9 days post-op and back at work!

[Guest guest]

hey all... well, i said i would come back and share my surgery

experience so here i am. you know what? it wasn't bad at all. i

was TERRIFIED before the surgery. it was all i thought about for the

past year and a half when i found out i needed it. even the morning

of, i considered backing out (not seriously, of course). i went in

around 5:30 and got in my hospital gown. they gave me anti-nausea

medication and put a little patch behind my ear that people use on

cruise ships for sea sickness. then they wheeled me into the pre-

surgical room to get my IV put in. i started crying... but the

anesthesiologist was really cool. he said i wouldn't be normal if i

wasn't scared. the next thing i remember is waking up in recovery.

i had the MOST incredible sore throat. but it was over... the

surgery was done! i don't remember getting into my hospital bed, but

once i was there, i was hooked up to all sorts of tubes: my IV

(complete with morphine button), a tube going through my nose and

down into my stomach to suck out all of the blood i was swallowing,

and these funny leg warmer things that periodically pumped full of

air and then released to massage my calves and increase circulation

to prevent blood clots. nurses came by from time to time to check my

vitals. one of the nurses was a guy and he was really cute... so

that was a little comfort. i was pretty out of it that day... no

doubt thanks to the morphine. around 7 o'clock i had to go to the

bathroom. the IV pumped me so full of fluids that my bladder filled

up every 45 minutes! so they helped me to the bathroom and back...

on the way back to bed, i started getting nauseated... i told one of

the nurses i felt sick - she grabbed a suction tube. and my WORST

fear was realized - i spewed blood. the tube in my stomach, that was

supposed to prevent this from happening had actually started to come

out, which is why i got sick. so i had one nurse suctioning my mouth

out, while the cute guy nurse wiped my face with a wet cloth and yet

another nurse was telling me to swallow whilst shoving the tube back

down my throat. you know what... getting sick was my absolute

number one fear and it wasn't that bad. i got through it. the

nurses were awesome... they were right there and they weren't going

to let anything bad happen to me.

now, on to some other details: the swelling wasn't too bad. it

peaked, just like my doctor said, on the 3rd or 4th day and has

steadily decreased since then. today, day nine, it is barely

noticeable even by me, my worst critic. the sore throat went away as

well within about 4 days. my sinuses have been really congested

(with blood) and my doctor said that it is okay to blow my nose very

gently. blowing too hard could push air into my cheeks, which isn't

dangerous, just scary. sudafed has helped with that. the liquid

diet isn't too bad. i had some accidents with foods that were too

thick, but i'm getting the hang of it. i think i'm actually eating

better than i did b/f the surgery! last night for dinner i had

potato cheddar soup (made by slim fast) and some gerber baby peaches

for dessert. it really filled me up. this morning i blended some

Special K cereal with milk and bananas and it was also really good.

i don't think i've lost any weight as of yet. i do miss chewing

yummy foods, but i will be able to do that again soon enough.

oh, one last thing... this i wasn't prepared for... the general

anesthesia made me really depressed for a few days. i cried at

everything... also, i had this deep, deep longing to go back to the

hospital - it was a comfort zone, i guess. but yeah, the depression

was really odd - it was like i didn't know what i wanted. but i

think that's over now.

i'm back at work today... i feel good. there are good moments and

bad moments - but i don't regret the surgery. i had some severe pain

at certain points, mostly in my forehead. my doctor said that was

from muscle tension and told me to apply heat to the area and massage

it. that did the trick.

i think that is all... i'd be happy to answer anyone's questions... i

hope this testimony has helped.

ta for now,

heather, TN