Right on! You're curious! Heads up, I'm pretty much spewing out most of the day at the hospital, so there's quite a bit of text to read. So here are the details of my surgical experience and aftermath. (naturally, there are a few details I'm leaving out - rest assured, my experience really was great, and the nursing staff were on top of things .... granted 98% to 100% of everyone that I dealt with, knew who I was - even better, I wasn't just "the IT Guy" - they knew who I was)
I had to be at the hospital by 5:45am, to check in and start the ball rolling for a 7:30am surgery. Everything was going smoothly. Got situated in "my bay" of Out-Patient Surgery, and eventually the Anesthesiologist that I had asked to be the ANES. doc for me stopped by to introduce herself and go over things with me. She thanked me for requesting her, and even wondered if we had met before because she recognized my voice - and I explained that I didn't think so, but I knew we had chatted on the phone before, and I stated that I work down in IT. ...anyway, moving on.... The surgery doc came back and we went over things, I explained the original "3 Lypomas" has turned into 7...and I did my best to point them out, and he found "7" .....later on, on Saturday, I discovered that the doc actually found one that I hadn't, and may have missed one that I wasn't able to point out but was thinking of. (no harm no foul , the one that was missed might not even be one - need to wait until I'm fully healed to judge that; it's in an awkward place, a bit below the incision actually).
I was given some meds that would start the knock-out the process, via IV, and warned that it could cause some amnesia effects, so I may not remember things leading up to the surgery. Well, I remember being wheeled back to the OR, being quasi hoisted from the OPS bay bed, to the OR 'table'. I remember the staff placing and holding a breathing mask on me....and not long afterwards, I was out like a light.
The next thing I recall was waking up in PACU (essentially Post Surgery - for those who don't know). I woke up to my surgical Doc standing at the end of my 'bed' smiling, and after a few seconds he walked away. I chatted with the nurse taking care of my 'recovery'....I had been there for about 30min , and apparently the Doc chatted with me a short bit before walking away...."hey, good talk!" hahaha ... I asked about the ANES doc if she had stopped by yet; she did shortly after I had inquired about it. She was smiling and just as nice as she started out as, and I thanked her for essentially taking care of me (DISCLAIMER: I really don't remember the conversation, but I do recall briefly chatting with her and sincerely thanking her). A few ice-chips later, and I was ready for my breakfast: "Thanks to the ice, I'm craving a chocolate milkshake. Chocolate milkshake and scrambled eggs." --- and shortly after that is precisely what was delivered to me in Out-Patient Surgery, after making sure I was coherent enough and keeping the applesauce and water down.
Yea...overall I was feelin' pretty damn good....yay pain meds! Okay, fast forward a bit, after chatting with my awesome post-op nurse (okay, let's be clear, all of the nurses that were assisting from the beginning , but this one has known me for roughly the entire time I've been working at the hospital, so it was sort of like 'hanging out' while recovering). Anyway... I got dressed, my prescription 'recovery meds' were delivered to my bedside, and my awesome post-op nurse wheeled me out of OPS in the obligatory wheel chair. We wheeled past the cafeteria and I was able to wave to some friends in there that saw / recognized me; and funnily enough, as we hit one of the main hallway "intersections" , we came across my Director (looking like she was leading a heard of big-wigs from out of town), so we stopped by and said hi, and she got to see a quasi loopy me - all big grins feeling great after being cut up. Next stop, cashier's office to "pre-pay" some of the bill (by choice, so I didn't have to work it in while recovering). ....and from there, to the car and home!
I snapped a few "aftermath" pics, and got comfy in the recliner with my ice packs. I'm not going to lie, I remember yesterday (Friday) a lot better than Thursday from the stand point of being home. My mom was super awesome and picked up Wendy's (large Frosty and large fries) - which totally hit the spot! Not sure what exactly I did for dinner that night.... I do know that I convinced my mom to watch Breaking Bad with me (after one of the actors showed up in NCIS and I was telling her about his character in Breaking Bad).....after each episode, she was left wondering "..what's happening next??" - so we've been watching several episodes of that each night (granted, it's only been two nights). Either way, she's enjoying Breaking Bad. :)
Okay, so here are the pics from Thursday shortly after getting home from the hospital:
|
|
|
What's the point of the middle picture? My side no longer has that avocado sized lump sticking out! I love it!! I arranged the pictures above to be on the same sides as the mirrored image in the middle. If you click on the side images and enlarge them , you should be able to see the pen circles that the Doc drew on me for the lypomas that we had discussed being removed. So, one incision on each side, multiple removals on both sides - very nicely done sir, very nicely done. Yes, I'm legit impressed.
So, how was I feeling after the first 24+ hrs? My favorite way to explain this, is: I feel and somewhat look like, I've been in a bar-fight. My sides are bruised and cut up. :) Here's a couple shots from Saturday:
|
|
You can really see the bruising on these pics.
Anyway, "how do I feel" - honestly, just like I should: like I'm bruised and was cut up. Every now and then I feel some stinging from the cuts, and definitely some tenderness from the bruising. I have to be cautious with my movement - all around. I accidentally stepped down a bit hard yesterday (Friday, a few times) and it caused my side to , for lack of better phrasing, jiggle a bit - which HURT. So, ninja stepping it is, when I walk. Sitting, I have to pretty much keep my torso still and straight.
I was told that I could potentially re-open these incisions for the next two weeks (after which, they should, in theory, be golden); thus, I need to be super careful. So how are the incisions closed up? Best details I have: inside stitching, and skin glue on the outside.
So that's my update. It's Sunday morning. I'm working on getting my dietary consumption slowly back on track (face it - Thursday was a wash, Friday was a partial wash....I'm sure the rest of the weekend may be too) - though I was told "eat lots of protein and fiber" as it will help with recovery and the meds I'm taking (okay, that's my paraphrasing and understanding - but legit , the pain meds can cause some "backing up" to which the protein and fiber will assist with). Then, at some point, I need to figure out how to get exercise in, when am I able to do so, etc... Naturally, I cannot and should not rush into things....but I'm not looking forward to "starting over" and / or my new clothes not fitting properly 😐.... I started my surgery day at 178.9 lbs...so we'll see where things go.
Hey! What about what was taken out of you?
Hahahaha ... okay, maybe not very many people would want to see what was actually taken out...but I'm super curious myself, and want to share that with people. You know, "here's a visual, here's how much it weighed" etc.. etc.. Well, I have to wait for my follow up with the Doc to get said pictures, for reasons. I will make a post with JUST those pics, so for those that are reading / viewing my blog, can opt to NOT view, if they so choose.
That's it for now. Keep your head up, and keep your grind on!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.