Surgery Story!
It's now been two weeks and four days since I had my surgery. I had to be there at 7 AM, and I was receiving my anesthesia just after 8. The next thing I knew, it was slightly after 11, and the doctors were waking me. That was my least favorite part of the entire ordeal. I was very groggy and didn't understand why they wouldn't let me just sleep, so I cried. I then had to hang out in the after-op room for a few hours while we waited for a bedroom to be ready. When it was evident that wasn't going to happen, they moved me back into the pre-op room so that I could have visitors. Aunt Bea and Mom came in and brought me lunch because it was like 1 by this point and I hadn't eaten since 9 the previous night.
I finally got a bedroom, and Aunt Bea left around 3 and Mom left around 6. Flo and Jon stayed with me until visiting hours were over, which was 9:00, and it was a good thing they were around because the hospital gave me shrimp for dinner! I hate seafood and told my nurse when she came to check on me. She called down to the cafeteria and told them I couldn't eat seafood and to please bring me something else - an hour later that still hadn't happened. I complained 3 times to different people and after 2 hours, Flo and Jon just went down and got themselves some Wendy's and brought back some for me.
I was a very good patient. I didn't fall back asleep until late that night, around 10, even though most people doze off and on all afternoon after receiving the anesthesia. I could walk around a bit too that very same evening, even though the nurses wouldn't let me go down to the cafeteria myself. They should've just given me a wheelchair and let me had at it.
My back and leg both are doing so much better now. While in the hospital, they gave me morphine which was very good, and then I had oxycodone to take home with me. I stopped taking my medicine about a week ago, and I feel almost normal. There's just the slightest bit of pain occasionally. The actual procedure involved removing the part of the disc that was bulging out, and the place where they cut me open is almost healed. It's just the tinest bit scabby now, and there are still the threads hanging out at the bottom and the top.
The financial issues aren't entirely resolved. I sent in an application for the hospital's indegent care over a month before my surgery date, and they never received it. The day before surgery, I submitted another one online with the help of a financial counselor at the hospital. It was slightly different from the first application, not nearly as detailed, and yesterday I received another application in the mail which was identical to the first one. So, yeah, right now I owe the hospital close to $12,000 - no big deal, right?
I finally got a bedroom, and Aunt Bea left around 3 and Mom left around 6. Flo and Jon stayed with me until visiting hours were over, which was 9:00, and it was a good thing they were around because the hospital gave me shrimp for dinner! I hate seafood and told my nurse when she came to check on me. She called down to the cafeteria and told them I couldn't eat seafood and to please bring me something else - an hour later that still hadn't happened. I complained 3 times to different people and after 2 hours, Flo and Jon just went down and got themselves some Wendy's and brought back some for me.
I was a very good patient. I didn't fall back asleep until late that night, around 10, even though most people doze off and on all afternoon after receiving the anesthesia. I could walk around a bit too that very same evening, even though the nurses wouldn't let me go down to the cafeteria myself. They should've just given me a wheelchair and let me had at it.
My back and leg both are doing so much better now. While in the hospital, they gave me morphine which was very good, and then I had oxycodone to take home with me. I stopped taking my medicine about a week ago, and I feel almost normal. There's just the slightest bit of pain occasionally. The actual procedure involved removing the part of the disc that was bulging out, and the place where they cut me open is almost healed. It's just the tinest bit scabby now, and there are still the threads hanging out at the bottom and the top.
The financial issues aren't entirely resolved. I sent in an application for the hospital's indegent care over a month before my surgery date, and they never received it. The day before surgery, I submitted another one online with the help of a financial counselor at the hospital. It was slightly different from the first application, not nearly as detailed, and yesterday I received another application in the mail which was identical to the first one. So, yeah, right now I owe the hospital close to $12,000 - no big deal, right?