My week of surgery

If you haven't read my entry, "Update on me" on 10/10/10, read that first so you can better understand this entry.

Monday, Oct. 18, I went to my Dr. office to get the blood work order and then headed to the hospital lab and did the lab work. They gave me a green hospital band that I had to wear until the surgery was over.
Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 11am I walked into the hospital, fasting, ready for surgery. They gave me the sedative and rolled me out of the room. Next thing I remember is waking up. The nurses kept talking about food. I hadn't eaten in how many hours and they were talking non stop about food. Finally I woke up enough that I was wheeled to my room. At this point, I couldn't turn my head or I would get dizzy and I couldn't drink too much or I would get sick and I couldn't drink enough to satisfy my thirst. Matt had to bring a straw to my mouth of apple juice and then water every four to five minutes. At some point in the evening, I ran out of juice and we called for more, but it was too late. I threw up the contents of my stomach. They gave me a shot in my IV for nausea and another shot for pain called Toradol. Then I was able to start drinking some chicken broth. That settled well in my tummy. I wasn't able to rest well with all the thirst, pain, nurses and more nurses checking my vital signs and so forth. Some of the nurses kept telling me it was time to get up and walk. I kept telling them, "No way!" As long as I was light-headed, I was not standing up. Finally, at 4:30 am, I hit "DONE." I called the nurse and had her take off the leg circulators, the pulse monitor,and the catheter. I stood up, with Matt's help and him constantly holding on to me, and I walked through the room and out the door. That was far enough! I turned around and went back to bed. I was only able to sleep a little longer before the pain came back. They switched nurses and the new nurse suggested I switch pain relievers and us percocet and 800 mg Ibuprofen. Hallelujah. I could finally relax and sleep... and sleep well. A couple of hours later, they told me I needed to sit on the toilet and urinate. So I sat, but my muscles wouldn't relax. I pushed, which I later discovered was a NO NO, and got some out. A couple of hours later they told me again. The same thing. But they didn't tell me that if I have to push then that's bad and they need to do some thing about it. A couple of times that evening and again the next morning I had to seriously push to urinate. I finally called the doctor at 8:00 am and he told me to come in right away. Matt was at work, but my mom was here to get the kids off to school. So I called a friend and she drove me to the doctors office. They brought me right in, had me go what I could, which was only about a cup, did an ultrasound, and put in a catheter. I relieved myself another 4 cups of fluid. I know, more than you wanted to know. So...I have had to wear this thing all weekend and I go back in tomorrow morning to see if I can do this "taken for granted" process on my own, hopefully!
I still have had to take the Ibuprofen around the clock and the percocet at night so I can relax and sleep. The stitches still hurt pretty badly once the meds wear off. I still feel pretty tired and have to lie down most of the time. I am suppose to walk around a bit and then go back down. It's the going-back-down thing I have to be reminded to do. I went to sacrament meeting this morning only because it was my kids' primary program. I sat in the chapel for the sacrament part and then I went out into the foyer and lay down on the couch. I had my purse and Matt's mom's sweater for a pillow. I am sure some people who didn't know me that would walk by thought it was strange, but the few ward members that I saw told me I should be back home in bed! :) My mom brought me home and I rested the rest of the time until the others were back home and lunch was made. My mom and Matt made the butternut squash soup again. It was YUMMY! I visited with my mom for a couple of more hours and then Matt took her to the shuttle which took her to the nearest airport. Matt has the next three days off work to stay home and take care of us. Then friends will take care of us on Thursday and then Matt's mom will come Thursday evening and stay on Friday to take care of us so Matt can go back to work.

Monday, October 25th
This morning I cut the catheter. About an hour later I took a shower. After being under the shower for about ten minutes, the signal to urinate finally came. A couple of hours later and a couple of cups of water later I went to my doctor's appointment. I was only able to release out half of my bladder. The doctor said that there was nothing wrong with my bladder but that it was just in shock and I just needed to relax. He gave me an at-home catheter and told me I could use it if I felt like I needed to. So when I got home I sat on the toilet. I went a little bit and then it stopped. I sat there for a little while longer with the shower on and then finally I relaxed and released the rest of my waters. What a relieve. Now it is Monday night and my bodily functions are back to normal. Hooray for me!