10-19-2007

Okay... time for the details of surgery day.

My Grandmother and I left for the hospital around 5:45am. We arrived there at 7am and went to the surgery waiting area. It was a really nice area. They had tv screens with each patients abbreviated name and time they go into pre-op, then surgery, and then recovery. A little after 7 a nurse came and got me. I was weighed and vitals were taken. They had me empty my bladder then took me to my little area.. partition #16. There they went through the lovely task of trying to get an IV in me. I've never been a good IV patient. I don't care about getting one it's just that they can never find my veins. They only had to try twice. So I only have two large bruises on my arms. After all of this the anesthesiologist came and talked to me as well as the surgeon. They made sure I didn't have any questions or concerns. Everyone was very nice. Around 8:30am they let my Grandma and my Hubby come back and visit with me for a bit. Then some time after nine they sent them off and by 9:30 I was headed back to the operating room. The gals told me to take some deep breaths of oxygen and befor I knew it I was being woke up befor being wheeled into recovery. I was a little nauseous and in pain. They immediately gave me something extra for both. Within a few minutes they wheeled me into recovery. It was 11am. The nurse offered me ice chips and water right away. I was very thirsty. My family came back into sit with me as I recouped from surgery. I was told that as soon as I drank 500ml (without any problems) I could go home. I took slow steady sips. It took four hours befor I went home. I dozed in and out a lot the first couple of hours. After that I really focused on drinking my fluids. I was ready to get home.

The worse pain that I had was in my middle back. My upper stomach area was also pretty sore but not as bad as my back. I had a hard time getting comfortable on the hospital bed. That was one of the main reasons I just wanted to get home.

When I finally got home I was in pretty good shape. Some people I have read about have said that the surgery was worse than a c-section. But mine wasn't even half as bad as my c-sections was. On a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst. I'd give it a six or seven. But then again I haven't had any gas pains in my shoulder and I've been taking my pain medication as prescribed. I'm not into unnecessary suffering.:girl_hug:

Today I was a little more sore. I feel like someone punched me in the tummy a few times. But nothing intolerable. I haven't been hungry. Thirsty a lot though.

Yesterday I drank my protein shake, some broth and a slimfast. Total cals:565 and 48grams of protein. Today I had 615 cals and 60.5grams protein.

Things are great. Take care everyone!! ~Tina