And Just Like That... They're Gone!

After I created this blog I didn't check back for quite a few days.  I caught a virus of some sort from my kids.  I didn't know if I was going to be able to go in for my surgery on April 1st.  Am I the only crazy person that would even schedule a surgery on April Fools Day?  I voluntarily did that!  Anyway, on the Friday before my surgery the ENT called in a steroid and antibiotic prescription to take care of the virus.  I also had last minute pre op errands and jitters to deal with, but more importantly I wanted to enjoy a nice Easter weekend.  Easter evening, my mom came home with us and that's when it all started to hit me.  I drove her around in the evening so she would know how to get to the kids' schools, made up a medicine chart, a daily schedule for the household and we reviewed meals.  I wanted things to be stress free for her because she was doing us such a huge favor by coming to help out for 2 weeks!  We have to let her go home on the weekend though... I think she deserves a break!

Something woke me up at 2:30 in the morning (ummm nerves maybe) and I did not go back to sleep before needing to get ready at 5:30.  We had to be at the hospital at 6:15 for a 7:30 surgery.  I won't bore you with the details of all that.  If you want to know more specifics about check in, surgery and all that I would be happy to tell you, but it was uneventful.  The faster they give you a 'cocktail' to calm your nerves, the better.  I was scared.  Not about the surgery itself, but the recovery.  And I was worried I was going to throw up from the anaesthesia.  However, I told them about my fear, and they said they would be giving me anti-nausea via iv!  And then just like that... they were gone.  I woke up to them saying my name.  I could muster up a few froggy sounding words, but I think I was repeating myself.  They gave me a Popsicle which was a little difficult to eat but I didn't care because it tasted so good.  Then they gave me a can of Ginger Ale and sent me home before I even had a chance to finish it.  Move 'em in, move 'em out!

I do remember the nurse asking my pain level on a scale of 1-10 after having the pain medicine and I told her a 2.  She said I was doing great, so I thought I had this thing in the bag!  I got home and started having ice chips right away.  I was ready for eating and drinking.  I know I was keeping myself hydrated because I went to the bathroom quite a bit.  I think on that first day I managed to eat a muffin, a (dairy free) yogurt, popsicle cut into smaller pieces, and jello. 

Through the night, I was lonely and wishing I had someone there with me.  My mom had to get up early the next day to run the house, and my husband had to get up for work.  I can't possibly expect either one of them to keep an eye on me.  I stayed downstairs on the couch (recliner).  I didn't have much interest in watching tv, but had it on for background noise.  The evening was a cycle of pain medicine, eat, sleep.  Doesn't sound too bad, right?  I was doing a 1/2 dose of pain medicine every 3 hours because a full dose every 6 was leaving me in pain around the 4 hour mark.  Taking it every 3 I only had to be in pain for the last hour.  I did not need to set an alarm to wake up for my meds, because the discomfort was enough to wake me up.  I decided that the next day would require a phone call to the doctor to get a stronger pain medicine.  I was getting tired of eating jello and applesauce (as others have said) does not feel good.  It took me a while to eat, but I would try to eat at least some, because I didn't not want to get sick from taking pain medicine on an empty stomach.  I sure was glad when the night was over!  A 3 hour schedule of medicine is no fun at all. 

Some important things that I noted on that first day coming home from surgery. 

• I was so full of mucous!  It made swallowing very difficult, and there were times I didn't think I would even be able to swallow my own saliva.  Somehow during the night I figured out a way to blow my nose to get some of it out.  Scary because in the back of my mind I was worried about the surgery sight bleeding, but I did it anyway.  I was desperate to be Phlegm free!
• I was talking when I came home from the hospital, but as the day wore on and the mucous was building up, I stopped trying to talk.  I was communicating by writing on paper the old fashion way.
• I took one full dose of lortab and realized that it was wearing off around the 4 hour mark and the instructions say to take every 6 hours.  (That's not gonna cut it for me).  I immediately switched to 1/2 dose every 3 hours because I had read that some people had success doing that. 
• My mom crushed up a bunch of ice and put it in a container for me so it was accessible to me throughout the night.  HUGE help!
• I did not sleep AT ALL during the day.  I don't know if it was everything that was given to me in the IV, but not being able to nap at all made for a long day.
• I slept in a recliner.
• A lot of people say that the first 2 days are a piece of cake.  That was not the case here.  I think the mucous played a big role in that.  It may have been because of the virus that I had prior to the surgery, but I have also read of others having the mucous problem as well.   
• Lastly, I cannot open my mouth very wide at all.  Not that I want to look, but if I had any interest in seeing what my throat looked like it would be very hard.  Thank goodness I bought a kids toothbrush to use.  But I will talk about brushing teeth in my next post. 

My husband keeps asking if I'm glad they are gone.  I'm sure one day I will be glad... right now it's just hard to imagine a time when I am no longer recovering.