pain was a 5 or 6 so she could give me more meds. Quite a few hours had passed and I still hadn't asked for pain meds, so when she came in she asked what level my pain was. I sheepishly told her it was 7 or 8 and she was not happy. The thing is I would rather be in that much pain than be all itchy. That's how bad it was. Minna quickly got my Dr. to change my Rx and I was given loratab for pain and this one didn't make me itch! WooHoo! I was a happy camper.
That day I had a couple visitors come see me and that was great! For people to come out of their way just to spend a few moments to brighten your day when you are in the hospital is a feeling that you can't explain. I even got flowers!
Friday, day 3 I woke up to a few of the doctors coming in for rounds and to check on me. They were very pleased with the progress I was making and how well I was handling everything. A couple hours later one of the doctors came into remove my drain since I was being released that evening. Now let me tell you about this whole drain removal process...the doctor explained to me that she was going to pull the tubing out and that it might feel a little strange. I told her that was fine but to just take it easy on me. Her response was, "You don't want me to go easy, you will want me to go as quickly as I can." For those of you who have never had a drain in before, she was right. The way it felt as she was pulling it out was not a felling that anyone can prepare you for. She grabbed hold of the tube and started yanking. She pulled and pulled until it came out. As she was yanking this tubing out of my body it felt as though she was literally pulling my intestines out. Now let's talk a little about when the end came out. When she got to the end it came out in spurt of blood. You would have thought my room was a battlefield. There was blood everywhere. On the floor. On the bed. On me. On the machines. EVERYWHERE. I was relieved to have that taken care of.
I had graduated to full liquid diet by Friday which meant that I could have anything on the clear liquid diet plus fat free milk, sugar-free pudding, plain yogurt, and strained cream soups. I had vanilla pudding for lunch that day. To get used to portion sizes I was using a medicine cup to measure everything.
The nurse helped me take a shower before I packed up to go home and that felt so good after laying in that hospital bed for 3 days. Although by the time I got out of the shower and dressed and all packed up I was pooped. I had to take a short nap before I could leave. About 5pm that night they wheeled me down to the car so lady bug could drive me home. We stopped at the pharmacy on the way home to get my scripts. And then we sat in Friday night rush hour traffic. I was in pain. I was uncomfortable and I wanted to be home.
We finally got home about 8 pm and lady bug helped me in the house and then graciously brought all my things in and took amazing care of me through the night until she had to leave the next morning. I was sad to see her go, but ever so grateful for her coming to be with me and help me while I was in the hospital.
After lady bug was gone I had many wonderful friends from my church that willing came to help me while I was at home.
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