The Surgery

Well it's been 4 days since surgery and I am home from the hospital. I actually got home around 7PM on Wednesday night. Everything went very well, says the doctors. I however am in some pain and taking it very easy and slow at home. These past few days have been interesting to say the least!



Monday morning came, and I woke up at 6:30 AM to be able to take a shower, since I wouldn't be able to until I got home. I also had to shower with this antibacterial scrub they gave me at my pre-op evaluation. My Mom, Dad and I left the house just before 7:30 AM to get into Brigham's by 9:00 AM. Traffic was bad and we arrived just at the clock turned to 9:00 AM. After we valeted the car, we went into the Hospital and went to the admitting office. There I waited to be called in by an admitting nurse, tagged all my luggage, got my hospital wrist band and handed over my health care proxy and living will. We then waited for the "real nurse" to come get us to bring us to pre-op. Once she finally came we walked down into the bowels of the hospital and checked in at pre-op. There I met my surgical team, first the Fellow, Dr. Fitzgerald who would be assisting Dr. Lautz - she was wicked sweet. Then my anesthesiologist, he checked out my veins and tried to start and IV. My arms were cold and I was dehydrated, so he wrapped my arms with hot wet towels and then in warm blankets for about 10 min. During that time, my surgeon came in as well as my 2 operation room nurses. The anesthesiologist came back, found a good vein in my right arm on the bottom and began an IV. He hooked me up to sugar water, and a pepcid drip for my heartburn. About 20 min later I was being wheeled into the operating room. I was wide awake for this! I moved onto the table, and they placed the leg pumps on my legs (these are to keep the blood flowing while I lay on the table.) They also gave me a shot of Heprin to thin my blood. Then off to sleep I went. I woke up in the operating room at the end of surgery - I remember the tube coming out - but I was so drugged up it didn't really bother me! Recovery was rough - at one point my heart rate was 27 - not so good. I had a drainage tube coming out of my nose - didn't know this prior to surgery. This remained there until Tuesday AM. I also had my catheter. Mom and Dad got to see me in recovery for a little bit. I was in post op recovery for about 4.5 hours. I got moved to my room around 7PM. There mom and dad hung out with me until about 11 PM. I had a pain med drip where I could press a button to give my self pain meds - that was WONDERFUL! I had some kind of an allergic reaction to the tape they put over my eyes while in surgery so I had to see a doctor and get special drops in my eyes Monday night. They wake you up like every 2 hours for vital signs. I was also pretty nauseous - but they have great drugs for that too!



Tuesday AM I was brought down for an Upper GI around 8:00 AM. Everything looked great here - and they got to take my NGT Tube out of my nose - that was unpleasant. Once back in my room I got to also get my catheter removed as well. Then it was on to drinking clear liquids. They gave me a 1 ounce medicine cup to drink out of. Their goal for me was 2 oz an hour... doesn't sound like a lot - but boy was that hard! If I swallowed any more than 1/2 an ounce - it hurt. Around 11 AM, Kathleen came in to spend the day with me. Mom had meetings and Dad had jury duty - so Kathleen too the day shift! I felt bad because I was very out of it and groggy most of the day. Around noon, Jim and Paula came in - again felt bad - as i kept falling asleep during conversations! But it was great to see them! I had a little quieter afternoon. Mom and Dad arrived around 3:30 and Dave Cronin came in shortly there after. Around 4 ish Kathleen and Dave left and around 7 ish Kristina came in. In between there the nurses had me up and walking around trying to get things moving. They have to pump up your abdomen with lots of air so there's lots of gas pressure in my stomach. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew came in around 7:30 and stayed for a little bit. Everyone, including mom and dad left by 8:30 and I went to sleep for the night. I was very very tired. I again was woken up every couple hours or so, and the residents do their rounds at like 2:30 in the morning. I was again pretty nauseous in the middle of the night - I think it was from lying down and getting up too quickly! My overnight nurse was great and always really sweet!

Wednesday morning arrived along with a tray from food service with fat free milk, chicken broth, carnation instant breakfast packet, a bottle of water and Jello! The nurse came in and said that as long as I tolerate the protein shake well - I can go home around lunch! They took my off of my IV this morning too! I could barely swallow 2 oz of the protein shake - they are even thicker than just water. No chicken broth or jello for me! I tried some more water too a little while later - I just wasn't hungry or thirsty. Around 9 AM Dr. Lautz came in, checked out my incisions and listened to my belly sounds. And said I was good to go home as long as the nurses say so. So I called mom and she planned on coming in around 11 AM. Noon came and went, and I hadn't been cleared yet... the problem being I had really only taken in about 4 oz of liquid all morning and that wasn't enough to let me go home just yet. So they told me I had to drink a WHOLE bottle (16 oz) of water before they'd let me home. The problem with that - I can't drink more than 4 ounces an hour because I could stretch my stomach. So I didn't get cleared to go home until 5:30 PM. They gave me more pain meds for the ride home and my wheelchair arrived and off we went. The car ride home was BRUTAL - boston roads SUCK - too bumpy. I spent most of the car ride home moaning in excruciating pain. Mom brought me right home and sent Dad out with my 8 prescriptions to be filled to the pharmacy!

So far since being at home, I am definitely getting much more uninterrupted rest. I only wake up 1-2 times a night to go to the bathroom. I've finally been able to pass some of this gas... that's the worst of the pain. The pain meds are good, but only take the edge off and make me sleepy! I have gotten myself up to 4-5 oz of a protein shake an hour which is good! I am still not up to par on what I should be taking in for liquid a day (a minimum of 56 ounces - I am around 40 right now.) I have had to set alarms on my phone to remind me to "eat" a protein shake or drink water every hour. I am much more tired today because I haven't slept as much do to all of this scheduled eating! Kathleen came by with the kiddo's in the costumes today - Nolan - Speed Racer and Calleigh - a candy corn! We are off to Arlington tonight to visit the nephew and see him - he has two costumes so not sure if we'll see him as a Lion or as a shark! However I am not looking forward to the car ride - I am delaying taking my pain meds until about 30 minutes before we leave!

Thanks for the continued prayers and thoughts and support! I will continue to blog my recovery and the details soon! Right now I am going to head to take a quick 45 min nap and then shower before heading out! Happy Halloween!!