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pockysquirrelTL;DR, surgery day went way better than I expected it would.
After only getting about 4 hours of sleep, I got up this morning for my assigned hospital arrival time of 6:00 am, accompanied by the husband and my mom. Registered and went down to the ambulatory surgery department, got changed into one of those lovely hospital gowns that of course is missing the tie to keep my ass from hanging out, and got set up in my room. They did my vitals and started an IV, which was the worst part of the whole thing. The nurse who did it was really good, it's just that needles and I don't get along, and this is only the second time in my life that I've had an IV. Then there was a bunch of waiting, just chatting with mom and the husband and trying not to freak out TOO badly. Then the anesthesiology staff came in to talk to me, and then the surgeon came in to talk to me (And crack jokes with everyone like "So you're having a hysterectomy, right?"), and then things started happening.
This is the point at which I start whining about the fact that the so-called fun meds are not terribly fun for me. They took me into the OR and started me on the loopy meds, and initially I was just like "I don't feel anything...?" But apparently when it kicked in, it kicked in really fast because the last thing I remeber I had one EKG pad on my chest, and when I woke up I had three. I didn't even get to do the "count backwards from ten" thing.
So I woke up in recovery, they gave me some morphine, and that both took a little while to work and didn't make me loopy either. My primary concern was getting the stupid oxygen mask off because my mouth was super dry - I probably asked the nurse a good 3 or 4 times before she allowed that to happen. But then she gave me ice chips and became my favorite person. Then all the monitors and whatnot came off and I went back into my original room for about an hour and a half worth of observation. And found out that, surprise, my godmother had shown up! I hadn't known she was coming, so that was pretty cool.
Mom told me that when the surgeon talked to her while I was in recovery, he told her my gallbladder was in worse shape than we originally thought - a lot of large stones and scar tissue - so it's good I had it out when I did. But that aside, I guess I impressed the staff with how well I was doing post-anesthesia, since I was getting "star patient" comments and all. Once I had proven that I could drink, walk, and use the bathroom without incident, they took out the IV and got me ready for discharge. I walked out of the hospital at 11 am...I was only in for five hours!
I've been resting at home since, with my lovely little hydrocodone prescription and a killer couch-nest setup involving wedge pillows and a breakfast tray to keep my laptop off my abdomen. I feel surprisingly alert for having just had general anesthesia and a bunch of morphine. My incisions sting a little and I'm a little sore - it kind of feels like when you go jogging and get a stitch in your side? - but the pain hasn't been that bad at all. Overall I feel much better than I expected to.
So yeah, that's my story. Minus one nonvital organ, plus a few internal clips and officially on the mend. Next on the agenda: Amusing myself with some of the things people recced for me, likely to be followed by some "Pocky watches things on pain meds" review posts.
After only getting about 4 hours of sleep, I got up this morning for my assigned hospital arrival time of 6:00 am, accompanied by the husband and my mom. Registered and went down to the ambulatory surgery department, got changed into one of those lovely hospital gowns that of course is missing the tie to keep my ass from hanging out, and got set up in my room. They did my vitals and started an IV, which was the worst part of the whole thing. The nurse who did it was really good, it's just that needles and I don't get along, and this is only the second time in my life that I've had an IV. Then there was a bunch of waiting, just chatting with mom and the husband and trying not to freak out TOO badly. Then the anesthesiology staff came in to talk to me, and then the surgeon came in to talk to me (And crack jokes with everyone like "So you're having a hysterectomy, right?"), and then things started happening.
This is the point at which I start whining about the fact that the so-called fun meds are not terribly fun for me. They took me into the OR and started me on the loopy meds, and initially I was just like "I don't feel anything...?" But apparently when it kicked in, it kicked in really fast because the last thing I remeber I had one EKG pad on my chest, and when I woke up I had three. I didn't even get to do the "count backwards from ten" thing.
So I woke up in recovery, they gave me some morphine, and that both took a little while to work and didn't make me loopy either. My primary concern was getting the stupid oxygen mask off because my mouth was super dry - I probably asked the nurse a good 3 or 4 times before she allowed that to happen. But then she gave me ice chips and became my favorite person. Then all the monitors and whatnot came off and I went back into my original room for about an hour and a half worth of observation. And found out that, surprise, my godmother had shown up! I hadn't known she was coming, so that was pretty cool.
Mom told me that when the surgeon talked to her while I was in recovery, he told her my gallbladder was in worse shape than we originally thought - a lot of large stones and scar tissue - so it's good I had it out when I did. But that aside, I guess I impressed the staff with how well I was doing post-anesthesia, since I was getting "star patient" comments and all. Once I had proven that I could drink, walk, and use the bathroom without incident, they took out the IV and got me ready for discharge. I walked out of the hospital at 11 am...I was only in for five hours!
I've been resting at home since, with my lovely little hydrocodone prescription and a killer couch-nest setup involving wedge pillows and a breakfast tray to keep my laptop off my abdomen. I feel surprisingly alert for having just had general anesthesia and a bunch of morphine. My incisions sting a little and I'm a little sore - it kind of feels like when you go jogging and get a stitch in your side? - but the pain hasn't been that bad at all. Overall I feel much better than I expected to.
So yeah, that's my story. Minus one nonvital organ, plus a few internal clips and officially on the mend. Next on the agenda: Amusing myself with some of the things people recced for me, likely to be followed by some "Pocky watches things on pain meds" review posts.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-23 06:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-23 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-23 09:53 am (UTC)And now, if you ever show anyone the scar and they're like "what happened?" you have two choices: "Shark Bite" or "Ranger business" ;)
no subject
Date: 2013-02-23 04:07 pm (UTC)The surgery was laparoscopic, actually, so I've got four tiny little holes instead of one large incision. So no cool scar for me, I'm afraid.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-23 11:22 pm (UTC)