Home From the Hospital
I am back home after my surgery on Wednesday.
The surgeon said that with all the endemetriosis, and fibroids, and ovarian cysts, that surgery was the right option, and that in one or two years, it couldn't have been done with the DaVinci robotic method, but would have been full abdominal surgery, a much bigger deal. As it was, the surgery took four and a half hours instead of the under three hours estimated.
All of the dissections and testing showed endemetriosis, and the above issues, none of which were cancerous. (Yay!) The doctor says I will really be feeling better now that all that stuff causing pain and bleeding is GONE.
Everyone at the hospital was kind and helpful. I tried very hard to be nice and polite back, because I could hear down the hall from other doors the abusive language and other things with which the nurses and assistants had to deal. I think that maintaining a positive attitude also helped a measure of control over my own pain management.
I had to leave all metal and jewelry at home, so when I found a small blue rubber band, I put it on my left ring finger, so it felt more normal, and not so bare. The nurses thought this was cute.
I thought the leg pneumatic massage thingies on the end of my bed were one of the Best. Things. Ever. I'm told that you either love 'em, or hate 'em, and that it was a rather good thing that I liked them, because as a diabetic, the leg massage after surgery was important to stop blood clots. It felt like I was being pampered. Ice packs are my friend, too.
It is very nice to be back home, and naps in my own bed show how perfect one's own bed is for actual REST. (I found myself wishing at the hospital that the nurses and assistants, on hour-apart spacing for tests and things could choose the SAME part of the hour to check on me, and not on opposite half-hours.) I was tired enough that it didn't make much difference in how much rest I got, though.
I ended up staying an extra night, because my digestion had not yet produced anything. Since they had to move my innards about to get to the surgery site, it was rather important that I "produce" something before coming home, to make sure I was functional. I went on many walks about the ward to get things moving, as it were. The theme running through my head was a childish ditty about farting. "Going down the highway, doing 94/ When somebody let one, it blew me out the door./ The motor couldn't take it, the wheels blew off the car!/ That's when I guessed it- Judi blew a fart!"
Sparkle, whose school is literally one block away from my hospital, got to see me at lunchtime Thursday, which went a long way toward her feeling reassured that Mommy Was Okay. She was so good! And she's being gentle here at home, too. Pretty soon, Mommy won't be sick any more.
It's good to be at home, with my Darling Husband, my mommy, and my kids. I'm generally okay, but jostling and vibrations tend to send little shock waves through me. I'm really amazed at just how much better I feel already. Modern medicine is pretty amazing.
The surgeon said that with all the endemetriosis, and fibroids, and ovarian cysts, that surgery was the right option, and that in one or two years, it couldn't have been done with the DaVinci robotic method, but would have been full abdominal surgery, a much bigger deal. As it was, the surgery took four and a half hours instead of the under three hours estimated.
All of the dissections and testing showed endemetriosis, and the above issues, none of which were cancerous. (Yay!) The doctor says I will really be feeling better now that all that stuff causing pain and bleeding is GONE.
Everyone at the hospital was kind and helpful. I tried very hard to be nice and polite back, because I could hear down the hall from other doors the abusive language and other things with which the nurses and assistants had to deal. I think that maintaining a positive attitude also helped a measure of control over my own pain management.
I had to leave all metal and jewelry at home, so when I found a small blue rubber band, I put it on my left ring finger, so it felt more normal, and not so bare. The nurses thought this was cute.
I thought the leg pneumatic massage thingies on the end of my bed were one of the Best. Things. Ever. I'm told that you either love 'em, or hate 'em, and that it was a rather good thing that I liked them, because as a diabetic, the leg massage after surgery was important to stop blood clots. It felt like I was being pampered. Ice packs are my friend, too.
It is very nice to be back home, and naps in my own bed show how perfect one's own bed is for actual REST. (I found myself wishing at the hospital that the nurses and assistants, on hour-apart spacing for tests and things could choose the SAME part of the hour to check on me, and not on opposite half-hours.) I was tired enough that it didn't make much difference in how much rest I got, though.
I ended up staying an extra night, because my digestion had not yet produced anything. Since they had to move my innards about to get to the surgery site, it was rather important that I "produce" something before coming home, to make sure I was functional. I went on many walks about the ward to get things moving, as it were. The theme running through my head was a childish ditty about farting. "Going down the highway, doing 94/ When somebody let one, it blew me out the door./ The motor couldn't take it, the wheels blew off the car!/ That's when I guessed it- Judi blew a fart!"
Sparkle, whose school is literally one block away from my hospital, got to see me at lunchtime Thursday, which went a long way toward her feeling reassured that Mommy Was Okay. She was so good! And she's being gentle here at home, too. Pretty soon, Mommy won't be sick any more.
It's good to be at home, with my Darling Husband, my mommy, and my kids. I'm generally okay, but jostling and vibrations tend to send little shock waves through me. I'm really amazed at just how much better I feel already. Modern medicine is pretty amazing.