I'm Back! (long update)

Surgery was Thursday and I got home last night. There was a scare of a blood clot and also trying to figure out what the deal is with my heart rate being so high. Then, I was getting in enough fluids. So it took some time getting home. I also found out that I was dumping on apple juice at the hospital. That sucked and set me back a bit. I have to say the pain is horrible. Seriously horrible. I am trying to figure out ways to be comfortable and I am slowly figuring that out. I do wish I had a recliner, but no such luck right now. Tried to sleep in the bed last night. It hurt. Not my belly, but my back. If the pain gets worse or doesn't get better, I may call the Dr's office on Friday. Luckily the incision that is hurting me is healing well and looks good. I have never screamed so much than I did the last week. It's crazy, I know, but really the pain has been really bad at times. When I sit, I am fine though. I know this surgery wasn't so bad for some people and I hope you know how fortunate you are. For me, it's hard. It's the hardest thing I have had to go through. Heck, it's the hardest thing for anyone to go through. My pouch is really sensitive, but I figured out that Unjury Vanilla Protein Powder in skim milk is really working well for me and it tastes amazing! I also drink water and drink Propel. I tried some thicker broth (broth from Chunky soup). Did well at first but today I got really icky on it. So I am going to postpone that for awhile. May try pudding tomorrow with protein powder. I am rambling due to the pain meds. Ok, last thing..... The staff at TGH was ok. I shared a room 3 nights and had a private the rest of the stay. My room was consistently hot and my roommate and I *****ed a lot and we had my boyfriend set the fan so it blew on both of us. The night nurse I had was nice, but only good for checking vital signs and such. I had decent daytime nurses, but they get busy, so I have to plan what I need in advanced. They took over an hour to get me meds for nausea and by the time someone got there, I wasn't sick anymore. The RN was great and informative. I liked her. She didn't sugar coat anything and I respected that. There were lots of doctors I met and they loved to wake me up at 6am. Oh, the cleaning crew..... I yelled at them because I was trying to sleep and they were cleaning my room for the next person to come in. They had no regard to me whatsoever. I mean I seriously yelled at them because the two girls were arguing right near my bed! I told the nurses. Anyway, I will post more when I can. I hate going up and down the stairs, and I will be downstairs most of the time. I hope all is well!

Marcie, Welcome to the other side! Sounds like you had quite the exciting hospital stay, I bet you are so glad to be home. I promise you that the pain gets better each day and your body definitely tells you when it's time to rest. You'll also soon find out what foods are good for this phase and what you need to tweak or avoid all together. You will be just fine, keep a positive attitude and stay focused. As far as sleeping, I am a huge fan of a body pillow, that helped me out so much while I was sleeping because I used it to cushion my tummy as I was laying down and getting up, and also propped myself up on it somewhat so I could sleep on my side. That pain should subside very soon. Hang in there and let us know how you are doing. Amy

My Recliner was my best friend. Maybe pillows on the end the couch propping you up would be better.

The pillows aren't bad, but because they are so squishy, they don't give my back support. I was able to be in bed, but there was pain in my back, rather than the abdomen.

Can't give you much advice on the back pain. My back pain stemmed from the hospital bed and passed within a couple days. I hope you are feeling more comfortable soon.

The hospital stay really makes or breaks the surgery experience right from the start, doesn't it? I was just as impressed with my stay as I thought I'd be and I'm so glad I wasn't disillusioned. I felt like all my nurses were caring and encouraging and on my side. They really anticipated my needs and I never asked for a thing. Maybe knowing that it's all a matter of waiting helped. Anyway, I'm glad you're home and don't forget to walk, walk, walk through the pain! Congratulations, you're on the losing side! Jan

I'm glad that you are home and it will only get better from here on out. I'm very surprised at your time at TGH. I have had a total of 29 surgeries and I have never been treated better than I was at TGH. I had some complications and for my full stay I was on the 4th floor Surgical Step-Down unit. The staff and nurses could not have been better. Atleast now you can put that all behind you. Concentrate on the bright future that you will have. As bad as it might be today just keep in mind every day it will keep getting better.

By far they weren't horrible. I just had to ask for everything and they rarely anticipated my needs. They did get to me when I needed something. The tech in the Nuclear Medicine department was by far awesome and I will always be thankful for her. She figured out a way to do half of the test on me by rolling my bed up to the machine since I was able to sit on the edge of my bed with no problem. It was awesome. It was also nice having a friend working on the 5th floor and she would visit me when she could (she is a nurse in the Cardiac ICU). If I needed something, she would just walk to the nurse's station and get it (except pain meds obviously). The doctors were great and visited me a couple of times a day as well as the RN. She was awesome.

Marcie, I'm so glad that you're home! I can relate to the back pain!!! I had to spend a week in a hotel room after I was released from the hospital, so I didn't have a recliner or a descent bed. It will get better! I just wanted to shout from joy the first time I was able to sleep on my side again!!!!! Please take care of yourself... Hugs, Erika L

Dear Marcie, I am sooo sorry you are experiencing so much pain. I too suffered a lot with my surgery and was AMAZED to hear that some people were feeling great within a few days and even made it to work around10 days post op!! I was completely useless and full of back pain. I was so mad at the people who told me there was not much pain and the recovery was fairly easy and fast!!! My Dear God, for 8 weeks, my poor mom and dad did nothing but to take care of me night & day and still nothing felt good, or comfortable. But one thing I promisse you! It passes and if I had to, I'd do it all over again. Hang in there, and DO NOT BE AFFRAID TO CALL YOUR SURGEON, YOU ARE NOT BEING A PAIN IN THE BUTT, YOU HAVE PAIN AND ANXIETY AND HIS JOB IS TO CURE IT!!! That's why they are paid the big bucks! Some people are just more supcetible to feel more pain than others and may even be slow healers. So if you need more pain killers, your Dr. should give them to do!!! Feel better, hon, you will feel great soon and all this pain and agony will seem like a very distant dream. All the best to you; you big loser, you!!! Flavia