So I had my surgery on 1/3/08 and am still recovering. Things felt okay when I was first awake, I really just wanted to sleep and they were hooking up the blood pressure cuff and the heart monitor to my finger and they wanted me to drink some sprite, they said that my blood sugar got low during the surgery, so they gave me some glucose in an IV. I think what hurt the worst at first was the gas.
When I had to get up for the first time I walked maybe a few feet then felt nausea. I told my nurse and she started yelling for some drugs and she made me get back in bed and smell a alcohol wipe and hold it under my nose until she got the nausea meds. The alcohol wipe really did keep me from vomiting, and I really thought I was going to blow, my mouth was already watering (a sure sign for vomit for me). After my nausea meds I just got really sleepy again. I think I was in and out a lot.
The nurse told me I had to do 3 things before I could leave, first drink 500 mL of liquid, I got apple juice, cranberry juice, chicken broth and green Jello to choose from, then I also had to be able to walk and finally be able to urinate. I was able to complete all three tasks and was out about 6 hours after the surgery was completed. I was told by my family that it took me a while to wake up from anastesia because they didn't get to see me for about 2 hours after the surgery, and it seemed to me that I wasn't awake for very long before I got to see them.
The days following have been fine, I thought I would feel like I was hit by a "mack truck" but I really didn't, just felt gassy and like I did about a million crunches, oh and very tired! The most pain I've had is when taking a deep breath, or yawning. I called my Dr. office about it and they said the Dr. says the surgery can irritate the diaphragm and that is where my deep breath pain comes from.
Overall I would say it wasn't as bad as I expected, for my first surgery ever. I'm really looking forward to being completely recovered. I slept on my side for the first time last night and that was great!:notagree