saturday the 16th...
i was awakened early morning, and i was made to attempt to stand up, to be weighed. this was a bit interesting since i wasnt sure how much i could really do and i was still very tired, but i slowly made it up okay and the pain was tolerable, and i didnt accidently yank out any tubes. i was allowed to rest some more and informed that i could try a liquid breakfast. (i wasnt too thrilled at the notion, since i had done the liquid thing pre-surgery. wednesday had been my last day of solid food, thursday i was restricted to liquids, and after late afternoon, i wasnt even allowed liquids and had had to do a colon cleanse-oyy.)i also had no appetite but knew they would insist i have something, so i looked the menu over, i couldnt have anything dairy, or orange juice, i could have popsicles, apple juice, coffee or tea, jello or an italian ice. okay i have never had an italian ice but knew they were creamy, so i thought okay it will probably be mild and vanilla flavored. it was creamy and LEMON flavored and not what i wanted to start my day with, but i forced it down, and i was still suffering from extreme dry mouth. i also discovered that because of the dryness, the oxygen, and laying on my back all night, that i had been dozing with my mouth hanging open and my lips pulled back so my teeth were exposed-i found this both bizarre and not too pleasant. the nurse came back in asked if i had eaten and if i was ready to try a shower, i was a bit hesitant about the shower but agreed. it was awkward, for one thing i had the catheter still in, and i wasnt sure how long i could stand, and while there was a shower chair to sit on, i didnt want to be in the shower too long because frankly, i felt a bit unsteady, but i got through it okay, by myself. the nurse then asked me if i was ready to try walking in the halls (she had given me two gowns to wear so i was covered front and back). i said okay and we walked. i could walk almost my normal pace (i had the nurse carry the catheter bag, we didnt have the iv stand along the first time). dr cloven was on-call the weekend i was in the hospital, so we ran into her while i was walking the hospital floor-i did the entire thing. dr cloven was amazed at how well i was doing and went out of her way to tell me how good i looked after surgery, and this, was my post-surgery, next-day, check-up from my doctor. yess the resident had checked my wound as had my various nurses and they too were saying how well i was doing and how good i looked.(what had they been expecting? night of the living dead?)i went back to my room got hooked back up to everything and thankfully-got to sit in the big chair instead of that god-forsaken bed. on saturday i was to walk the halls 3 times and sit in the chair 3 times, i did so. i also was allowed to switch to soft solid foods at noon, however i was put on a light fibre diet, since i was going to have to deal with constipation and gas from the surgery. i tried a turkey croissant sandwich and milk, it took me all day to eat it-literally. i didnt watch too much tv right away. one, i didnt want to, and two, their cable sucks, several local channels some standard cable channels, but no premiums, and about 4 hospital channels about medical procedures, and i kid you not, the spiritual channel.(no thanks, really.) mid to late afternoon i got off oxygen but still needed to be checked on that, and i was supposed to breathe into the "toy" about 10 rounds once per hour, every hour. (exhale, inhale, to make a littl plastic piece move within a certain range-it was at times hard to do because my side muscles were achey.)i did decently with the breathing exercises, and the dry-mouth was going away. i also got my catheter removed since i could move so well and my urine was clear-it was an interesting sensation, one i hope i never know again. at one point late afternoon, just after i was put on i think my 4th or 5th iv bag, i noticed some discomfort in my left hand from the tube so i asked my nurse to fix it, which she tried to do-she then left. i immediately noticed my hand was getting Large...the iv had gone bad and my hand was filling with iv solution, my other nurse came in saw this and went to get the first nurse to fix it, and then, she promptly forgot me, so i sat for half an hour watching my hand get bigger and bigger. it didnt hurt but it was weird to see. i got checked on again, reminded callie that my hand needed fixing, and she got my nurse kim to come in, they both apologised and said i would need a new iv,and said my hand must be in pain-it wasnt. i asked kim (twice)if we would need towels for the drainage, and she said no it wouldnt drain when she took the iv out, and that the liquid would be slowly absorbed into my body the next few days. she took out the iv...and we needed towels for the drainage. kim was surprised i was right, and said she had never seen the fluid drain out before.(it felt odd, me being the one without med training being right-but i was amused), so while i was sitting there squeezing and draining my hand she consulted with other people and it was decided that i didnt need to have any more iv's. and since i wasnt on the iv, the pain button was also done away with and i was switched to vicodin pills for the pain. i was to have the pills every 4-5 hours, (plus i asked later in the night for something to get things..uhm..moving). it took all day to drain my hand back to normal size. as for the gas and constipation, i could feel things moving but nothing was er getting through yet. also during saturday, i got my first 2 emails-thanks again, (and thanks to others who tried, but couldnt get through). i also got a huge plant delivered from my extended family. and my friend michelle-who has disabling med conditions-showed up to visit me with her two young adult daughters. we chatted for a bit, and she gave me a get well card, a $50 visa gift card, and some bean-boozled jelly belly jelly beans,and a living dead doll, isaac the scarecrow. so i had rather macabre themed get-well gifts. :) michelle, jerrad, and jackie have been very good to me and have gone out of their way to take care of me. michelle had even gotten me groceries, gave me a robe since i didnt have one and loaned me a bag for my clothes and personal items and had had her older daughter laurell drive me to various appointments. i had a decent energy level saturday, and it seemed like a kind of eventful day to me. i did doze on and off holding my toy lamb while i was in the chair. i also started watching the olympics since there was nothing else to watch. i skipped supper but did order a snack i could keep for later if i were to get hungry, (peanut butter with crackers) but i didnt eat it so i saved it for the next day. i nearly decided to sleep in the chair but tried the bed again, so i could wear the leg cuffs and maybe get more "real" sleep. (oh i also was using the bathroom since i didnt have the catheter any more-this was also awkward since the toilet had a removable bowl in it to measure my...output...)i did sleep better, my night nurses were pat and penny, and pat tried to make me more comfortable by giving me more pillows but at one point in the middle of the night i got fed up and threw them on the floor-i faked like i had accidently done so in my sleep. and that was my saturday.