Days 1 thru 4

Sep 10, 2010

In case anyone is interested, here's my experience.  My surgery was Tuesday, Sept. 7.  I checked in at 5:00 AM, and had surgery at about 7:40 AM.  The surgery lasted til around 10 AM, and I spent about an hour in recovery.  I had no nausea (yippee!), but had a hard time getting a good deep breath.  The recovery room folks were discussing Ryan Airlines and I was a bit annoyed.  I opened my eyes a few times and could see that someone was sitting close by, presumably monitoring me.

When I arrived in my hospital room, my friends came, but I was still very out of it for another two hours.  I finally came to around 1 PM, and was soon enjoying ice pellets.  Really enjoying them!  My mouth tasted awful.  I stayed awake until about midnight.  I was supposed to have had a Bi-Pap machine there, but there was a mixup.  Although I asked for it at 5:30 PM, since I was sleepy, and kept asking every hour or so, it did not arrive until about midnight.  Once I hooked myself in, I slept well until 7 AM, despite some commotion in the other bed.

I needed only minor pain meds, and I think my main pain was gas.  I walked several times that first day, too, with no difficulty - just slowly/gingerly to avoid pulling my belly.

Day two is a bit blurry - clear liquids, a bit of pain meds, visitors, walking, and feeling pretty good.  I was released at 7 PM, came home and slept 12 hours.  I had a friend stay with me for 24 hours.  On day 3, I had too many visitors and phone calls, but also got two batches of homemade authentic Jewish grandma chicken broth!  At night I had my first "food" - 4 oz. of applesauce, spread over about a 4-hour period.

Day 4 - started with tea and about 3 oz. of Fage plain yogurt.  Later, more chicken broth, a high protein slim fast, and for dinner a cup of Lactaid with a scoop of protein powder in it.  Too many bubbles/foam, I think, as I had a belly ache for a while after that. 

I should be able to drive tomorrow, but probably will wait another day or two, since there's no rush.  I've lost some weight, but am not sure how much, since I have about 10 recorded weights with various combinations of home/hospital scales and clothes/shoes on/off.  At some point I'll decide which weight to use as my highest.

I'm a bit subdued, tired, but also excited.  No hunger.  I have a sensation like severe hunger occasionally, but it lasts only about 2 seconds.

0 Comments