Surgery

No matter how you slice it, surgery sucks. I went into this whole experience with the idea that all was going to be 100% better as soon as the surgery was over. That is what I had been told also. Well, I'm not real sure why I actually believed that. Surgery is after all, surgery. They cut you open and it hurts. I'm sorry that I am not super woman and up running marathons on this third day after surgery. Nor am I milking it trying to get attention or trying to get sympathy. I'm simply trying to recover from my very first surgery ever as best as I can. This is all new to me so I had no idea what to expect.

So, let me start at the beginning. They wheel you off to the OR and tell you that they are going to give you a cocktail that makes it seems like you've had a few margaritas. Cool by me! I asked if they could throw in some amaratto with margarita, but evidently not. They throw that into my IV and wheel me into the OR. About all I had time to say was, Oh, so this is an OR? and i was out. In the meantime, the surgeron cuts three holes. One is a one inch deep incision into my belly button, one to the right of my belly button and one above it. Into one slit goes a camera so the surgeon can see where he's going and the other hole is filled with cutting equipment. They also filled my stomach cavity with gas to expand it so they could see what they were doing and where they were going. Gotta make sure they get the right organ you know? They go up and cut the gallbladder away from the liver and the other organs its is attached to and then pull it out along with the golf ball sized stone, out through my belly button. Hence the reason that incision is larger. Has to make room for the entire organ and the stone. Then they have to go back up and re-route the bile ducts to go a different direction then what it was originally set up for. Now, I was also told that this whole transaction was going to take about 20 to 30 mins. Well, it actually took about an hour and a half. The next thing I remembered was waking up in the recovery room. And not by my choice either. They were adamant that I wake up and I was not ready!!

Back to my room I go to finish waking up. The nurses were fantastic. Of course, I have to pass certain criteria before they will release me from the hospital. Those are, i have to get up and walk up and down the hall and I have to twinkle, twice. Now, this sounds all easy and stuff, but eh, not so much! however, the good part is, you are still on pretty good drugs so its not as bad as it could be. My biggest goal was to get out of there before 5p cause I didn't want to sit in Houston traffic. Pretty sad that that was the only thing I was concerned about huh?? So I pushed the gammet a bit and the nurse actually let me slide a bit and I finally got out there.

Now, the ride home.........OMG! That was horrible. All the starting and stopping and bumps on the roads and what not! I so thought I was going to die. The pain was awhful! I couldnt lay on my back because it was killing me and I for sure couldnt lay on my stomach and my sides were out of the question as well, so now what??? The other thing I wasnt quite so prepared for was the gas pain. They had told me that they were filling my stomach full of gas and that I would probably feel the pain in my shoulder. Which I thought was weird, but i figured okay they knew what they were talking about. Well, that pain stretched across my entire back. We finally make it home and I crawl in bed just bawling like a big ole baby. That was not happiness. My dh got me settled and gave me drugs and I tried to get some sleep. I cant tell you how many drugs I took that night, but not a single thing touched the pain. Then of course, once I finally did get to sleep, I was awake and having to move every two hours. They had also given me at least 2,000 cc's of fluid so of course, it was all making its way back out. Poor dh. I couldnt make it by myself so he got to get up every two hours also to help me. The more I moved the more it hurt. I know I needed to move around but dang, it sure did hurt.

Every day it gets a little easier. But I can honestly tell you, this is not what I expected. I dont understand how some people have been up running marathons and stuff the next day after this kind of surgery. Evidently some people seem to think its a very minor surgery and no big deal. Well, I hope they have to go through it and see the full extent of it. They really do cut your stomach muscles and it really does hurt. Again, I'm sorry I'm not super woman and can just jump up and run. And I'm sorry that my dh was nice enough to take off the week to help me when I needed help. But, this is how I have to deal with it, and it hurts, and if its not good enough, then I'm sorry. I dont need your help nor your sympathy anyway.