Today was the day I had my gallbladder removed at the recommendation of every medical professional I talked to during and since my June 16 gallstone attack.
Fran drove me to the hospital for a 7:45am check-in. That process took about 30 minutes. We were led to the pre-op room. During the walk the nurse noticed my "I'm blogging this" shirt and asked what it meant. My explanation mentioned that it could be a threat, not just a simple declarative. I was trying to imply "Treat me well."
In pre-op I removed all my civvies and put on a hospital gown and non-skid socks. The nurse took my vitals and queried me about drugs and current medical status. Next she inserted the IV. The first attempt wasn't successful -- she said my vein exploded -- the second attempt was. Fran was allowed to join me. We just frittered time away waiting for the visits by the OR nurse, anesthesiologist and surgeon with more papers to sign.
I was wheeled into the OR and briefly introduced to the surgical assistant, and that's all I remember.
I woke up in post-op a little over an hour later, groggy and not feeling too bad. There was/is a bit of a sore throat from the breathing tube they inserted, and some soreness around the incisions. The most bothersome is the one near my navel. About 45 minutes later Fran was allowed to join me. Not much later the nurse helped me dress and got me into a wheelchair as Fran was sent to retrieve the car. During the short ride home I had to hold the belt off my belly; it was riding directly on the navel incision.
I've been laying around the house since, trying to avoid getting up and sitting back down. The tightening of the gut bothers all of the incisions. Back with my first talk with the surgeon she told me that too much strain could lead to a hernia at the site. So far the pain hasn't been enough to warrant taking any pain mends. Things are looking good.
The post-op nurse talked about my diet in the coming weeks. Ribs are out for nearly a year, something about explosive diarrhea. Damn, damn, damn.
3 comments:
Glad to hear that all went well, but did they forget to let the "gas" out :-)
Sad to say not all the gas was reclaimed. I tried rolling over on my right side last night and almost grunted out loud. With every breath there was a sharp pain in my right shoulder. I'd had a twinge there just before bedtime, but the roll-over was a real shot. The discomfort is supposed to go away in a few days.
Glad to hear it went smoothly - and how cool is that that you wore your blogging shirt to the appointment? :)
Sorry to hear about the ribs thing. Mom explained it in a way that the fat would go through instead of being absorbed? That sounds like something people pay for in an effort to lose weight without otherwise changing their habits!
I heard part of an ad for one of these drugs including a possible side effect of "diarrhea while fainting". It made me laugh, but also made me incredulous that somone would pick that over taking a walk.
Hope you mend back up soon! And that the extra CO2 leaves your system in short order. Nothing quite like being blown up like a balloon, I bet that's causing some of the abdominal discomfort.
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