The Waiting Game

Surgery? Me?

~~Had surgery Tuesday to remove my gall bladder. So I'm going to take you thru my last three days ~~as much as my memory permits. LOL~~

Tuesday 1:00 am

Severe back and chest pain gets me out of bed. I head to the opposite end of the house, thinking it will go away. First I believe it's just heartburn, that the Prilosec isn't doing its job. I tried to get comfortable, but nothing work. Finally had to vomit and hit the bathroom twice before the pain started to subside. Went back to bed only to awaken again at 5. I thought I was hungry, bit mistake. Not two bites in and the vomiting began again. It felt as if I had a corset on, and someone was continually tightening the laces. I hopped on line, told the chatties that I wasn't feeling well, and they all jumped down my throat about not waking hubby. I told them that after I got the kids off to school, I'd figure out what I was going to do. While driving Danny to school I called my mother and she told me to go to the ER and so did hubby. Since I have such a good feeling about that witch that calls herself my doctor, it was a better choice.

Tuesday 8:30 am

Before I can finish filling out the paperwork, a nurse was ready to take me back in the ER. Just write the word 'chest pain' and they jump. No heart attacks on their watch. So I get the EKG, take off my shirt, put on the gown, they draw tons of blood. In the cubicle across from me are two security guards with a man who claims he is NOT an alcoholic. That the hospital doesn't want to treat him for what really is wrong with him. That went on for an hour. Residents came in, got my medical history. Doc came in, says it's not a heart attack, EKG is good. They want me to have a CT scan and xrays because my symptoms are consistant with gall bladder and pancreas issues. Oh yeah. So I go to xray around 9:30 and return to the ER to drink the nastiest shit made for human ingestion. Problem is that stuff was upsetting my already queasy stomach, and they started pumping me full of meds to counter act the nausea. By noon I was only able to drink 3/4 of the first cup, and they took me to CT anyway. Had the scan and they were at my room within an hour telling me it looks like the gall bladder and they can see a stone. So then I get to go to ultrasound for the 'real' test to determine one way or another if I am having surgery. By 3pm I have a definite yes. I just had to wait to find out when that would be.

5pm

I get wheeled off to the OR for my first surgery. Now I've spent the entire day alone at the hospital. When you own your own business, one person has to be there, and since I couldn't be at work, hubby had no choice but to hang out for the duration. While sitting in my bed waiting to be operated on, I hear all the conversation about 'ME'. Two surgeries were going on already, only two operating rooms remained open. One doctor was doing a hip replacement, and needed hours to finish. The other had a second case she said was an emergency. So I became bouncable. Could they put off my surgery until Wednesday? They went back and forth, the anestheiologist, the surgeon, all the while, I'm hearing the entire convo. Sweet huh. So one surgery gets out, and they ask a few of those able bodies if they can stay for my surgery. One agrees to stay until 7ish. Well it's 5:20 and I know my surgery will take an hour and a half. Now I don't know if it's a good thing, or bad at this point. I don't want them to rush, I'm delicate damn it.


Post Op

Very groggy. Don't remember much about it, or how I even made it to my room. I know the doc spoke to me, and have a vague recollection of asking if my family had arrived. In my room as I was coming out of it, I know I was a big old mess. In and out of conversation, sore, having to use the bathroom. Every time I got up to use the bathroom, I would start vomiting. This went on all night long, until 5am when I was given something for nausea.

Wednesday 7am

So I wake up, hungry, sore and bored out of my skull. My purse that had my ipod, book, and my dead cell phone is with security. I had it locked up before surgery. The tv wasn't turned on. I call to get it turned on, but I need a credit card for that. And where are the credit cards? In my purse of course. I ask the nurse to give my bag so I can break out the laptop, knowing it's a wifi hospital, but no laptop. When hubby calls just before 8, he told me they let him know they weren't responsible if anything happened to it, and since I was so out of it, they didn't want to leave it.

I was able to keep my liquid breakfast down, but my throat was a mess. Between being intabated, and the vomiting, sore just doesn't cut it. Everything hurt. The apple juice, the salty chicken broth, even the lime jello. By 10:30 the resident doc came in to see me, said my white blood cell count was up and he didn't know if I was going home Wednesday or not. I wanted to go home so bad, thinking I'd recover faster there. My parents came and brought my laptop, so I was able to check in with the chatties. It was so nice to get all the well wishes from people I talk to on a daily basis. Yes, the chatties have become a second family for me, and I love them all dearly.

My mother went to pick up the kids from school, and the doctor came back at 3pm to tell me I could go home in about an hour. WoooHooo. Now that was fast. When my boys came through the door to my room, I wanted to cry. They looked good, worried, afraid to touch me, but damn they looked good. We hit the pharmacy to get my meds filled and came home. Nothing like getting pampered by a bunch of men. Let's face, my boys are just little men, Zak not so little, even Danny is about to be taller than me. Any thing I wanted or needed, they were right there ready to help. Very sweet. They waited to watch Heroes instead of watching it off the DVR. How sweet is that?

Was up and down all night long, but I am doing good. No worries. Two weeks off of work to recover, and no bending or twisting or lifting anything over ten pounds. So I guess this means I'll have extra time to work on DD and get some reviews done. Lucky me.

LIVE - LAUGH - LOVE ALWAYS