4 Days Post Op!! Yeah!

Wow! What a crazy experience this has been! I will be honest and tell you that if I had known exactly what I was in for, I may not have done it. But I am glad I did!

I was rushed into surgery on Tuesday morning. My scheduled time was 11:30 AM but the guy before me was late. So they took me first! What a blessing! The minute I hit the doors to get prepped for surgery, I paniced! I didn't have enough time for it to be enough for me to back out because I immediately got undressed and met with Dr. Dutson's assistant and the two anesthesiologists! The said they were giving me something to calm my nerves.....and then that was it! Next thing I remember was seeing Dr. Dutson was in the ICU, where I was being monitored for my sleep apnea! He told me they found a birth defect that almost cancelled my surgery! My diaphragm had formed a pocket and my intestines were pushed up inside it! How weird! They decided to go ahead with the surgery since I had been living with the defect without complication. Dr. Dutson said he pulled my intestines back where they are supposed to be and that we will talk about it 100 pds from now!

The first 24 hours I was in ICU. The nurses in ICU were great! They brought me cold wash clothes for my face and almost let me wait until after American Idol to go for a walk. That is, until the doc came in and made me go! :) I had visitors and calls that night so I was ok! They didn't even mind me pushing the pain med button every 5 minutes even though it only works every 15! :) I was only there to be monitored for my sleep apnea. They had me hooked up to a machine that seemed to wake me whenever I dosed off! I guess that was a good thing!

The next 24 hours was on the surgery ward in a semi-private room! The pain was slowly getting better! I only asked for the Oxycontin twice! I had a great nurse who just advised me to breath thru the pain and to get up and walk it off! I won't lie and tell you all was smooth! The drain they put in causes the most amazing pain and the catheter is painful and annoying! But walking and breathing made it much better! I took so many laps around the ward, the nurses would set their watches by me!

Everyday feels better and better! Yesterday I got up to about 40 grams of protein and took two walks around my caul de sac. Today I am at the library typing this! I also achieved a major milestone in that I went to IHOP with my Mom for breakfast and didn't feel sorry or tempted at all! Oh, sure! Everything looked and smelled great! I just didn't care. I sat and sipped my Isopure every 15 minutes, knowing that in 8 months or so I can have a bite of pancakes!

I am so glad this is over! Anyone with questions, feel free to ask!

The best is yet to come!

Cynthia