On the mend

Well I had my surgery on Thursday, the 31st. Here's how it all went down:

• 6:20 am-leave Burley


• 7:10 am-register at the hospital


• 7:20 am-wait


• 7:45 am-Do a lab test to prove I'm not pregnant (even though I told them it's not a possibility)...whatever, I'm not the one paying for it. :)


• 7:50 am-wait again


• 8:00 am-go to pre-op


• 8:05 am-answer lots of questions about what meds I'm currently taking, past medical history, etc...that I already answered at the pre-op appointment a couple days before, btw....yes, I'm allergic to flagyl, yes, I had my WHOLE colon removed, etc, etc, etc. :)


• 8:15 am-change into this beautiful gown, get IV started (which happened on the first try, I was impressed!)

• 8:30 am-wait some more


• 8:45 am-Dr. comes in and we chat. He said to plan on feeling like I've got the worst cold ever for about a week.


• 8:55 am-Anesthiologist comes in, they give me my prednisone in the IV since I couldn't take any of my meds that morning, gives me some Versed (consious sedation) and I already start to fall asleep.


• 9:00 am-go to OR, by this time things are already looking a little fuzzy because of the Versed. I was also put under general anesthia once we got to the OR.


• ~10:15 am-Wake up in recovery. This was not a pleasant experience. I woke up kind of suddenly and there was a lot of noise around and it was making me really agitated. My throat was really dry and I was freezing cold. I could hear the nurses talking to me and trying to ask me questions. They told me they were doing an EKG on me and putting wires everywhere. I could see/hear the anesthiologist saying that when they put me under, my heart went into v-tach (really fast heart rate) for about a minute and he seemed a little concerned. A few minutes later he came back and said it looked fine. But I did not feel fine. I was breathing really hard and felt like I couldn't catch me breath. My head didn't really hurt, but my stomach did (go figure). I had a good nurse though and when she asked me if I was in pain, and I said yes, she asked if it was my stomach or my head. I said my stomach and she gave me morphine. I had actually started to cry a little bit, and she kept telling me to take deep breaths and not to cry because it would just make it worse. I don't know what my deal was. Usually I just come out of it really slowly and everything's fine. They also had to give me some more Versed and Ativan to calm me down. The nurse was really good at talking to me though. She told me she knows my parents and asked about my brothers and sisters. She didn't believe me when I said I have 13 nieces and nephews. I did give a little smile when she commented on what my nieces and nephews would think if they saw me now-with my wires going everywhere, gauze under my nose, ice pack on my face, hair net still on, oxygen mask on, tubes hooked up to the blankets blowing warm air on me...oh man, haha.


• ~11:15 am-Go to Same Day Surgery room (and by room I mean a little closet big enough to fit my bed and a chair). I got up and used the bathroom (I was getting IV fluids, so it was time...haha). I ate some pudding. Sipped some water. Took a pain pill. Then I was fine. My mom snapped this lovely picture of me.

• 12:30 pm-IV unhooked, receive discharge instructions about pain meds, antibiotics, changing gauze, etc, etc, etc.


• 1:00 pm-Dr. finally calls my mom to tell her everything went well. He didn't get time to go out and talk to her when I was in recovery because he needed to get to his next surgery. He said I should be breathing much better soon!


• 1:30 pm-Home Sweet Home :) Still pretty groggy/out of it the rest of the day.


• 1:45 pm-10 pm-Eat some yogurt. Sleep a lot. Take some pain pills. Get really nauseated. Take some nausea medicine. Feel much better. Sleep some more. Watch Tangled on my iPod. Eat some real food. Watch American Idol. Go to bed.


• So that was pretty much my day. It was not as bad as I thought it would be, pain wise. My mouh and teeth were numb for most of the first day and I didn't have a lot of pain. Yesterday and today the pain has been worse, but bearable. I had a little bit of a first rough night. I would get nauseated from the pain meds, and woke up once throwing up, which made my nose start bleeding a bunch. I learned to eat something if I'm going to take a pain pill. I had stocked up beforehand on things like Ensure, yogurt, pudding, applesauce, and soup, which has helped a lot. Last night was much better and I slept much better. I think the worse thing though has been not being able to breath out of my nose. I only had to wear the gauze until the next morning because it had stopped (actively) bleeding by then, but they put some spints up there to hold everything in place, which are making it so I feel super congested and can't breath. I know there's also still a bunch of dried blood and grossness blocking my way to that wonderful air through my nose too-the Dr. will clean that out too. I have an appointment on Thursday to get the splints removed, but he said I could call him if I get tired of them before then and we could do it Tuesday or Wednesday. I just might take him up on that. Thursday night my awesome friend Jamie stopped by. She randomly took some frosting off her cupcake and wiped it on her face so I would not be the only one with a mustache. I about died. It was hilarious. She. Is. Awesome.

So I am doing well. It went faster and I was home sooner than I expected. Besides the experience of waking up, it was not as bad as I expected. I was really nervous for some reason. I hope it starts to feel a little better tomorrow though so I can go back to work Monday. I don't have much energy and the pain meds make me super sleepy. I have a sore throat from breathing with my mouth open and from blood draining down my throat (I know, gross!), and it hurts to talk too much. All in all, though, I think everything went well and I should feel much better soon!