Surgery over. Now the real work begins.

Five days post surgery so thought to was about time to bring you up to date on the happenings.

Surgery went well.  As a nurse, I am probably not the best patient, but I thought I controlled myself fairly well until my IV came out Wed. morning.  It needed to be put back in.  My nurse and the new nurse who was working with her said it was fine and not to worry about it.  But, I did, and with good reason.  When my doc came in at 5pm to start to discharge me, I could not go because I could not pee.  He said, "no worries, we'll give you some IV Lasix and that will take care of everything."  It is then that I said, "no, we can't because my nurse today would not put my IV back in when it it came out."  He then ordered Lasix by mouth and said that I could go when I went to the bathroom.  2 1/2 hours later when the night shift came on, I still had not gotten the pill I needed.  I was furious.  The night shift nurse went and got the medicine I needed and by 8:30 I finally went to the bathroom.  I was discharged from the hospital about 9 PM.  None of this was necessary and I could go on about it, but I won't.  NE GA Medical was a fine hospital and did a great job, except for that one lazy nurse.  Opps, I said I wasn't going to go on about it - and now, I won't.

Edel and I left the hospital and went to Larry & Charlotta's house which was only about 30 minutes away.  Thank heavens Charlotta suggested we come to their house because the ride back to NC would not have been a very pleasant one.  They got me all settled in as big comfy chair and slept there very well with the help of some pain meds. The next morning I was ready to go home, even though the invitation to stay as long as I needed was offered.  Edel drove me home and amazingly I did not even feel any motion sickness on the way home.  If this surgery cured my motion sickness, it would be worth it even if I never lost another pound.  But, let's not get carried away.

Home again and happy to be there on Thursday early afternoon.  Phoebe was thrilled to see me.  The cats acted like they could care less, but I know they were happy, too.  Except for the fact that I brought that little yappy dog back home with me.  Edel helped get me settled in walked Phoebe for me.  Friday afternoon, Edel headed back home because her niece was getting married on Sunday and the rehersal dinner was at her parent's home Saturday night.  I assured her we would be fine, and we have been.  Herman has come up in the late afternoon and taken Phoebe for a good walk for me.

Now for the gory details.  We'll, not really.  I have 5 incisions on my stomach from the surgery.  Actually, I have 6, because one of them was where a drain was put in.  It was pulled out before I left the hospital.  Ther are steri-strips over all the incisions (steri strips are very small pieces of tape that help hold the incisions together).  They will come off slowly as I shower.  The incisions are sore and bruised, but nothing terrible.  I have pain medication that I have been using and it helps.  I'm really trying not to use it though, because it constipated me - as it will do anybody who takes a narcotic.  That really is about the extent of it..  I had a cathether after surgery, but it was pulled out hours before I left the hospital, too.  I won't get into that, because it would start me complaining about that one nurse again, so well, leave it at that.  Really, my hospitalization was uneventful. 

Now the real work begins.  Because they reduced my stomach to the size of my thumb, (it holds 2-3 ounces at a time), and re-routed my small intestines, I have to eat/drink totally different.  To give you an idea of what that means, an ounce is a little medicine cup, like you get with cough syrup.  It is 30cc.  My new stomach will only hold the 2-3 of those.  That's it and no more.  If you try and drink more, it is very uncomfortable.  They said, to stay hydrated, I need to drink 1 of those little cups (one ounce) every 15 minutes.  That's hard to do.  It has been a challenge to drink enough.  I don't have to worry about eating because I can't yet.  My new stomach is very sensitive, so I have to be very careful. 

You know what, I'm tired.  I'll have to finish this new diet business later.  But, it is a real learning experience.  I'm not hungry at all so I have to make myself drink.  That's hard.  We'll go into that more later.

So, stay tuned.  Phoebe and I are going to rest for a while.
Woof, meow and xoxox, from Bonnie.