Surgery

On Wednesday, Keith and I got up really early and headed to the hospital. My gallbladder surgery was scheduled for 9:15am, but we had to check in 2 hours earlier. I have never had surgery before, so I just had a few mixed matched ideas in my head of how everything would play out and went from there. Once I was checked in, we spent most of our time hanging out in the waiting room, listening to other families discuss the surgeries that they were about to have. At one point, they called me back to do a pregnancy test (and I laughed a lot-it was most definitely negative!), but the rest of the time was spent waiting. When 9:00am rolled around, I started a text to my parents to let them know we obviously wouldn't be starting my surgery on time seeing as how I was still fully clothed and sitting in the waiting room. But of course mid-text, my name was called and they took me back to the pre-op area. It's always a nice feeling knowing that you're stripping down to nothing with only a flimsy curtain that blows in the breeze keeping your dignity intact. In a surprisingly short amount of time, they had my IV going, I had met with the anethesiologist, Keith had met with the family coordinator, and we had talked briefly with my surgeon. (Incidentally, we talked about Facebook with my surgeon. Minutes before my surgery. A perk of being friends with the surgeon.) About 5 minutes before they rolled me back to the operating room, our pastor came in along with 2 of my friends from church. It was nice to head back to surgery after being prayed over by friends. They put something in my IV that relaxed me and it did a great job. I have vague memories of the walk down to the operating room, but I really wasn't all that concerned about it. I had a sense of things going on in the operating room and I do remember an oxygen mask going over my face, but that was my last memory before going under anesthesia. The next thing I knew, someone was calling my name and telling me it was time to wake up. I was in the recovery area and the anesthesiologist had woken me up. They started disconnecting me from everything and just let me lay and rest and become more conscious. After a couple of hours in recovery, they moved me to a portable recliner and then pushed me back down to the pre-op area where I had been before. From the time we walked into the hospital, to the time we were leaving the hospital, we were there for 7 hours total. Pretty quick turnaround for having an organ removed from your body. So far recovery has been pretty good. The first 36 hours were tough. I didn't keep up with my pain meds like I should have and I felt like I was on the losing end of a knife fight, but for the past 12 hours I have kept a steady dose of pain meds in my system and it's made a huge difference. The worst part about it is the action of standing up and sitting down. I have an incision in my belly button, plus 3 more across my abdomen. The one in my belly button has bothered me more than the others thus far. Plus my throat has been very sore from the tube that was in it during surgery. Other than that, I think today has been a great turn for the better and I hope within the next 2 days or so, I'll be virtually back to normal. I do have to say that I have been well taken care of since my surgery. I've had 4 flower deliveries (which I must say is really encouraging and such a nice gesture after someone has surgery!) I've also had 3 supper deliveries from wonderful church friends and coworkers. It's always nice to know your family is being well-fed while you're not up to doing any cooking. Not to mention that Keith has been a great help with everything and his mom has been here filling in while he's at work. Monday I will be forced to go back to reality. No more food deliveries and no more help. I guess it had to happen at some point. (Pictures will be coming of the flowers as well as the almost-dollar bill sized bruise on my arm from the IV.) **I have tried multiple times to fix this post so it will have discernable paragraphs, but blogger is not cooperating with me. My apologies for what appears to be one long, rambling paragraph! It's not intentional.