So Much For Daily Updates
Yeah, well, I've been busy.
The surgery went well. The time in the recovery room at the hospital? Not so much. It was exactly what I was dreading, yet expecting at the same time. I do love the Women's Surgery Center, though, it's such a great facility. We didn't have to wait too long in the lobby, which is always nice.
They took me back to the pre-op room, where I changed into my gown (a double gown, incidentally so no ass hanging out, nice!). They let Dave come back after I was dressed and he waited with me. We talked to the anesthesiologist and my doctor about what to expect. Not 5 minutes later, I was on the table.
"This may burn a little" and bam, out like a light.
I woke up in a lot of pain. As soon as I was coherant enough to tell the nurse my pain was an 8, she gave me some kind of narcotic painkiller. I don't remember what, though I know it wasn't morphine - perhaps dulaudin (sp?). Whatever it was, I didn't like it.
I'm not a narcotics girl. I had morphine about 15 years ago when I had a kidney stone and I never want to have that again. I don't like how it makes me feel. So, needless to say, I didn't like this stuff either. I couldn't stay awake for more than about a minute at a time, but I also couldn't sleep for any period of time either. So, I was constantly falling asleep and then waking up. Pain wasn't really going down, so another dose. Ugh.
Dizzy. Not fun. Nauseated. Less fun. Meds for nausea - pretty good. They had told Dave it would be about an hour after they took me in that he could see me. Well, I kept asking for him and the nurse said he couldn't come back until I was more awake and responsive. Out I went again. It was 2 hours before Dave was able to come back. Poor guy, I know he was worried.
I went through an hour or so of pain at level 4, which I could totally deal with, but I wasn't able to pee and I wasn't able to stay awake and sit up without being extremely dizzy. They don't let you leave until you pee, FYI. Talk about pressure.
At around 11am, I started to get really agitated, physically. I was antsy. I wanted to leave. I was finally able to stay awake and I was miserable. I just wanted my own bed!!! FINALLY about 20 minutes later, I was able to go to the bathroom and they let me leave close to noon.
FYI, my surgery was at 7:30am. I was expecting to be home well before noon. Oh well.
The ride home was hell on earth. First off, remember, I'm still really dizzy, pain's at a level 4 and the drugs are wearing off, so it's getting to start hurting more. Did I mention that I'm prone to motion-sickness? Poor Dave. I was curled up in the front seat in the fetal position and every time we went around a corner, I thought I was going to vomit or pass out (I did neither). There was a lot of groaning from me and apologies from Dave, even though he was driving as smoothly as he could.
Did I also mention that I live at least 30 minutes from the hospital? Yup, our local hospital is 1 mile from my house, but my doctor doesn't have surgery privileges there - only in surrounding counties (long story short, when I worked in the county over years and years ago, he was in my office building and that's how I found him - I'm telling you, there is nothing more convenient when you are hugely pregnant and on weekly visits to have your doctor right downstairs. They would call me and tell me when he was ready to see me so I didn't have to sit and wait. Awesome).
Once I got home, I stumbled in the door, quite literally. My son is a sweet, sweet boy. His little 7 year old self took me by the arm, hooked his arm around mine, and walked me up the stairs. I have some foresight and I was dressed to go to sleep, so I crashed fairly quickly, but not after some nice hugs from both boys.
Dave got my Percocet filled (and thank goodness that stuff is cheap - we still didn't have our insurance cards, so we had to pay full price). I was so tired, I was sleeping through the pain anyways, but when I woke up, that stuff was awesome.
I slept most of the day on Monday, whether upstairs or here on the couch. I was still pretty out of it on Tuesday, as well.
I was told I'd feel well enough for normal activities (with some restrictions) within 48 hours. Nah, more like 72 and even then, not so much. I'm so glad I had that extra day to recover and didn't have to work until Thursday.
The recovery days were just fine - I feel great now and I was never really miserable once I was home and those first 24 hours passed.
I have a follow up appointment on Monday, where I should be released to full activity, but I'm not sure about that - I thought I read somewhere that lifting restrictions go on for about 6 weeks.
I'm shocked at how little bleeding occured following surgery. I didn't have to use more than a pantiliner after the 2nd day and even before that, everything was infinitely lighter than an actual period, so I was thrilled. Only time will tell if this has worked, but I have a really good feeling it has :)
The surgery went well. The time in the recovery room at the hospital? Not so much. It was exactly what I was dreading, yet expecting at the same time. I do love the Women's Surgery Center, though, it's such a great facility. We didn't have to wait too long in the lobby, which is always nice.
They took me back to the pre-op room, where I changed into my gown (a double gown, incidentally so no ass hanging out, nice!). They let Dave come back after I was dressed and he waited with me. We talked to the anesthesiologist and my doctor about what to expect. Not 5 minutes later, I was on the table.
"This may burn a little" and bam, out like a light.
I woke up in a lot of pain. As soon as I was coherant enough to tell the nurse my pain was an 8, she gave me some kind of narcotic painkiller. I don't remember what, though I know it wasn't morphine - perhaps dulaudin (sp?). Whatever it was, I didn't like it.
I'm not a narcotics girl. I had morphine about 15 years ago when I had a kidney stone and I never want to have that again. I don't like how it makes me feel. So, needless to say, I didn't like this stuff either. I couldn't stay awake for more than about a minute at a time, but I also couldn't sleep for any period of time either. So, I was constantly falling asleep and then waking up. Pain wasn't really going down, so another dose. Ugh.
Dizzy. Not fun. Nauseated. Less fun. Meds for nausea - pretty good. They had told Dave it would be about an hour after they took me in that he could see me. Well, I kept asking for him and the nurse said he couldn't come back until I was more awake and responsive. Out I went again. It was 2 hours before Dave was able to come back. Poor guy, I know he was worried.
I went through an hour or so of pain at level 4, which I could totally deal with, but I wasn't able to pee and I wasn't able to stay awake and sit up without being extremely dizzy. They don't let you leave until you pee, FYI. Talk about pressure.
At around 11am, I started to get really agitated, physically. I was antsy. I wanted to leave. I was finally able to stay awake and I was miserable. I just wanted my own bed!!! FINALLY about 20 minutes later, I was able to go to the bathroom and they let me leave close to noon.
FYI, my surgery was at 7:30am. I was expecting to be home well before noon. Oh well.
The ride home was hell on earth. First off, remember, I'm still really dizzy, pain's at a level 4 and the drugs are wearing off, so it's getting to start hurting more. Did I mention that I'm prone to motion-sickness? Poor Dave. I was curled up in the front seat in the fetal position and every time we went around a corner, I thought I was going to vomit or pass out (I did neither). There was a lot of groaning from me and apologies from Dave, even though he was driving as smoothly as he could.
Did I also mention that I live at least 30 minutes from the hospital? Yup, our local hospital is 1 mile from my house, but my doctor doesn't have surgery privileges there - only in surrounding counties (long story short, when I worked in the county over years and years ago, he was in my office building and that's how I found him - I'm telling you, there is nothing more convenient when you are hugely pregnant and on weekly visits to have your doctor right downstairs. They would call me and tell me when he was ready to see me so I didn't have to sit and wait. Awesome).
Once I got home, I stumbled in the door, quite literally. My son is a sweet, sweet boy. His little 7 year old self took me by the arm, hooked his arm around mine, and walked me up the stairs. I have some foresight and I was dressed to go to sleep, so I crashed fairly quickly, but not after some nice hugs from both boys.
Dave got my Percocet filled (and thank goodness that stuff is cheap - we still didn't have our insurance cards, so we had to pay full price). I was so tired, I was sleeping through the pain anyways, but when I woke up, that stuff was awesome.
I slept most of the day on Monday, whether upstairs or here on the couch. I was still pretty out of it on Tuesday, as well.
I was told I'd feel well enough for normal activities (with some restrictions) within 48 hours. Nah, more like 72 and even then, not so much. I'm so glad I had that extra day to recover and didn't have to work until Thursday.
The recovery days were just fine - I feel great now and I was never really miserable once I was home and those first 24 hours passed.
I have a follow up appointment on Monday, where I should be released to full activity, but I'm not sure about that - I thought I read somewhere that lifting restrictions go on for about 6 weeks.
I'm shocked at how little bleeding occured following surgery. I didn't have to use more than a pantiliner after the 2nd day and even before that, everything was infinitely lighter than an actual period, so I was thrilled. Only time will tell if this has worked, but I have a really good feeling it has :)
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