Home from the hospital...

March 8, 2004

Morning All,

Arrived home yesterday afternoon from the hospital..Had my surgery on Friday

.. I was to arrive at 9 for a 10:30 surgery time..we arrived an hour early as

we live almost 2 hours away...This was not a good idea..as i paced the halls

and considered running from the building numerous times..lolol Then ,,

everytime i would turn to walk down the next hallway.. i would see myself in a

window...You know how when you see your self in a window pane..and you look

really

thin and then you realize you are only seeing half your body and then try to

move yourself to one side and you just dont fit...lolo well that is what kept me

from fleeing the sceen...so i stayed...they finally took me back to get

prepped for surgery and i sent my wonderful husband off to get a newspaper and

something to eat...well.. then the Dr. assistant came to see me and wanted to

ask

my permission to let some high school students observe my suryery..I said

absolutley!!..then it dawned on me that this could be good or bad....He could do

an excellent job..to show off for the audience or be distracted...lolol I was

hoping for the first observation...I was finally taken back for my surgery at

12:30 after a call was made to my husband in the waiting room to let him know

that i was just getting started and not just finishing...and off i went...to

the beginning of my new life..

I awoke in the recovery room around 3 and remained there until 5:30 when

there was a bed available for me upstairs... when i arrived at my room..i made

my

first walk since surgery...I walked from my room to the nurses station .and

then back to my bed...it was really not to bad... I was settled in to the

bed..and was experienceing my first cathater experience..I was nervous about

this as

i had never had one before and was glad it was inserted while i was asleep...

My mouth was so dry it was unbelievable...and they give you these little

green sponges soaked in water..which were like the BEST LITTLE SPONGES SOAKED IN

WATER...i had ever had...lolol I sent my husband home since it was such a

long day around 6:30pm..he was such the trooper,,,and looked exhausted ..I had

blood pressure cuff looking things on both legs which blew up every couple

minutes to help with the blood flow in my legs....I got up again around 8pm and

walked the length of the hallway...it was a little easier than the first

trip...but still hard to stand upright...alot of pressure and gas build up from

the

lap procedure..The wonderful nurses were fabulous...and in the early evening

they brought in my first shot in the thigh of medicine to prevent blood

clots...it didnt hurt so,, it was ok....

THE NASTY BLUE STUFF...They brought me in a little cup of this blue stuff for

me to drink..there was of checking to see if everything was sealed up...it

was the most discusting salty stuff i had every tasted....they were looking for

it to come out of the tube that was left around my stomach.which had a small

bulb the size of a small hand on the outside which i attached to my nightgown..

there was a little line of blue that seeped but only enough to leave a small

line of sediment along the bottom....was up agin around 12 midnight had

second shot of blood thinner and again 4am and again at 7 so had one more shot

of

blood thinner and then was able to leave off the leg blood pressure cuffs

starting saturday morning as i was up walking enough that i didnt need

it...Saturday i tried to walk every 2-4 hours it really helped me to feel better

and to

get the gas moving around in my stomach..My wonderful husband called me in the

morning before he left to go to work...and my best buddy called to say she was

coming up to spend the afternoon with me...The Dr. came in saturday as was

thrilled with my walking around and had scheduled to have a GI XRAY around 2 to

see how everything had sealed together and if all was good i could move through

my 3 stages and go home on sunday!!!! YEA,,Hospital beds are aweful...

Around 2 they came to get me to go to xray for my test...They told me i would

have to drink two different things and to take a mouth full and swallow all

at one time...THE HORROR.. i thought we were suppose to only take small

sips...LOLOL they promised me that everything would be fine as they needed the

pouch

to fill and then drain during the xray...The wonderful xray teck then game me

a small glass of clear liguid..which must have been a close family relative to

the NASTY BLUE STUFF from the day before which i took a mouth full and

swallowed and was very excited not to have to repeat....then they gave me a

glass

full of white chalky stuff which after the NASTY BLUE STUFF " S COUSION i was

thankful to drink..everything looked wonderful!!! YEA!!! Now i could have

liquid...lolol

I was taken back to my room where i was given 3 little medicine cups of water

to drink, each one to spread out over an hour...( you look at this little cup

and think i can drink that in one gulp!!!) but let me tell you...if you take

little sips it is amazing how filled you are when you try to take little sips

over the course of an hour..YOU ARE SOOOOO FULL it is uncomfortable..and so

then i would get up and walk to help move things through my new pouch...My best

buddy came and brought my a beautiful nightgown in size large I wear a 3x

now (with a card saying when it gets too large for me to pass it on to her...)

...with a fabulous teddy bear with an incision down the front of her ....and

stuffing removed,..with the stuffing left in her butt...she is just the cuttest

thing. she walked with me and around 7pm i was starting to get really

tired...since i had not slept well the night before..so off she went...The pain

was

really hardly nothing...from 4am to 4pm on saturday i had had 10 pushes of my

morphine drip ,,when i asked my nurse if that was alot..he laughted and said

no...you can have 8 pushes an hours..lolol so i guess things were going

well...at

8pm saturday evening i asked for some pain medicine so i could sleep...after

taking my sip of pain medicine my nurse informed me that i had just taken

the equivalent to 2 percocets...I informed her that i was allergic to

percocet...(WELL DOCUMENTED IN MY CHART) and she said you are kidding right? i

said

nope..and she immediatley left the room to call the doctor and the pharmacy

....saying..how could this happen...she returned to ask me questions about my

reaction to percocet..which was heart palputations , breaking out into a sweat,

feeling nausous ..etc..but that had been 20 yrs ago...She was a nervous

wreck...as

the Dr. was paging her back..they put the sides up on my bed and said she

would be keeping a close eye on me to make sure i was ok...after checking with

the pharmacy, they told her that the Doctor on call said to go ahead and give me

the pain medicine in spite of my reaction..as she felt like it was not an

allergic reaction (Throat closing ..etc..)and it was the medicine they used

after bupass...so the nursing staff keep a close eye on my for the next 3-4

hours...it was not bad at all, but real scary in the beginning...so it worked

out

ok..At midnight i had my cathater removed..which was not bad at all..I was very

nervous about this procedure as this was my first one...but am here to tell

you..it is nothing and over before you can

say...supercalafragalisticxpealadocious...lololol

Sunday morning...I watched alot of tv...and was so ready to move through my

stages to go home...my husband called to let me know he was coming with our

oldest daughter to get me at around 1pm i told him i would be so ready!!.. At

Breakfast time they brough me three little medicine cups of Chichen broth...THIS

WAS THE BEST CHICKEN BROTH IN THE WORLD!!! so i procceded to drink the

first...real slow...did i tell you that this was the best chicken broth in the

world?

I drank on whole little cup and could not believe how full i was...i had to

walk again..They also are bringing me antacid twice a day..which doesnt make

any sense to me..since it is going into a place where there is no acid.. The

doctor came into see my around 10am and said all was wonderful and that i was

the poster girl for bypass surgery and that the whole staff was proud of the way

i was recovering..and that i could go home...!!!!

My husband called at around 11:20 to say he was on his way...so i was now

looking for the nurse to take my IV out which had started to swell...and then

the

only thing left was the tube in my stomach to drain out any fluid from the

incision..

I had the IV removed from the back of my had around 12:00 and was left with

what my husband call the Hamburger Helper Hand...LOLOL It was more painful

than the 6 little incissions on my stomach. (Fluid had built up from the iv

needle coming through the vein so the iv fluid was being delived under the skin

in the top of my hand instead of in the vein)

I was then brough a carnation instant breakfast for lunch..the last test..of

being able to leave...It was strawberry..and didnt taste very well but i took

small sips and by 2pm was looking for the Dr. to come remove the tube in my

stomach so that i could shower and go home with my family ...The Dr removed my

tube which seems to be 12 feet long when it is coming out..and then i proceded

to take my shower...BOY was that nice...and i was dressed and ready to leave

by 2:30pm on Sunday...The hospital stay was wonderful and the ride home was a

little ruff...alot of bumps..but i did sleep some...

I arrrived home yesteday to our 4 dogs that greeted me like they had not seen

me for 3 yrs...my husband had to get them out of the house so that they would

not jump up on me..and then i greeted each one individually so they could

welcome my home...I slept in the extra room last night...ON MY SIDE...GRIN for

about 3 hours at a time...and started my day today taking my medicine for gall

bladder,, sprinkled in a small glass of crystal light lemonade..then i have

started in on my protien drink for the day... So this is where i am so far..I

know it is probably more than you want to know but thought it might be helpful

for someone who has not had their surgery yet...

March 8, 2004