3rd day after surgery

Dec 14, 2009

Well, the old saying "things are getting better all the time is true" .  I'd like to share a few rantings never the less.

I have this subcutaneous small catheter in one incision area hooked up to a ball I carry around at all times with bupivocaine (sp?) and it gradually is emptying into the site.  I call the holding device "Mr. Ball".  I have been sleeping a lot on oxycontin, can only sip very small amounts of liquids at a  time, gradually that is getting better. gastrograffin UGI on Saturday morning was daunting - having to stand up and drink crap when you already feel nauseous, but only took a couple of minutes.  That radiologist  - I can't imagine what he was thinking (she looks like minus a million bucks).

I had a post op room 10 feet from a tubex (sp?) system major depot.  That was absolutely horrible.  Like someone loading and unloading dozens of metal chairs for a banquet - the noise intolerable.  That was probably the most difficult aspect of my hospital experience.  My nurse told me they gave some people ear plugs.  OK, a room next to "a train station" is not a good thing.  Insanity was setting in, I begged to be discharged sat. morning. (Surgery was 8:30 a.m. Friday) The doc said, if I couuld eat and keep it down (that meant eat Carnation instant breakfast) I could go but only because he could count on me to come back if I got dehydrated.  I drank it praying I would keep it down and did.  Then I went home paranoid I' get dehydrated so drank an ounce of water every time I could tolerate it.  The other paranoia is about blood clots, so walked around the house, cleaned counters, emptied dishes, went out on the deck, and just paced a lot.

What in the world was I thinking????  Having surgery sucks. Well, I'm still glad I did it but that "truck, rolling over you " feeling is no fun and I can hardly believe I did this voluntarily!!!!  (Actually, like the rest of you, I worked for this).  Definietly more capable of sitting now (instead of lying or standing), spirits are surprisingly good, taking great care of every detail - recording every ounce of fluid, gram of protein, the medication, so I must say this is a lot of work!  Maybe nothoing worthwhile comes without a lot of work, so it will all be worthwhile in the end. 

So, that's the second chapter of my story.  The first chapter was the 4 months of leading up to this.

And yes, I'm glad I did this.  I can dream can't I? 
 

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