I made it!  It has been a rough ride the past four days.  On Monday my sister and I got to the hospital at 10:45 a.m. and the process started right away.  I had a lovely nurse named Mary, who was great.  Unfortunately, I had a severe reaction to the liquid tylenol (strawberry) and was coughing and barfing like mad.  Half of the pre-op nurses came running to make sure I was okay.  I seemed to be swallowing pills constantly - oxycontin, ranitidine and something else I can't remember.

Then the OR nurse came out and I walked into surgery!  My sister was appalled (I was a little dopey by then), but it was fine.  I must have looked charming in my ginormous attire, hat and stumbling around

And then I was being given something to "make me a little woozy" by Dr. Tang - no kidding.  Then I kind of came to in post-op surrounded by doctors and nurses.  Back out again, and then I was being wheeled into a room.  I had enough presence of mind to say,, "Hey, I'm supposed to have a private room!".  Unfortunately, there were none available.

It was one heck of a noisey night.  I was in the Cardiac Step Down Ward and I had three roommates - two elderly men who had bed alarms and were constantly setting them off.  Then there were the constant interruptions for blood pressure, temperature, etc. 

I woke up Tuesday after a groggy, yet oddly sleepless, night.  The nurse came in with two student nurses and asked if one of them could take out my catheter and the other observe.  By this time she could have asked me to give up a kidney, I would have. 

But my student nurse, Ashley was wonderful.  She spent a great part of the day with me, cheering me on.  At 7:30 a.m. I asked if I could get up and the nurses almost cheered.  So for a couple of hours, I sat on the edge of the bed.  Then I got up and walked around. 

I must say I`ve never had so many strangers asking me if I`d farted in my life (forgive my language).  And then they were shocked when I said I had been.  Well, don`t ask if you don`t really want to know!

I must say that on Tuesday and Wednesday I had some serious `buyer`s remorse`.  It was very intense and I was exhausted.  They kept saying they were going to move me, but never did, so I was stuck in the ward with people shouting, alarms going off, families there at all hours.  It was very tiring.   I`m feeling slightly better about it now, but I shed a few tears in hospital.

Not to help was the fact that the only pain meds they gave me was the liquid tylenol, which made me throw up each time.  Finally on Tuesday night, after vomitting again, I said, nope, not taking it anymore.  And the only thing they had as an alternate was a high dose of demerol, which the nurses and I decided would not work for me.  So from Tuesday night on, I had no pain meds.

Dr. Nguyen wouldn`t let me out in the original timeline.  I was supposed to be out on Wednesday, but Tuesday he said I had some abnormal blood work, so I didn`t get out until today.  As a matter of fact, I didn`t see Dr. N yesterday or today - he sent his resident instead.  

AND they kept giving me the wrong kind of food - one meal they sent a sandwich!!  The nurses were furious and they kept phoning the dietician.  Shantilly said that she was happy I was so aware of what I could and could not have, or else we would have been in trouble!  No kidding!

After another sleepless night last night, I thought I was going to croak.  But the Resident came in and asked me if I wanted to go home (DUH!!) and off I went.  Shantilly came and changed all of my dressings (fantastic looking, she said) and then I got dressed and got the heck out of dodge. 

So it`s been a rough few days.  But I`m home now and I must say I feel better being in my own space. 

And I learned something really deep during my four days in a hospital gown.  The only thing that REALLY separates us from the animals is our ability to wear underpants!

Have a good one everyone, and thanks for all of the good wishes.  Sorry this was so long!

Cynthia

I'm sending you positive energy, jaynak.  Hopefully we haven't heard from you because you're doing well and occupied with something else.

 Well that's unfortunate that your quarters were stolen.  Makes me worried about bringing my cell phone.  However, I can't imagine NOT having my cell phone either.  I will have to do some thinking about this!  

Hi:
You do not need much.  You will always be given an extra gown to wear backwards instead of a dressing gown/robe.  Bring personal items like toothbrush/paste or mouth wash, & hair brush or comb. You do not need soap or shampoo because there is soap available, and you won't be allowed to shower until after you get out of hospital.  If you bring anything of value, you may lose it during your stay.  The only thing of "Value?" that I brought was 4 quarters, in case I wanted to make a phone call.  Well, those were stolen from my bag during my stay.  I was there for 15 days, in either ICU or Isolation (which was always a private room) so it must have been taken during the night while I was asleep, I don't know, only guessing, but who knows how many times my bag was checked for anything of  value, which I really did not have with me.  I found that my magazines and book did not get read because I was too tired or busy trying to build up my strength by walking around my room. 
Barb

 So for those that had surgery in Richmond, what did you bring with you?

Are we allowed to have our cell phones?  Is there a place to plug the charger in?

Ive seen some "what to bring" lists that are really big...and others that are really small...

Richmond is a few hours away from home, so Id like to have whatever I will need available..