Post-Op Days 1 & 2

It seems that since my surgery on Friday, all I’ve really had is time on my hands. Unfortunately, for a lot of that time, I haven’t felt very well. I’ve also had a lot of visitors—Michael and Nora, my mom, my brothers and their families, my in-laws, my grandma—to keep me company for good stretches of time.

The best way to recap the days following my surgery seems to be to break them down one by one. They’ve been mostly boring, so hopefully I don’t need to ramble on too much, but a daily recap hitting on some of the highlights seems best, starting with Friday night.

Oh, and in case you’re just tuning in—or landing on this page via a Google search—I was diagnosed with acute appendicitis in my second trimester of pregnancy (at 22 weeks). Before they could get me in for surgery, my appendix ended up rupturing. And things have been not-so-good (or at the very least, very-slow-going) since then.

FRIDAY NIGHT
Pain management following surgery started with them setting me up with a pump. The medication of choice was—I was sad to learn—Dilaudid. It had done nothing for me leading up to the surgery, but the doctors felt it was the best option. They set me up with a button that allowed me to administer my own meds (through my IV) as often as every six minutes, if I needed. I spent a lot of that first night pressing that button.

As far as diet, my nurse initially told me that I could eat and drink whatever I felt comfortable with. She set me up with some water and cranberry-apple juice, which was freaking amazing for me, since my mouth was literally cotton-dry prior to the surgery and I was begging them for ice chips. The water alone was great, but the juice, with FLAVOR? Yay.

But after a little bit of all of that, my dreams were dashed when I eventually found out that I was actually supposed to be NPO—meaning that I could have nothing by mouth, not even water (just ice chips). The thing about L&D is that they’re used to dealing with c-section patients, who apparently rarely have any dietary restrictions after surgery. Not the case for me, boohoo. Honestly, I wasn’t even hungry, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Michael and my mom left between 9-10ish p.m. and I tried to settle in to finally get some (much needed) rest. It would not be so easy to come by, however. My sleep on Friday night really sucked. I just could not get comfortable, and was still in a tremendous amount of pain. I would nod off, but wake up shortly after—5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes later. I think my longest stretch was 30 minutes. Um, yay?

SATURDAY
By the time Saturday morning came around, I had pretty much been up all night. Starting around 5:30, doctors started pouring into my room on their rounds, so there was really no hope in getting back to sleep. Overnight, I had gotten up to pee a few times (with a lot of help), and also to take a lap around the nurses’ station. Walking is important, yo.

I had visitors on Saturday—starting with Michael and Nora in the morning. Nora came in and curiously looked at me, what with the tubes attached to me and all. I explained that the tube in my arm gives me medicine, and that the tube in my nose helped me breathe. She was so sweet. “Mommy sick?” she asked. When we told her yes, Mommy is sick, and here at the hospital in order to get better, she replied, “Better.” (Mommy’s better.) We wish, sweet girl. We wish. She also brought her doctor kit (which we coincidentally just gave her in her Easter basket) and proceeded to give me a checkup of her own. She was fascinated when the nurse came in to do my vitals. But it wasn’t long until she got restless and wanted to go, so Michael took her home.

Other visitors included my brother, Trevor, as well as Kara and Hunter. My mom came by, too, and then Michael returned on both Saturday afternoon and night to spend more time with me.

As far as meds were concerned, I continued all day with the IV pump with Dilaudid. I still didn’t really feel the difference between taking it and not taking it, but that didn’t stop me from pushing the button often.

Food? I was graduated to a “clears” diet on Saturday afternoon. I could eat/drink basically anything that is see-through. Water, juice, tea, broth, Jell-O, popsicles, Italian ice. I had a small cup of Jell-O and half a container of orange Italian ice for dinner. Yum (not).

The remainder of my day consisted of several assisted trips to the bathroom, and walks around the floor.

This is my life right now.