Surgery Day - The big day finally arrived . My mom and I drove to the hospital at 7 AM. They took me to a holding room after taking me back for some basic questions. In the holding room, I changed into my hospital gown and tried to keep myself occupied. for the next hour or so. My family was allowed back into my room to keep me company. At 8:30, the anthesialogist came into administer my IV. He was able to get the IV going in just one try. WOOHOO!!! About 8:45, the orderly came to take me to the holding room. My family said a prayer together and I was whisked away. My mom was allowed to come back to the holding room with me also. Dr. Watson came to check on me and I was sooo glad to see his face.
I was wheeled into the operating room and moved onto the operating table. I remember looking around and taking it all in. The anthesialogist put something into my IV and said that I would feel some tingling for a about 15 seconds and then nothing. I remember asking if the things to the side were for my arms to rest on during surgery. They said yes and thet's the last thing that I remember until I woke up in the recovery room. I don't remember much about the recovery room except that they kept telling to breathe and trying to wake me up. I remember feeling nauseous and being terrified that I would vomit. (Vomitting is the worst thing I can do while my stomach heals) Finally, they brought me to my room and I saw my family again. The next few hours were a blur. I was really attached to my morphine drip. =) I had several visitors that night and everyone left by 8:30.
I didn't do a lot of walking in the hospital but I did have to get up to use the restroom. It was quite an ordeal because I had to be unhooked from the leg balloons(which applied intermittent pressure to my legs to prevent blood clots) and the IV had to be released from the wall. Walking wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. After the few times, I was a pro at it. It was difficult getting on and off the toilet because of the pain but i mangaged to do it. I didn't sleep very well that night because of having to call the nurse to unhook me so I could pee, peeing, then calling a nurse to hook me back up again. Also sometime during the night, my IV quit working so when I pushed the morphine button, it stung a lot going into my hand. The IV was taken out the next morning and I was given shots instead. (They couldn't find another vein for the IV)
My baruim test was delayed in the afternoon because of a clerical mistake. The test went smoothly and I got to see Dr. Watson around 3:00 on Wednesday. He went over the instructions for eating and taking care of my incisions. I will see him again on Friday, June 20th. I was finally released around 6:00 on Wednesday.
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