Ok, so here it is. The long awaited "detail" surgery post. I'll try not to be too scatter-brained and random. Although, keep in mind that I am on narcotics so my mind is a bit cloudy these days! The best way to do this is to give you a timeline of sorts. Here we go:
Monday morning, 6am- we report to the pediatric surgical waiting area. I meet my admitting nurse Lauren who is a month YOUNGER than me. Awesome. They start an IV, we meet with anesthesia and my surgeon, etc. Around 7am they take me back to the operating room. I don't remember going back there, but I remember being back there and being scared. They calm me down and I go to sleep.
Monday, approx. 2pm- I wake up from surgery in the recovery room. They give me some cherry icee to drink and I keep telling my dad he can have some. The only other thing I say (as I'm told) is "it hurts." A few hours later they transferred me to my own room where I push the pain pump continuously.
Monday night- pretty rough. I was in a great deal of pain, but luckily a family friend (really more like my 2nd mom) who is a nurse stayed with me and she was a great advocate. She could tell I was uncomfortable and was on top of the doctors and nurses to get me some meds!
Tuesday- spent the day in a blur. I remember making my mom watch "Glee" with me, but I don't remember what the show as about. I have pretty much no appetite at this point. My blood pressure is also super low and they are keeping a close eye on my blood counts to see if I need a transfusion (I lost alot of blood in surgery apparently).
Wednesday- This was sort of the turning point. They managed to get me out of the bed and sitting in a chair which was excruciating. The worst pain I have ever felt. Upside of that day is that I had some visitors, which was great! Still not really hungry- I ate about 4 bites of chicken for dinner and felt totally stuffed.
Thursday- Thursday's goal was to get up and walk. I felt like they had told me "okay, now you're going to climb Mount Everest." But I did it. I only made it a few steps out the door, but I made it. And then I kept getting better and better.
Friday- by now, I can get out of bed by myself! I'm sitting up more, talking to people more and feeling better. Still in a ton of pain, but it is pretty well controlled by this point. I make friends with my 8 year old neighbor, B. He is super cute and always dances around his doorway when he sees me coming down the hall. Precious. Friday afternoon I'm even feeling good enough to walk/wheel down to Ben and Jerry's (on the 2nd floor of the hospital, score!) for some ice cream. But you know I'm not my full self when I can't even finish 1 small scoop! My appetite was still really small at this point, but I was starting to eat smaller meals more frequently.
Saturday- a pretty good day with lots of visitors! It wears me out, but I am so glad to have so many awesome friends who came to visit me. They help pass the time and keep my mind off the pain. My doctor comes in and confirms that I can go home tomorrow.
Sunday- my dad comes over first thing in the morning bringing donuts. I eat a whole donut! The appetite is about 75% back which is good. Discharge goes really well and we are home by 10:30am.
Whew! What a whirlwind. I have left out a ton of stuff, but didn't want to overwhelm you. If you have specific questions, you can post them in a comment and I'll get back to you. I continue to be in pain, but making some progress every day. There are surges and setbacks, but that is to be expected. I will keep you updated!
