I don't remember much of the first day waking up after surgery. I remember waking up in a lot of pain and them telling me if I stopped moving around the pain wouldn't be so bad. Then I remember waking up in my hospital room and my friend telling me she was heading home. I knew Dan and Kimmy (my best friend) were there with me. I know our friend Robert came to pick Dan up to take him home. Apparently I had had a full on conversation with him but I don't remember all of it.
One of the things they want you to do after surgery is to get up and walk. They want you to walk so that you don't get any blood clots in your legs. I was not in any condition to walk around. I tried a couple of times but I would get dizzy and very sick to my stomach. They told me to stay in bed but if I could at least try to make it to the nurses station once that is all the needed me to do that first day. I was eventually able to get up once and walked to the end of the nurses station, turned around and went right back to bed. That is all I remember of that first day.
Most patients get to go home the next day. Well, as it would turn out, I was not that lucky patient. Between my issues with dizziness, pain and nausea, my potassium went very low and I was not able to go home. I was in the hospital 3 days and 2 nights. I was finally able to get up and walk around a little bit more. I was able to do the laps they wanted me to do around the floor I was on. I was very slow and had to stop several times but I pushed to do it. They were training me on how to eat and how slow everything needed to be. It was hard mentally and physically.
Dan had to stay up in the high desert. My best friend Kimmy stayed by my side through the hospital stay. I was so happy when they told me I could go home. I had to drink some more nasty potassium but if it meant going to home then I was ready to go.
My friend Christel picked me up from the hospital and took me home. It was the longest trip up the hill. I had never felt pain as bad as I was feeling that day. They made 6 small incisions for the surgery. The left side was where most of the heavy work was done and man could I feel it. I knew it was going to hurt. I had my gallbladder removed and that hurt but nothing like this. I was able to get home and went to our spare bedroom where I would be sleeping for the next two months.
When I got home, Dan had picked up a dozen red roses while out with his mom and had bought me two get well cards. They were so sweet of him. They made the room even more lively. Kimmy was staying for the next few days to make sure we had the help we needed. Christel had brought over a mattress so Kimmy would have somewhere to sleep. Between her and Dan I was given a lot of good care.
Moving around and walking was not easy. Every step was painful. Also, being dedicated to my job it was killing me that I was not able to be there to do what needed to be done. We had a board meeting coming up and while I prepared everything single thing I could for my sub it was hard not being there. Also, the physical pain was making me even more emotional than I already am on a normal daily basis. The pain medication helped but I slept a lot! However, I had the support of everyone who got me through those first rough few days....
Then there was the next step....training myself on how to eat all over again.
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