Home From The Hospital Part 2.

May 20, 2009

Well here I am home from a second stay at the hospital due to complications.  I spiked a fever about a week outside of the hospital the first time, went back in to the hospital only to find I had an abcess and a micro leak.  I was opened up from breast bone to belly button for the second time in 11 days and had the fluid cleaned out the anatomy checked for leaks and some drains and a feeding tube inserted.  The second surgery hurt like bloody heck.

Now it is 3 weeks post original surgery and I have to be tube fed for the next four weeks an have a visiting nurse twice a week, which means I walk around with an IV pole with a bag attached to my belly.  I have to sleep in a recliner for the next 4 weeks and I can only have ice chips by mouth for the next 4 weeks.  This is tough.  I am trying to get through with just thinking, my job is to heal, my job is to get through and get better.

I have already lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks due to not being fed much at the hospital.  The tube feeding will give me about 1900 calories a day, which I need to heal.  I am glad I do not have to try to choke down the amount of nutrition required to heal from this.

I guess my moral of the story is:  Do not take this surgery lightly.

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