Ouch

Ouuuuuuch.  Where is E.T. when you need him?

This is my first entry since my surgery, which I had on Monday afternoon, February 7th.  I checked in to OHSU at 11:30 and had a pack of family members in tow -- my mom, Dad, Nina and E.  Pastor Nathan also came to pray with me and send me into surgery with as much peace as possible.  (Hahahahaha)

I was pretty calm when I went to the hospital.  Calmer than I expected.  Then when I went downstairs to get my IV and meet the anesthesia team, that's when I started getting panicky.  They presented me with a bunch of anesthesia options (I thought the choices had already been made) and was unprepared for all the info, so I got a little emotional.  I went with the general anesthesia and a side of epidural.  Other options included a nerve block and lower body local anesthesia but I REALLY did not want to be awake while they sawed on me.  No thank you...

They wheeled me into the O.R. and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery.  The thing that woke me up was my hip/leg pain at first because they don't turn on the epidural (which runs on a constant drip) until after surgery.  Apparently another patient, who had received a similar surgery, had chosen to not get a nerve block or epidural and was yelling for quite some time.  *shudder*

After a while in recovery, they wheeled me into my room (private room!  woohoo!) where I was greeted by an even larger group of family (same as above and also my brother, sister-in-law and WYATT!).

During those first days while I had the epidural, I did not have any other narcotics.  This is good because you're not nearly as loopy or nauseous right out of surgery, but the pain is very much blocked.  I mostly just concentrated on resting.  Note that in the hospital, you rest more than you sleep because the staff comes in to check your pain and vitals every hour or so.  "How are you?  Are you able to sleep?"  Uh...

The next morning at about 10:00, the Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy people came in to get me on my feet.  At least, that was their intention.  I was supposed to pivot in bed until I could get my feet to the floor and then push myself up and onto my walker.  There are three things I am not supposed to do -- bend at the waist past 90 degrees, let my legs cross or point my toes in (pigeon-toe).  I'm afraid I disappointed them because I almost fainted trying to pivot.  They figured I probably had too much anesthesia left in my system and that I should drink water.  So I did.  A lot.

Immediately after, I was visited by someone from the pain control group who wanted to check my epidural port (in my back).  I started getting a bit pale and she asked if I was getting nauseated, like it was an appropriate question to ask but hoped that I'd say no.  I said yes, actually, I was getting extremely nauseous.  I fanned my face and covered my mouth (the international sign for impending barf) but she still didn't seem like she understood until the very last second and got me this little tiny plastic curved tray that I was supposed to "let loose" in.  They can't possibly expect that one could let loose in those miniature swimming pools.  Honestly.  I filled mine up twice as well as the top of my gown (and maybe a little bit on my visitor).

That's really as bad as it's gotten.  I only had that problem because I chugged so much water.  Lesson learned!

I had more success later in the day.  The next Physical Therapist did get me up on my feet with a walker and then into a chair for a half hour.  I had no idea sitting in a chair could be that freakin' uncomfortable.

Yesterday morning, the crew had it in their minds that I was doing "extremely well" and needed to walk down the hall, up three stairs and back so that I could prove I could go home.  They soon learned that I am not a morning person.  I made it just outside my room door before I needed to sit down. It was a nice visit to the hallway and that was it. After lunch and a visit by family members and my boss (which was very sweet), I did manage to do the steps and walk back down the hall.  After that, they saw no other reason to keep me and discharged me!

It was scary at first.  Not just getting home, but being home without all that medical assistance.  But my mom is staying with me and we're doing pretty okay.  I am able to get out of bed and to the bathroom, which I have not had difficulty doing since I was about two, and I'm able to manage the pain pretty well.

I must say that I had no idea it could hurt this bad!  I'm looking forward to some healin', that's for sure.

This morning, my friend Donna brought us a yummy breakfast and my mom washed my hair.  I'm feeling almost human again.

Until my next moment of clarity...  Peace out!