Well here we are just 3 weeks away now and many of you have been asking me how I feel about the surgery and if I'm nervous or scared. That's a more complicated question then you might think. I am scared, but I wish it was tomorrow. Waiting is very difficult not only because it gives me time to think over everything I can possibly think of but also because my symptoms are getting worse. I'm just ready to get it over with. I really try not to let my mind dwell on what is ahead, it is easier for me to get through the things I have to get through if I don't sit there and let my imagination go crazy beforehand. And I'm starting to have dreams about it and unfortunately I've been in the OR a few too many times. My dreams are incredibly realistic and terrifying. Part of the problem is that I know all too well what I've got to face. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Much of my trepidation lies with the actual surgery and the complications associated with that, but the rest of it is focused upon the remaining days I'll be in the hospital after surgery. I'll tell you about that part now.
First off, I have terrible veins. What does that mean? It means that on any given day getting blood drawn or getting an IV started can be torture. A lot of people with a chronic illness, who spend a lot of time in the hospital get bad veins, it comes from having needles poked in them too often. My veins are very small, they roll and hide and on the worst days it doesn't even look like I have veins. In practical terms it means that lab workers and nurses and even anesthesiologists put on the tourniquet and look and slap and look and slap and look and change arms and repeat. Then they stick me and about 90% of the time the vein disappears and that's when the digging begins. On a good day, they can get me in one stick. On my worst day it took 4 tries to get one started. And once they've tried 2-3 times and don't get it, even the nurses start to panic. It can be quite painful and it is incredibly stressful. I think of myself as a fairly brave girl. I have had to endure well more than my fair share of painful procedures but there isn't much that will send the tears streaming much quicker than me realizing that the 2nd stick didn't work.
What else scares me? Post surgical pain. This will be my 4th major abdominal surgery so I know what I can expect. I'll have good pain management, and that really is what it is: "management" because with a 6" incision running down your belly you can forget tying your shoes, bending, sitting etc without discomfort. But the REAL pain comes when you laugh, cough or sneeze. These are very violent actions and your abdominal muscles are involved a lot more than you might think.
Lastly, some final snippets of hospital life
The Good:
Room Service
No work
Can nap as much as you want
Can watch TV all day long
Morphine
The Bad:
Jello
Snoring roommates
Hospital gowns
Hourly vitals checks
Beeping IV poles (especially at 2am)
General hospital noisiness
5am 1st rounds
7am 2nd rounds
Circulation stockings
Incentive Spirometer a device they make patients blow into it 10 times an hour to fully inflate their lungs and help prevent pneumonia
Constant parade of nurses aides, nurses, residents, fellows and doctors inspecting you and your parts, incisions, bandages and drains
The UGLY:
Catheters and drains
Heparin shots an anti-coagulant injected under the skin to help prevent blood clots , it burns like crazy and it leaves big bruises, its done every 8 hours.
3am blood draws
IVs just remember that I have terrible veins...
Infiltrating IVs this is when the vein basically breaks and the medicine starts going into the surrounding muscle and tissue and means you have to have a new IV started.
NG tube a tube that is sometimes used after major abdominal surgery it goes in through the nose, down the esophagus and into the stomach to help keep it empty.
Now you know what I'm up against. I appreciate your prayers!
No comments:
Post a Comment