I get into my aunt's truck. We head down the way to the train station. We get there about 4:30 and are left waiting for the 5 am train.
About 10 of 5, the ticket window opens up. My mom and my aunt and uncle walk in to get our tickets. I'm sitting on a bench, waiting for the train to get there.
At 5, the train pulls up. I push myself up the stairs to get on the train. I had my bear with me, and my mom had my suitcase.
On the way down, I put my headset on, and started listening to songs I promised myself to listen to to calm me down.
About a half hour later, I was there. I got off the train, went over to the elevator and went up. I walked down the steps from the street level and walked across the street into the alley. I needed to stop, so we stopped at the steps, which is where I normally stopped.
We made it into the hospital and I went up to the admissions center. The Admissions center was busier then I usually saw it, which was for a support meeting. I went up and checked in and got my bracelet. Wow.... my piece of ID to say that I was in for surgery.
I waited about 10 minutes, went to the can, and came out to them calling me. I was told to go up to the 4th floor to surgical admissions and hand them my binder of paperwork.
So I gathered my crew and told them we were moving to the 4th floor. We get up there, I hand them my binder and I am the first one in.
About 15 minutes later, I'm being called back. The guy put down a solid blue robe. He instructed us to strip to nothing, put the robe, the hair cap and footies on and sit down on the chair. I put the robe, the hair cap, but couldn't get the footies on. I opened up the curtain, told the guy and he told me that the nurse would help me.
The nurse came over and took my BP and my temp. She put my footies on, and then instructed me to get on the stretcher. I got up, laid down slightly and they put the back up for me. I was wheeled out to see my family for the last time.
When I got out of the prep area, I handed my mom my bag which had my street clothes in it and told her that Dad would be with me. I had her give me my cross and I kissed it before I took off for my OR, which was OR 14.
I got to the outside of OR 14, and that's when everything hit me. OMG, I'm nervous, and OMG I didn't sleep at all! It's like 7 am and here I lay, waiting for things to happen. At this time, the anesteiseologist (Sp?) came out and introduced herself. (I don't remember her name, but I remember her looking like if she was taller and had curly dark hair she would look like Jordan Cavanaugh, from Crossing Jordan.) She was talking to me about things, and mentioned Epidural. That's when I freaked out slightly in my mind. I took the epidural, and told her, look, I just don't want to end up like my cousin did after an epidural, which was unable to do anything for herself two weeks later. She promised me that I would be fine and so I signed the papers and into OR 14 I went.
My OR nurse introduced himself. I remember the name Dan. He had a British accent. My anestetic Dr (Easier to call her that) called in another guy to help keep me bent over while she put in the epidural. LET ME TELL YOU!! THAT REALLY HURT! It felt like someone was putting in an ice pick into my back!
After they got me down, they started an IV in my right arm. After that, they put the black mask on my mouth and nose and told me to breathe in and out. I went out like a light after two breaths in.
I woke up at about 1:30 in the afternoon. The first thing I said was "What did I do to myself?" The nurse came over and said, "Calm down, you just got out of major open surgery." I pulled my sheet up so I could look and saw a big white bandage around my midsection and said, "What the hell happened?" The Nurse again told me to calm down. I then asked "Does my family know I'm out of surgery?" and she said that she would find out. This was at about 20 to 2. At 2 pm, the nurse came back and said, "Your family knows you're in recovery and that you will be moved to PACU." PACU? That's for people who had trouble during surgery!! I don't think I had any trouble at all. Just that I am bandaged up almost all over my midsection.
About 20 minutes later, I am moved to PACU. I remember going into PACU and the fire alarms were being tested. I get into room 5021 and my one nurse introduced herself. I think it was Jen. She reminded me of Linda from Becker. I asked for a phone so I could be less of a burden to the nurses because of the fact I knew people were going to call and check up on me. She said she would work on it and left it at that. I asked my mom, "What happened?" She then told me that my gall bladder decided to play peekaboo and rather then risk my safety, Dr Williams decided to open me up. That calmed me down for the time being.
At that point, the only phone number I could remember off the top of my head, other then my home number and my mom's cell number, was Dave's home number. I rapped it off and told her to tell him to spread the word that I was out and doing ok. My aunt and uncle left a few minutes later and told me that they would see me Saturday.
My mom left not too soon after that with my other aunt. I was alone, and I wanted to sit up. At this point, my new nurse came in, Christine. She was really nice. About 9 pm, I needed a switch from the way I was laying so she had the male nurses come in and help her shift me. I laid back watching American Idol, trying hard not to scream when Justin was left.
At this point I noticed that my IV was in my neck. I didn't question it.
About 2 am, I had to shift again, so in came the male nurses. I was never so upset that I was being a pain at this point, because here I was needing to shift when there were other patients needing more. The one male nurse said, wait.. it can't be 11, or else I'm early.. I said, nah.. I had on this channel to watch Miss Antichrist, and then watch the news after that. It's really after 2.
The next morning, I started crying. The morphine was doing nothing for me but making me loopy. It wasn't killing any pain. I saw the pain management team and told them this and they switched me to Fentanyl. I got relief from it.
I also saw the interns and residents at like 5:30 am. The one said, "I was in surgery with you." I said, "Good. explain what happened." He said, "Organs weren't where they should have been, and that's why you went open. " It made more sense then the peekaboo bit. They also removed my big white bandage, and there were 3 black bungees holding things together. They clipped them and pulled them. I should have kept one for my collection. And Darn it, it means I can't go Bungee Jumping again!
I think around 8:30, Dr Williams came in and asked if things were ok. He looked at his work and said that things were fine.
All day, the nurse's station was bombarded by calls for me. There were at least 5 calls. At around 2 pm, they decided to move me to the 12th floor. I almost paniced when I heard 12th floor. About a half hour later, I was transferred to the 11th floor in paperwork. I had to wait another half hour to be physically transferred to 11th floor.
I was settled in to room 1111 when my one angel, Debra called. I told her that things were good, that I wasn't sure what extent she knew and told her everything. I told her that I was switched to a different pain med and that I was doing well with it, and that I wanted to get up and sit and walk. I wanted to get up and walk since last night. The conversation lasted about a half hour, and I hung up with her.
My aunt called to see how things were, and I was telling her I was fine. I told her that Karen, her cousin, probably thought I was a nut case, and my aunt said nah after I explained why. That call lasted about 15 minutes.
I just get nice and cozy when I hear this, "Hello Mags." I try to sit up more, and here it was Don. (Omg and I'm a mess!) We talked for a good hour, and just as he was about to leave, the nurse came in and said, you aren't supposed to be here. You should be in room 1130. So onward I moved again.
My mom got me settled again, and left before they decided to move me again. This was at about quarter to 7 pm. So after she left, I laid, and was goign to try and sleep. I ended up getting a call from Rosa, Lori, (Rosa was at Lori's that weekend), and someone else. (Forgive me, as I had so many calls while I was in!) At about 5 of 8, I hear, this is her room! I look up and there's Marybeth and Dave. (Again, I'm a mess, OMG.) So they stayed for about a half hour, and the nurse was a stupid nurse, because she didn't know my leg cuffs. She tried to kick them out and I was like, look, I am not resting, because if they weren't here, I would be getting non-stop phone calls. I slept enough for the past day... let me be, ok?
At about 1 am, I got restless. I was hot. I wanted out of my bed. The nurse brought me ice packs to cool me down. Another nurse tried to recline my bed to a sitting position when all of the sudden, pow.. off when all my lights and I started smelling smoke. I told the nurse, Get me out of here, the room smells like burnt plastic wiring! They took my temp while I was waiting to get out of bed and get into a new room, and it was 104. I just wanted out of my bed and into a chair that I could just sleep in. So about a half hour later, I went to room 1124.
They got me out of bed, and let me sit in a chair. When the maitenence guy came in, he said the room was useless and that I needed to go elsewhere. So they pushed my bed out of the room and into the room. They got me to stand and moved my chair into the room. They also asked me if I could walk. At this time, I wanted to walk so bad, so I said yeah I can. So I walked. It wasn't far, but I walked.
That next morning, at 5 am, I was up and walking the hall. I wasn't walking a little bit either. I was walking clear down the hall, turning around, walking to the off shoot for the service elevators, walking back to the nurse's station, going down to the end of the nurse's station, walking down the hall to the visitor's elevators, turning around, and going back down to my room. I walked the whole floor. I did this at least 5 times a day for the next 3 to 4 days.
There was no idea where my fever was coming from, so they did an Upper GI. I went down and told the techs that I had a really small stomach, maybe an ounce or two, and that they weren't going to get much barium into me. They said that they knew, and let it at that.
I went in and they had two cups poured for me. I took two swallows out of the one, which tasted like rotten Coke, and then one out of the barium itself. They wanted two and I told them, ok, but I will probably puke it back up, so I took the swallow and threw up all over the tech who handed me the stuff. I walked out and as I was walking out, I saw my new stomach. I looked and said, that's my new tummy? and the one guy said, yup. I was like cool. I saw my necklace on, and said, oh no... I'm sorry.. I didn't know I had them on. they said that was fine, that they got what they needed.
It took me 10 minutes to get on the stretcher, and about 5 minutes of waiting for transport. I couldn't wait to see if I could get my NG tube out, as I had a feeling that it was causing the fever trouble. I got back up to my room, got back into my chair and started to nod off. Rachel stopped by and handed me some papers to read about being freshly post op and frequently asked questions. after she stopped by, my nurse came in and said, It's time to flush out your NG Tube. She must have thought she was irrigating a wound or smoething because the force she used was unbearable. Between the barium and that, I was in agony. I felt like I was going to puke, but couldn't.
I got more calls that night, but I don't remember them at all. I remember at about 8 or 9 pm, the intern coming in and pulling out the NG Tube. I was so happy it was gone. At about 11 pm, when the temp patrol came around, my temp was already down to 99.6. All day I was running a temp of 101.5, and at 11 pm, it dropped two degrees.
At 2 am, I was awoken to a CNA who was doing bath duty early. So I got up, got washed up, and went back to bed. I felt so comfortable, I went to sleep for an hour or so, until about 5 am, when I woke up to watch my two favorite early morning Saturday shows: P Allen Smith and Martha Stewart Weekend. After I got a grasp on the news and how the weather was going to be, and learned that there was going to be rain and that the festival in Ivyland was postponed until the next day, I went and took my first walk for the day.
That morning they pulled my epidural and took away my PCA. They had to wait about 6 hours to pull my cathedar. They started me on oral pain meds: Liquid Tylenol With Codeine.
I took some at around 1 pm. At that point, I was half out of it because the medicine was just making me sick. Grateful on Spotlight, Christine, made the trip down to see me and brought me a nice surprise. It was a little post op package of two fruit20's, one of them the plus, a box of jello, a box of pudding, some ice pops, two packages of CIB, and a couple of other things. I had my mom take it home that night so that nothing would happen to it. My two aunts, my uncle, and my mom showed up and my mom had a digital camera for me to play with for a few moments. My uncle bought a 30 inch Tigger for me to use as a firm pillow. (He also talks.) I was really appreciative of the company, but I just didn't feel like myself.
After Christine left, (more like my nurses kicked them all out to get my stats and dump my cathedar bag.) my mom and one aunt ran to go get my uncle a soda. I started getting asked about the surgery, and after about 10 minutes, I started to feel like myself again. I know that the medicine was wearing off. I started to feel some pain, but didn't want to ask for more medicine if the medicine was going to make me not feel like myself. So I held off.
My mom and aunt came back and about 20 minutes later, my aunt and uncle, who were asking me questions, left. It was my other aunt and mom left, and my nurse brought me my medicine, and I had to take it. I took it and that's when I didn't feel like myself again. My mom suggested a walk, so I walked. After my walk, I felt worse, so I put my legs up and went to sleep for a little while.
About an hour later, my mom and aunt left for the day. They pulled my cathedar. I went back to sleep for a little longer, then I called a couple of my male friends.
I had a couple of more calls, but then at about 11, I went to sleep. I slept for about two hours, and woke up in pain. I called my night nurse and asked for the pill form of my pain meds. I was given the pill form and rested comfortably until about 6:30 am, in time for Mass on TV.
I got done watching mass, watched the news real quick, and then went out for a walk. I came back and went back to sleep.
I don't remember much of Sunday, just that I told Marybeth to tell Paula that I said to kiss my white ass. (Paula was razzing Dave and Marybeth about where they were while Marybeth was on the phone with me.)
I do know that they changed my pain meds to Dilaudid that day too. It was the best, as I didn't have to worry about Dumping, which is what happened with the liquid Tylenol with Codeine.
Monday morning, I was ready to go home. I just was sick of it. I wanted to be out and doing things. I wanted to be home and able to drink milk and all. But, I didn't want to rush myself.
At about 8:30, I was sitting on my chair, jamming along to stuff I burnt on CD. I think i had on There you Go By Pink, when Dr Williams came in. He scared the heck out of me. I think I jumped about 2 feet in the air, and screamed. I apologized right away and explained that I was startled.
After he looked things over, he asked how long I was in and when my surgery was. I told him about 6 days ago, I was in surgery the wednesday before, on August 21st. He then said, why am I not surprised with how well you're doing? I shrugged and that's when he said, You can go home today.
I called my mom and said that I was going to be released. I started packing, even tho my mom wanted to pack. She didn't want me lifting. I packed everything and was totally ready to go at 11. I went and took a walk without my IV Pole for the first time after that.
That morning as well, I took my first number 2 since surgery. God did it smell, but did it feel good.
All morning, Don was trying to get a hold of my mom. As of last time he knew, I was going to take the train home. Sunday, my brother made plans and got time off work and was able to come and get me. So finally, they got a hold of each other and my mom said that my brother was going to get me.
At 2 pm, my main line in my neck was out. I was a free person. I walked out, because I didn't want to wait for transport.
The ride home was a thrill ride. I think I would have been better off on the train... lol
That night, I wasn't set up for sleeping in my recliner, so I slept on the sofa. It was so uncomfortable it wasn't funny. The next day I was set up for sleeping in my recliner, which I sleep in to this day.
About a few days later, the Saturday night during Labor Day weekend, I started the Celulitis. It wasn't as bad as it used to be... just a painful leg and high temp. I whacked it out with tylenol and OJ.
A couple of days later, I went to see Dr Williams again. This time I got my drain pulled out and my first weigh in. I was down 41 lbs. and the drain removal didn't hurt at all.
Personal thoughts are held for my areas of thoughts, so check in there for what I think about surgery.