Finally Postop!!

Apr 25, 2009

I am finally post op by 5 days now.  (Sorry I haven't written earlier.)  Things are going pretty well.  The day before surgery on the liquid diet was pretty uneventful.  My nerves were anything but calm.  Monday morning we got to the hospital just a bit before 5:30am.  Registration and all that stuff went well and was pretty quick.  Surgery was scheuled for 7:30.  I left my holding room at about 7:20 and they took me right to the operating room while I was fully awake.  It was kinda wierd seeing everything that they were going to use on me.  I remember getting positioned, and that 3 people in the operating room introduced themselves to me.  The next thing I remember is when the recovery room nurse asked me what level of pain I was having.  Of course on a scale of 1 to 10 I said that mine was a 15!!  I needed drugs.  After I said that, I can say that life was pretty good again :)  Right after I woke up they took me right to my room (which was beautiful).  I had a room full of family members, friends, and flowers.  I felt really special.  Things were pretty uneventful for the rest of the day.  The entire hospital staff was wonderful and were always right there when I needed them.  When I got back to my room, my nurse Jason told me that he will get me up to walk in a couple of hours and later that afternoon we would be doing sprints.  I wasn't in a good mood at that point and he knew it right away.  After the drugs wore off, Jason became a really good nurse.  Tuesday morning at 7:00 they took me down for my swallow test.  The machines weren't working the best, so they made me stand there and wait until the second machine became available.  I told them that I don't mind waiting, but standing that long was not a good thing either.  So they finally let me have a seat.  Once they did the test it was really cool.  I actually got to see my new pouch on the screen.  The Dr. showed me what everything was, and then said that everything looked good.  He cleared me for the liquid diet right away.  Great I thought.  I don't want anything anyway.  But it sure felt good to brush my teeth!!  Later that morning, they allowed me to take a shower.  Right in the middle of my shower, my surgeon decides to visit me!!  He poked his head in the room, said that everything was going well, and that he would see me the next day.    This was my second day in the hospital and I still hadn't actually seen Dr. Taddeucci.  I knew he was there for surgery, but never actually got to see him Monday morning.  The rest of Tuesday was pretty uneventful as well.  Wednesday, mid morning, Dr. Taddeucci came in to see me finally!  He said that all my blood tests were normal and everything was great.  I was dismissed to go home!!  YEA!!!  So I took another shower, and my husband drove me home.  The 3 hour car ride was not the best.  Good thing I took my pain med before I left the hospital.  My husband told me that I slept most of the way home.  So that is where I am at now.  Safe and sound at home, doing well.  I am working on the liquid diet, but having a hard time getting everything in.  I am doing ok with the protien shakes and the strained soups, but not so well on drinking water.  I just get too full so quickly.  I have also been doing lots of walking.  My entire family has been joining me and having a good time.  Even my husband walks with me, which is rare.  So things are going pretty well so far.  I go back for my first post op check on May 6th.  I will post again then.  I want to thank everybody for their well wishes and support during this time.   to all!!

Heidi

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