This surgery was no different. I woke up and said "where are my sisters?" And they told me I had to be more awake before I could be moved out of recovery. As I started to wake up more I was in more pain... So I asked for more pain meds. And every time they would come check on me I would say " Where is my family? I want to see my sisters." Eventually they took me to my room. The notes that my sister Sara wrote said it took them about an hour. My surgery itself took from 11:08am until about 4pm. and I got to my room around 5pm.
The Dr. Buchanan from Spokane Plastic Surgeons came out sometime around 4pm and gave Sarah & Sara the update on me. Surgery went well. Lots of liposuction on my hips and butt (what girl doesn't want to hear that?!?!?). No hernias. I will feel very tight in my abs when I wake up. Probably will walk hunched over and the bed well need to be more upright than flat. I have to wear the abdominal binder for at least 6 week. Dr. B. told Sara and Sarah that I had a 5cm gap at the top of my ab muscles. And that tapered down to a 3.5 to 4cm gap at the bottom of my abs that he spent lots of time stitching back together. That is what will be the most painful for the longest time. The stitches dissolve inside over 6 months time to allow that connective tissue and muscle time to scar and heal back together. I also have 2 drain tubes coming off my hips that will collect the fluid from my abdomen as I heal. Dr. B. usually likes these to come out at the 2 week check. He also would like me up walking around as soon as I am able to avoid blood clots. He plans to come check on me the next day.
Once I get to the room they finally allow Sara to come back in. (Sarah ended up leaving for a few hours to teach a yoga class). I remember asking her for a hug and holding on for a long time. I did not want to let her go. She made me feel safe and grounded and like I was back on the earth again. I asked for Tim and Sarah and was disappointed they weren't there yet.
Drugs were obviously working at this point!
This is when things get super hazy for me.... The IV drugs they were giving me have a very short half life, meaning you really have to stay on top of asking for more because if you don't, the pain can overtake you. At 5:50pm they administered a flu shot that I don't remember consenting to. In fact Sara noted that when the nurse asked me which arm I wanted it in I replied "I have arms?" so I am not sure how she thought I could give consent to a flu shot, but whatever. Sadly, Tim arrived just 4 minutes later. Had he been in the room he would have delayed them in giving it to me until I was more awake.... or just declined it altogether.
But I was super happy to see him!!!
Then I felt the urge to pee. Back during my prep before surgery I had asked Dr. B, to have the urine catheter placed after I was knocked out and removed before I woke up. I had previously had 2 bad experiences with urine catheters (during my birth with Kaleb and Jasmyn) and just didn't want to feel or deal with them. Dr. B. agreed because he wanted me to move a little bit after surgery to avoid blood clots. So if I didn't have the catheter I would have to move. Win Win, right? WRONG! OMG it hurt so bad to move. I raised the head of the bed all the way up and lowered my feet to the floor. OUCH. I hurt everywhere from my breasts to my pubic line. I hunched over like an old woman and shuffled to the bathroom with Tim by my side. I sit down to try to pee and nothing happens. I can feel a full bladder but my body won't release it.
When I head back to my bed I get super hot. Now at this point I should have known to ask for pain meds. But I didn't. Instead I asked for a fan. By the time they got me a fan I was in trouble with the pain. I asked for pain meds at 7:30pm. 7:30 pm is also shift change for the nurses. This is a BIG PROBLEM. Everything slows down while they do their reports on each patient. So my nurse is in the room and she is handing me off to the new nurse and then a helper nurse comes in. I am begging for pain meds. I am sweating and shaking and crying. The helper nurse is asking me if i want Apple juice. I tell her "No I want pain meds". And this is where I lost my cool. I start yelling at the 3 nurses in the room. I tell apple juice nurse that if she doesn't have to be here that she should leave. She rips her gloves off and stomps out the door. I tell the other two nurses that I could care less about their report and that I just want my pain meds. I am yelling that Dr. Buchanan had already given them my pain meds plan and that I needed them to go get my fucking pain meds. I think I may have even said that my anesthesiologist had told me not to be a hero and just take the pain meds. . This was not met with much sympathy from the nurses. I doubt they liked getting yelled at. And Tim looked at me like.... Please stop being a bitch. But I did not care. I was hurting, sweating, and tensing every single muscle in my body and shaking uncontrollably. Finally at 7:50 after 20 minutes of begging for pain meds they brought me a cocktail of IV meds, percocet and valium. And then because some of the meds are oral pills it took about 15 more minutes for them to fully kick in. It was horrible. But once we got through that I was Ok for the rest of my stay in regard to pain management, Righter after that I fell asleep and Sara sent Tim home to be with our kids.
Through out the next few hours they kept my pain controlled and gave me antibiotics and blood thinners, checked my vitals and tried to get me to try peeing again. I tried but it just didn't happen. And since I was up and my pain was well controlled I decided I wanted the stupid hospital gown OFF and my own bra and tank top on. The pinned the drains to the sides of my tank top so I could move more freely. They tried to get me to wear some ridiculous maternity panties but I choose to go commando instead! I apologized to my new nurse for losing my cool and yelling at her. She was very gracious and told me I wasn't even the worst patient she has ever had. :) I At this point I just want to sleep and not worry about wetting the damn bed or having to get up again. I am regretting ever telling Dr. B. to take out my catheter in the OR. With much despair I ask the nurse to recath me so I can just sleep. She does and I finally feel relief after several hours of feeling the urge to pee but not being able to release.
Apple juice nurse comes back with juice and I apologize for kicking her out of my room. :)
I called and told my kids and husband goodnight and that I would see them the next day. Even little Harlie spoke to me for a minute! At around 11pm I decide I am hungry and they bring me chicken noodle soup. I cant sit up to eat it so Sarah (who arrived some where around the tank top dressing part) decides she will feed me. I just love that girl! I only took a few bites and it was pretty gross.... but I just love Sarah for caring for me in that moment.
My biggest pain complaint was a burning sensation in both my hips. I thought it was from the drains, but really I now realize it was from the liposuction. I had some significant bruising from the liposuction!
Sara and Sarah decide to stay over at some point, My 2 sisters slept cuddled up together on this tiny little couch cot thing all night. The nurses kept bringing my pain meds on schedule so I was good to just sleep the night away. Sara took several notes at various times throughout the night about nurse visits that I slept through. I swear I have the best sisters ever!
When I woke up after only about 4 hours of sleep I was much more alert. I wanted to hear my Aunt Kathy's voice. They live 3 time zones ahead so I thought for sure they would be up. They weren't. She answered and we poke for about a minute. Sorry Kathy!
I slept off and on for a few more hours until around 7am. The nurses took care of my drains a few times over the night. It burned a lot when they stripped the fluid out of the tube into the collection bottle. Mostly the burning was at the liposuction sights, Not sure why that was because the drain ends where nearer to my navel.
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