Recuperating :)

The tl;dr:  I did indeed have gallstones -- but they won't be bothering me anymore (lol) and while I am very tired, I am doing well, post-surgery.  :)    

Longer version: My surgery was at a new (opened last year), state-of-the-art hospital near here (about a 20 minute drive away) -- first time we'd been there. Very impressive, and the staff were all uniformly awesome. It was spacious and airy and not at all crowded, which was a relief from a covid perspective.  

I had to register and then head to the pre-op unit by 7:45 a.m., with surgery scheduled for 9:45-10.  Dh was able to come in and sit with me until they took me down to the operating room, and then waited in the waiting area outside. There was a big screen on the wall with patient numbers that he could check to see my status and where I was (in surgery, in recovery, discharged, etc.)!  

The nurse weighed me and took my blood pressure, etc., went over my medical history & medications again and I updated her on the prescriptions (pills and drops) I've been taking post-eye surgery. Was given some antibiotics to take as a precaution, and a gown and hairnet to put on. I had a visit from the very affable anesthetist and from the young surgeon I'd spoken with on the phone earlier this spring. This was the first time we'd actually met, which was a little weird (although I guess I wouldn't have met him if I'd needed an emergency removal either, right?), but I'd checked him out online and he was well rated. I heard him chatting with several other patients after me... sounded like he was doing several gallbladder removals that day, one after another after another.  

The one jarring note of the day:  He asked me if I'd be willing to allow a photographer in the operating room during my procedure for some hospital PR shots... I would NOT be seen in the shots, and I was under no obligation to say yes. I hesitated -- it's one thing to have all the medical staff seeing me sprawled out, half-naked and unconscious in a vulnerable position, but a guy with a camera? I said I didn't think I was comfortable with that and he said "no problem." That was the end of it -- or so I thought. 

9:45 a.m., the nurse came to get me to take me down to the OR. I put my phone and glasses in my purse and they took my purse and clothes (bagged and tagged) for safekeeping, and started wheeling me down the gleaming white hallway on the bed. Dh followed us as far as the door to the outside waiting room where he'd be during the operation, squeezed my hand and said he'd see me soon. 

Sooner than either of us anticipated. Got down to the stretcher bay just outside the OR, and the surgeon told them they had the WRONG PATIENT (!) -- that they were going to do the patient scheduled for 12 noon first, because SHE had said okay re: the photographer. I guess he was only there for a certain amount of time, and needed to get his shots done. 

The nurses all looked blankly at each other, checked with their supervisors, and eventually, someone wheeled my bed back down to the pre-op area.  Now *I* was scheduled for around noon -- another hour & a half to two hours to wait. I was more annoyed than mad.  They did apologize. I asked them to please bring me my purse so I could retrieve my glasses & phone while I waited, and could my husband be allowed back in to sit with me (again)? -- because he'd be worried about me if he didn't hear from me as expected. They were only too happy to comply, lol (and dh was surprisingly calm about the change in plans and the delay). Needless to say, if I'd KNOWN that saying no to photos was going to set me back another two hours, I might have answered differently. (But maybe not.)  

Anyway, around 11:45, they came back for me (again -- take 2!!). Back down that gleaming white hallway (lots of white, glass and natural light, which was nice), and then into the OR. I saw a big screen over the door and even though I didn't have my glasses on, I could make out my name on it. Rolled off the bed onto the operating table, they took my vitals and the nurses started trying to find a vein in my hand where they could hook up the IV to deliver the anesthesia. Of course I am blessed/cursed with narrow veins (eyeroll). The left hand proved to be inadequate and so my right hand wound up getting stabbed as well. Ow. (That one was more successful.) 

As they began to administer the drugs, the anesthetist suggested I envision myself on a beach somewhere... or maybe snuggling with that cute little great-nephew I'd been telling him about. ;)  I chuckled and said that LGN isn't the cuddly type (too busy!!). But I did get a vision of snuggling up on the couch with Older Nephew's miniature dachshund (lol), and that was what I was thinking about when I drifted off. :)  

I woke up coughing. (I'd been warned by the anesthetist that I would be intubated and that my throat might be sore. It wasn't, but it did feel slightly irritated/ticklish, and continued to feel that way for a few days afterward, although it's mostly better now.)  I could make out by the large clock on the wall that it was 1:45 p.m. The (male) nurse in charge of me told me everything had gone well and offered me some ice chips, and then some apple juice, and I peeked under my gown to check out the gauze bandages over the FIVE incisions on my abdomen. (I was expecting three or four, so that was a surprise!)  My abdomen was also alarmingly awash with red, but the nurse quickly explained to me that it was NOT blood, it was antiseptic. (It washed off in a flash in the shower a few days later.)  He called dh to let him know I was OK too, and told him that so long as I was feeling all right, he could meet me downstairs with the car at the main entrance at 3:10 p.m. -- some 90 minutes after I first woke up! 

Sure enough, just before 3, he brought me my things, including a prescription and instructions from the surgeon on my recovery. I got dressed as best as I could, and then he returned to helped me put on my yoga pants and sandals, get off the bed, stand up and then get into a wheelchair. A volunteer appeared to wheel me down to where dh was waiting with the car.  We stopped at the pharmacy near our house to fill my prescription for heavy-duty painkillers before heading home. I'd told the anesthetist that I did NOT do well with codeine, so they gave me something else (I wanted to ensure I'd have something on hand, if I needed it) -- but it was not necessary. I did take Tylenol alternating with Advil for the first three days, according to a schedule in the instructions they gave me when I was discharged, but that was good enough, and I'm not taking anything now. 

I dozed for the rest of the afternoon, got up around 6:30 for some soup & toast (the first food I'd had all day) and turned into bed early, feeling very tired and groggy. I didn't sleep well that night -- or really any night since then,  to be honest. The dr didn't give me any specific instructions about sleeping positions, but I assumed tummy and side (especially the right side) would not be a good idea, for the first few days at least. I am NOT a back sleeper, even with a second pillow!  (I will probably attempt sleeping on the left side within the next day or so.)  I was very sore in the abdomen (felt like I'd been doing crunches!) and especially through the shoulders (& especially the right one) for the first day or two, from the air they use to inflate you. .. my hairdresser told me to use a heating pad which helped (as does movement -- another friend suggested a rocking chair can be effective, but alas, we don't have one!). It was more discomfort than outright pain, though. 

But I woke up Wednesday morning feeling much better -- and the day got better still when I was able to remove the gauze bandages from my incisions and take a shower, 48 hours after my surgery (woohoo!).  The incisions still have tape on top of them -- I was told it would likely come off in the shower (so far, it hasn't, although it's lifting around the edges in spots) and, if not, I can remove it after 7 days. No baths or swimming pools for 2 weeks, no heavy lifting, etc., for 4 weeks. 

I was very tired and somewhat cranky yesterday (Thursday) -- a combination of lack of sleep and (sorry, TMI) constipation -- which was resolved by afternoon, thanks to a leftover OTC laxative that was left over from our colonoscopy prep, lol.  I am still very tired today, albeit I had a slightly better sleep last night. That's probably my biggest complaint -- fatigue.  I am still a bit achy in spots (particularly if/when I move in certain ways), but overall, I think I'm doing pretty well. Beyond those initial few days, I haven't needed to take any more Tylenol &/or Advil (acetaminophen and ibuprofen). I should probably be out walking more (reduces the chances of blood clots and pneumonia, as well as constipation, lol), but it's been frickin' hot and very humid outside (current humidity indoors, with the air conditioner running non-stop, is 63%!) -- although I'm getting some exercise just getting up & down and going back & forth to & from the kitchen and bathroom, putting in eyedrops and taking pills, lol.  I've had to set up a schedule on my phone calendar with reminders to keep it all straight and make sure I fit everything in...! We also did some housecleaning today.  I didn't put as much effort into it as I usually do, but I did some dusting and cleaned the bathroom sinks,  while dh did the kitchen and vacuumed the floors. 

I have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon in mid-September, but yesterday morning, I got the report that he sent to my family doctor, as well as the pathology report, through the hospital app. All written in medical lingo, of course. From what I can decipher, I definitely had gallstones (largest was 1.6 cm) but the tissue was normal, which is a relief.  (I appreciate that they are giving patients access to this information now -- and it's certainly our right to have it -- but I think it needs to come with a translation into lay person terms...!)  

On a somewhat related note, my eye is doing better too. No irritation, and my vision is somewhat clearer too, albeit not perfect. I will still probably need new glasses, but I was expecting that (it's been 8 years since I got my current prescription). As mentioned above, I am still taking pills and eye drops (both prescription and over-the-counter) for that too. I'll be back downtown later next week to check in with the opthamologist again. 

Thanks again for your advice/tips and good wishes! Sorry I haven't updated before now, but last night was the first time I'd been on my laptop since Sunday (and instead of actually having it on my lap, dh is insisting that I sit at the desk in our library/office, lol -- which you can see behind me in the photo below!).  I have been on my phone constantly, but typing anything substantial on there just takes way too long...! 

Me (selfie) on Wednesday afternoon, after removing the gauze bandages
and taking my first shower, post-op. There's still tape over the incisions. 
Can you spot all five of them??