The aftermath

The first thing I remember after surgery was being wheeled down the hall to my room. I looked up and saw my mom with my pastor, Tish. I thought "hmm, that's odd." I was in extreme pain. They pump air into your abdomen so they can see better in there, and the trapped air caused me hardcore chest pain. Luckily, I had a morphine pump and some sort of pain ball that I wore around my neck. It was connected to what looked like a thin copper wire that went into my chest and numbed the surgical site. I tried to be a gracious host to Pastor Tish, but I was way looped. She didn't stay long, but she did pray for me, which I found very comforting. I had to wear these compression things around my legs that squeezed my calves to prevent blood clots. Blood clots are a big risk with the surgery, but not nearly as much now that it is laproscopic. I was pretty out of it for the next few hours and I only remember snippets. My sister told me that the pain was intense, and even in my sleep I was white-knuckling the side rail of the bed. My mom made sure to have me press my pain pump often. So often, that I had trouble holding onto it. Then a crazy nurse came in a made me walk. First, she had to empty the drain I had coming out of my side. My other sister, a nurse, was horrified that this nurse never washed her hands. The nurse was a sadist for sure. She would not allow anyone to help me out of bed and forced me to walk. It was a miracle I made it as drugged up as I was. It was excruciating, and awful. I did it as fast as I possibly could. I had to get it over with. Luckily, I never saw this nurse again. My guess is she is a part-time nurse, full time dungeon master. That evening I was a little more lucid, and hating my husband. He had come home to mow the lawn. Yes, that is right mow the lawn. He came back to my room pretty late and didn't stay too long. The worse part of all of this was I was not allowed anything to drink until after I had some tests the next day. Not even ice chips. I could rinse my mouth and that is it. I would have sold my soul for one ice cube. The next day my sister Cathie, the nurse, came to stay with me. I had to go to radiology and have some x-rays to check for any leaks. They came to take me down in the biggest wheelchair I had ever seen. It was like a love seat. It was then I realized the entire floor was like Jack and the Beanstalk giant big. The chairs, beds, even the doors. So, back to my x-ray. I had to drink this disgusting yellow dye while they x-rayed my chest. Then, I rode the love seat back to room to await the results. A half hour later, they said no leaks, but I had to do a back up test. I had to eat blue ice chips. At this point I was happy to get the ice. That is until I tasted it. It was vile. After that I had to wait another half hour. Then, they checked my drain for blue. There wasn't any, which meant I could have water, and they even got crazy and gave me a sugar free Popsicle. I was the best Popsicle ever. After all of the test I just had to walk to avoid clots and hang out. I got to take a shower later that day and that was awesome. Since they make all the people walk the floor you always had people walking by your room and looking in it. That really was obnoxious. I had to have my sister close my giant door. All in all I was in the hospital for two nights. I hate hospitals so I was happy to go home. That is until I realized there was no empathy for me here.