Hi everybody!
Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts and prayers. What a story I have- hope I don’t bore you. On Monday before the surgery, I saw the doc and he told me that he was going to try to keep from having to crack my chest open by cutting a notice out of the end of my collar bone. Seriously? That’s better? He also said that he had spoken to several doctors around the country and that there was an 80% chance he could do this without having to resect my esophagus. That was 10% lower than what he thought before. Yikes. Anyway, when the PA came in to do the history, I was about out of my mind- anxiety was really hitting hard. He gave me a Valium and that helped me calm down some.
Jim and i stayed at a microtel hotel Monday night. Jim had made the arrangements and I protested but he insisted so I just gave in cuz I was only staying there one night. Well, it was right across the street from a tittie club and I had to lay there and listen to their music until 4 a.m., only an hour before I needed to be up. I was slightly p***** off. It was hard enough to sleep anyway. Oh we’ll, I knew I had a big rest coming.
So, we get to the hospital and they take me back to pre-op. Jim was allowed to come with me. Susan, my mother in law, was late! She had stayed at her nephews house and got lost coming back in cuz she didn’t plug in her GPS. Anyway, they started an IV and everything was just kinda moseying along until three people from anesthesia came in. They started poking me everywhere! I had four different IVs/ports.
This is where it all gets iffy in my memory so some of this is what other people told me. I woke up from the surgery and told everybody, and I mean everybody, that I loved them. I would just point at people as they walked by and say “and I love you too”. Jim said one tech blushed bright red (can’t even begin to imagine why he would blush at a 48 year old with Frankenstein scars saying she loved him!) then they moved me to a regular room and I was doing okay so Susan went back to Scott’s and Jim went back to the hotel. At some point during the night, I started reacting to the anesthesia and acting crazy. I was trying to pull out the IVs, ports and the nasogastric tube they had out in so they tied me down. And I got loose and they tied me down again and I got loose. This happened about ten times. At one point, one of the nurses told me I needed to stop untying them and I told her if they would do it right, I would not be able to untie them. Another time, the aide told me to sit down so she could tie me again and I asked her if she was going to sit on me if I didn’t. She said she might have to and I told her to go ahead and then to let me know how that worked out for her. At another point, after Jim had gotten there, I got loose and told him I had solved the problem and to come on, we were going home. Well, he is no fun- he called the nurses and they tied me down again. At some point during the night, I did pull out the nasogastric tube and also a little chunk out of the end of my nose. Good thing I was so out of it cuz I know that hurt! LOL
Anyway, got to feeling better and doing better. Was looking forward to a milkshake around day two or three but I was allowed NOTHING by mouth for 7 days! Not even some ice chips. They had these glycerin things I could use to wet my mouth but nothing to eat or drink. Pure torture! When my brothers came to visit and brought the kids, they had fun sucking on them (they are lemon flavored). So, they let me start a clear liquid diet before I left the hospital and now I am on soft foods for 6 weeks. Sounds good, right? All the ice cream, etc that I want. But I am already tired of it and want a thick juicy cheeseburger and some sweet potato fries. A longer recovery than I thought but the surgeon said that it was a very tricky surgery.
So, I didn’t sleep very well when I was in the hospital because, we’ll, I was in the hospital. I also could not take my meds so they were giving me Ativan in my IV to help me sleep, which knocked me out for a couple of hours but didn’t let me sleep all night. I figured out I could get another shot midway through the night and then I slept better. The pain meds they had me on didn’t make me sleepy so no help there and the pain management people kept fussing at me cuz I wasn’t using enough pain medicine! Seriously? I used what I needed.
I was incredibly pleased with the care I got there. Everyone was so nice and so helpful and so pleasant. I might have to make some cookies to take them when I go back for my follow up in six weeks.
My mom is here and she will be here until next Friday and my sister comes in next Wednesday. My mom is already fussing at me about doing too much and I did overdo it yesterday and am paying for it now.
Thank you all again for your kind words and encouragement and prayers. I am getting tired again so need to feed Tulip before I fall back asleep. She and Sassy have been glued to me since I got home. Very nice but gets a little frustrating when I am hurting. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though!
Have a great day. I am going to continue to catch up on all the posts.