being alone at the hospital

Hi all,
I hope everyone is doing well today.
I posted on the 12th about going in for exploratory surgery on the 19th and I appreciate all the support I got  here.I was feeling a little less afraid but now I just found out my Husband will be going on shifts at work next week. He works for the the transportation department of PA. 

He Will be able to be off the day of my surgery but after that he will be working 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm so he will not be able to be with me the days after my surgery due to the hospital being about an hour away and we are supposed to get snow here in PA which means he'll be working over until midnight.

Has anybody else ever been in the hospital and been alone? How did you deal with it? I really feel like canceling until he goes back to normal daylight hours but that won't be until April and I know I can't put it off that long.

Thanks for letting me whine and complain to you all.
Take care,

Renee, so sorry to hear about this perdictament. However I would not suggest waiting till April unless this is purely ellective... maybe you can call the hospital and see if arrangements can be made to allow him in if he is able to get there.. I am sure they'd make an exception if they understood and of coures your DR supports you in this attempt..
Also remember there is always the phone.. I know its not the same ...
Well good luck and hooe all turns out ok..


Donna

Thank you Donna,
   He may be working 12 hour shifts I don't think they'd let him come after midnight and for him to come in the morning he'd no sooner get there and have to leave.I'll survive. I'm just to used to him always being there when i'm sick.

Renee, I'm sorry to hear that your husband can't be with you. I know its scary, but it sounds like this is something that can't be put off. Hopefully you will get some really great nurses while you're in there!!!! And remember that its their job to keep you comfortable so don't hesitate to call on them when needed!!!!

It's great he can be there for your surgery! 

I have been alone (even without husband on ANY days) because I have to travel back to Louisiana where my surgeon is and we have three children.  I have had 11 surgeries in 4 years and I had someone with me for only two of them. 

You'll do FINE!   You'll be in good care.  There is this great little button you can push and a nice person who is trained in the medical field actually comes to answer your questions and/or give you happy juice!  They call them nurses!  (I'm trying to be funny but where else do we get to push a button and a nice person shows up to make us comfortable and happy!  Enjoy it!

That said, what has comforted me while being alone is to buy a little pocket notebook and write things down.  I would write down my orders including medication, dosage, and frequency available as well as allowed diet and what I have consumed and put out as a result.  This is for noone but myself but I find when on happy drugs, I can't remember everything but then I have a journal to reference.  The nurses actually like that I have notes too.  The doctors seems scared of them but who cares!  LOL

And, this worked well for me too..............I was getting very upset one day because I was all alone -- I'm blaming it on the drugs because I had done fine all previous 9 surgeries.  I was sobbing.  The nurse came in (not the nicest nurse) and said as if I didn't have a full deck or something, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!"   I said, "I'm all alone!"   She calmly said, "You are not alone ...look......"  She turned on the television.   WOW!  It was a god send.  It made a huge difference.

I hope this helps you!

You'll do great.


PS  I don't think you have an option to push this surgery off.  A lot can happen between now and April and from my experience it is better to do these things with a schedule than to be an emergency situation.

I had my DS and my plastics with very little help in the hospital. You'll manage...hospital staffs are there to make sure you won't die, I would pack some protein stuff (protein bars and shakes) because you can never get enough protein foods at the hospital.

Scott

Thank you to everyone for your advice and support.

Hi Renee~

I was in the hospital after my RNY alone.  DH was there for the procedure, but in the days after, I was by myself.  The hospital was 45 minutes away and we have 2 children who were 8 and 4 at the time.

I was glad that he was there when I woke up.  Honestly, though, I was glad that he wasn't there during the recup time.  I was tired and sleepy most of the time and I would have felt that I had to stay awake and keep him company if he were there.

What did help was that DH called......all the time.  It was wonderful to hear his voice.  Since he isn't a phone person, these conversations would last just a couple of minutes but I never felt alone.

I am a baby too.  When I don't feel good, he is the person I want next to me.  I thought it would be a big deal to not have him there, but it turned out okay.

You will do great.  When you are in the hospital, you can focus on getting your strength back and healing.  You will be back home to your hunny bunny in no time.

Good luck and God speed in your surgery and recovery.  YOU ROCK!

Anjanette

A

god bless Hun ...i was along for all of my surgery's .the last i was in Dallas for 5 mos .my family came when they could ,but the 1st few mos i didn't know if they were there are not .but it was a long lonely time ..god bless ..you can do it Hun ..Brenda in TX

You will be fine.  I was in a different country - hubbie and young daughter were there to say goodbye to me before I went to OR, then I didn't see them til I got home, after being by mysel fin teh hospital, hotel and journey home.  They both left me notes for me to find when I got back to my bed, they phoned when they could.  I couldn't talk to the other patients as they didn't speak English, although the staff could, but not well so conversation wasn't going on, just the basics.  Texts from cell phones are great too.

I'm not telling you think as a sob story, just so you know you can get through it.  Yes, I was lonely, just I wish they had been there, but at teh end of the day, I wanted the surgery, and in the bigger scheme of things, it was only for a short time, and I appreciated being back with them.

TV is a great time killer and a way to veg out and shut out unwelcome thoughts if you are missing them.  Plus, it will give you the opportunity to meet new people and share theirs and your stories with each other...you never know what connections you will make that you might have missed had you not been alone!