Recovery

This section describes everything that happened post surgery during my hospital stay and my first week at home after being discharged

POST SURGERY
I was in quite a lot of pain so they hooked me up to a morphine pump. I could press a little button to top up my pain relief if I so desired it. I could also press a button to top up my epidural. I thought that I would use these a lot but I hardly used them at all. For me it was more of a comfort thing, just knowing that I could have extra pain relief at the press of a button was quite comforting. The doctors came by and told me that the surgery couldn't have gone better. My doctor even said that every one in the operating room was excited because all of my internal anatomy was in excellent condition so they were able to get a really good look at everything. This kinda creeped me out a little I imagined a bunch of people standing around checking out my insides! Anyway they said everything was great and they were gone as quick as they came.

DAY 1
I had a bit of a temperature during the night, the doctors thought that it was from some sort of infection - probably my lungs. It's common after abdominal surgery to get post-surgical atelectasis where a bit of your lung collapses. Mainly because of restricted breathing post surgery and also because lungs don't work that well when you are lying down for long periods of time. So they sent me for a chest x-ray. The doctor was right, the x-ray showed that the bottom of my right lung had collapsed a little but he said it wasn't concerning, as long as I got up out of bed and did deep breathing exercises. That afternoon a physiotherapist came to help me get out of bed so I could move around and do the breathing exercises, but as soon as they sat me up (which hurt like hell) I was so dizzy and nauseous that I had to lie back down again. I had been advised that I must avoid vomiting at all costs because it can put a lot of pressure and stress on all the new plumbing that the doctors had made me. The nurse said that the dizziness was probably because of the epidural and all the morphine I was on. I was worried about my lung so I tried taking deep breaths while lying in my bed, I don't think it was very effective and it hurt but I figured it was better than nothing. I still wasn't eating anything but I was drinking a lot of water and juice without any pain.

DAY 2
The pain team visited me this morning. They sprayed my abdominal area with this cold stuff that smelt awful so they could test how well my epidural was working. Basically if you can feel the cold spray it means your epidural isn't working in that particular spot. I felt the spray the left hand side of my abdomen but I felt nothing on the right hand side. The pain team decided that the epidural block was quite patchy and probably wasn't working that well so they decided to remove it. They also decided to remove my morphine pump because I was barely using it and it made me feel too nauseous. The less needles and lines you have in you also reduces the risk of infection. I was kinda terrified of getting the epidural removed because the pain I felt immediately post surgery was so bad that I wasn't sure if I could handle it if that's what I was in store for once the epidural was gone. Turns out it was totally fine, the pain was no different without it. It was actually the best thing that could have happened because it also meant that I could get my urinary catheter taken out! YES! This meant that I could actually get up and move around. All the drugs they had me on made me so feel so sick.  From now on I just had oral pain medicine (tramadol, paracetomol and the occasional Oxynorm if the pain was really bad) The physio came and I was able to get up and go for a walk. I also sat down in a chair and did a lot of deep breathing to try and re inflate the bottom of my lung. If I was standing up I actually found it quite hard to breathe and talk at the same time, I sounded kinda like Darth Vader because I couldn't get enough oxygen. 
I got my dressing changed today too, I was very excited about getting a peek at my wound! When she took the dressings off I was surprised at how big the incision site was. It went all the way from my sternum to about 3cm below my belly button measuring a a whopping 20cm. I didn't have any clips or staples, the stitches were subcutaneous and very tidy so it doesn't look like I'll have much of a scar.

DAY 3
Today things were looking good. I got up and went for a walk and my breathing was getting better. The doctors came by and said that I could get my wound drain taken out. The nurse said that it can be quite painful so she dosed me up on painkillers beforehand. Surprisingly it didn't hurt at all, it just felt like a really weird pulling sensation, I was surprised at how much tubing there actually was inside me, at a guess I'd say it was about 11cm long. The worst part was removing the stitch that was holding it in place so I couldn't accidentally pull it out. Now that all the tubes and drains were out I could have a SHOWER! It was glorious, I'd never been so excited about having a shower, ever. The physio came again to make sure I was up and moving around. I also started eating. Once again I wasn't quite sure what to expect, I thought that I would at least feel something but I felt nothing. I ate about 150gram of yogurt and it didn't have any pain at all.

DAY 4
The doctors came around and checked me over. My abdomen was very distended (I looked pregnant) because my bowel had gone to sleep - also known as an ileus. Apparently it's quite common for your bowel to go to sleep after a long surgery. So the doctors said I wasn't allowed to eat anymore until I passed wind or had a bowel motion. The nurse gave me some laxatives to try and get things moving, two pills and this horrible syrup that made me gag (I recommend having some sort of juice or water on hand if you ever have to take it) I also got up and walked around and around the ward to try and see if that would help. By the time I went to sleep that night I had passed a lot of wind but still hadn't made any progress on the bowel movement front.

DAY 5
Today pretty much consisted of me waiting around willing my bowel to move. Two sets of laxatives later and still nothing. I knew that there was no way I was going home unless things started moving plus the thought of having an enema wasn't that appealing.  A whole lot of wind and 7 hours later I finally did it! I'd never been so happy to go to the toilet. This also meant that I could get my last IV line taken out of my arm. And that I could eat! I had some yogurt some fruit and toast. I did have a bit of abdominal pain but they said that it was probably just bowel cramps. The Doctors came around and said that it looks like I'll be able to go home tomorrow!!!!!! I was very excited. Later that afternoon I was moved from the comfort of my own lovely room to a shared room. There was a lady with a tiny little baby that needed the room more than me. I really, really underestimated how bad shared rooms are, they are almost like torture. With all the coughing, crying, snoring, farting, and beeping I don't know how anyone gets better. Hopefully it was only for one night!

DAY 6 - HOME TIME
This morning, 6 days after my surgery the doctors told me I could go home! All I had to do was wait around for my paper work to be completed. My paper work consisted of a prescription for pain meds, instructions for my wound care (none because my stitches are dissolving) details of the procedure I had done and a date that I would come back to see my surgeon (4 weeks later). Once I had the paperwork I said goodbye to the amazing nurses that had looked after me and was ready to go. I momentarily entertained the thought of walking down to the carpark myself but I realised that was ridiculous after I became out of breath just walking to the fridge to get the rest of my baby milk. So after some more pain meds from a concerned looking nurse i was ushered into a wheelchair and out ward 78 I went. I hadn't sat up this long in a whole week and by the time we got outside I was struggling to breath. It was scary and I  wanted to ask the orderly to turn around and take me back to the ward, but I sucked it up, literally, and went home. By the time I got home I was completely exhausted and went straight to bed. When I woke up I ate some crumpets with golden syrup but boy did it hurt, I don't think I chewed them up enough or maybe I ate them too fast but the pain was excruciating. I took some tramadol and went to sleep for the night.