Surgery

     I am finally to a point where I can communicate with people without falling asleep. Surgery went well. They took me back at 1pm and surgery started at 1:20. I was sent to PACU at 3pm. My mom spoke with Dr. Weiss. He said my liver was a little bit larger than what he would have preffered but it was just fine. He also removed some polyps he found during my EGD. I don't remember much. I remember wakin up in my room with my mom and Aunt Brenda there. I remember my mom trying to touch me and look at my incisions. Apparently I yelled at her.. To get away. I was only allowed to have a small styrofoam cup with water the rest of the day. Now they made me swallow pills with that water. I complained of pain and they brought me liquid loratab.... which was disgusting! I could not even finish it. From that point on I recieved IV moraphine which was much better.  I have five small stitches on the upper part of my tummy. Four of them are across the top and the fifth is to the side a little. No stitches or steri strips... just skin glue. I also had a Q Ball for pain. basically this is a ball that has pain meds in it. The meds slowly disperse in my abdomen through tiny little tubes. Pretty cool I thought.  I distinctly remember being extremely thirsty! The first night I was restless. I bothered the poor CNA to walk me in the middle of the night. I was attached to an IV pole so it was not like I could do it alone. They took labs and BP checks.. You know how it is. Once you finally get to sleep you get woke up! Lol 

     The next morning they took me down to do an upper GI to check and see if I had any leaks in my staple line. I had to drink that nasty barium crap and almost threw up! No leaks! Doctor came in to see me and apparently when he walked in the room my heart started having irregular heartbeats. He left the room to ask the nurse to capture it. While he was gone my heart was normal and when he came back it did it again. I am not sure if I mentioned how incredibly good looking my surgeon is! I made the joke to my nurses later on that when he walked into the room it made my heart flutter...lol. He decided to keep me another night. A cardio doc came into see me and said I was asymptomatic and a lot of people have these and they don't even know it. He said there was most likely a scar at the base of my heart that was as small as a pin hole that probably developed earlier in life from maybe a virus I had. Either way he said I was fine and I should not worry too much until I become symptomatic. 

     They started me on "a bag of vitamins" that contained a ton. Also a multivitamin and my other stuff. After the bag of vitamins ran through my IV, I got to go saline lock and I was rid of my IV pole. I was a free bird then! Every time I got up to go to the bathroom I also took a walk. I had no trouble starting my clear liquid diet. At first all I would drink was the protein shots and water. Then I added some lemonade. I had to keep reminding myself to take small sips. No nausea so I was doing very well.

     The second night was still very restless. After a walk at 3am my nurse payed me a visit asking if I was ok. I told her I could not sleep. She came back with some Ativan and diladid. I got a few hours of sleep, I mean who wouldn't with those meds. I woke up feeling a little more refreshed. Again no problems with nausea. Doc paid me a visit and said that his theory was that my potassium levels were a little low the day before and he thinks that is why my heart was acting funny. I of course told him my theory about him being so freakin good looking... He snickered and said that I obviously did not have my glasses on. I got released with a potassium supplement, Prilosec, pain meds and the rest of my vitamins.

     Saturday and Sunday I stayed at moms to sleep in her recliner. I have been able to add propel zero water, crystal light, chicken and beef broth, apple juice, fruit punch and Popsicles with no problem. I have accidentally taken a bigger sip by accident a few times, does not bother me really. Just kind of feels like I have an air bubble in my esophagus and I have to wait for it to pass. I can hear and feel it gurgle. Today we ventured to Walmart and I walked with the Cart to get what we needed. Mom and Emma helped bathe Noah and put him to bed. We are home tonight and I am totally excited about sleeping in my bed! Noah has his 18 month checkup tomorrow. Mom is gonna pick us up for that and then Noah is off to daycare while nana drops mommy off a little while at work. 

     Overall I am feeling better every day. I have my one week follow up on Thursday. I have had no cravings and could care less about food. No temptation to put any of it in my mouth. My stomach has not growled since before surgery. Which is a weird feeling. My mom had not stopped cooking for herself. Watching her eat did not bother me. She made some chicken with Italian dressing and that smelled awful. And the bacon incident this morning. I don't care if you are a fatty or not I have never met one person that could pass up bacon after smelling it cook! So I was a little irritated about that. Not that I wanted to eat it. I just thought she should have considered my position prior to cooking it. I figure I am doing pretty well. My nurse told me that she has had patients ask if they could just lick their wife's coke can? so yeah I am a champ so far... lol. 

     I have been a little hateful today. It is a culmination of things. My body is going through complete withdrawal from food. I am consuming maybe 400 calories a day all in clear liquid form. I also have not taken my Ritalin for a few days. So my level of irritation is up. And the obvious I don't feel well. I can't take care of my son 100% and that bothers me. 

     Again thanks to everyone for the post, phone calls, text messages and comments. Noah did get to viit with me for a short while in pre-op and a little while the night of my surgery. I think he was confused. he jept looking at me and all of the things that were attached to me. he also kept trying to crawl in the bed with me. My sis decided to keep him at a distance until i got him back at home. Noah and I are truly blessed to have such a fantastic network of friends and family across this entire country! Please continue to pray for me. Surgery was the easy part. I am going to be going through a ton of transitions over the next few months. My mind will never be the same and neither will my body. I will give you guys an update after my follow-up on Thursday! Love you all!