Sunday, Oct. 20, 10 p.m.
It's my second night home, third night away from the first hospital room I've ever stayed in, at least since Mom and Dad brought me home as a baby.
Some details: Weighed 297.5 this morning (was 300 on the morning of the surgery)
Breakfast: Dad made oatmeal with a little cinnamon for flavor. I ate about half of it.
Morning snack: Cup of blueberry greek yogurt
Lunch: refried beans with melted cheese and salsa for flavor
Afternoon snack: Wedge of Smiling Cow cheese spread
Dinner: Leftover blended chunky chicken soup that dad made me yesterday
Liquids: Just water with Crystal light tea flavor squirted in. Had 3 big glasses, but probably not the 64 ounces I'm supposed to have.
Day's success: First bowel movement since before surgery. Later in the day had diarrhea twice, but I feel much better.
Oxycodone: Took one at 5:30 this morning and another around 4:30 this afternoon. Working my way off it.
Looking back on my surgery while it's still fresh in my mind.
Wednesday - got up at 4:05 a.m. to take yet another shower with that special body wash soap they gave me in the pre-op appointment. Mom and Dad picked me up at 4:55 to get me to hospital by 5:30. Dad dropped us off and Mom stayed with me through registration and in the pre-surgery room. Surgery was scheduled for 7:30, but Dr. Pullatt was delayed by helping Dr. Byrne on another case, so Mom and I visited until they wheeled me into the operating room.
That's the last thing I remember before waking up sluggishly in post-op or was it my room. It's pretty hazy now. But Mom was there in the room when I was awake enough to realize it and she told me Dr. Pullatt told her everything had gone well. She said she was calling dad to come pick her up and she'd be back the next day to visit and to get some rest. Ed, my cool nurse told me to take it easy too and that when I felt better I could get up and sit up in a chair. This was around 11:30 and by 1:30, I had to pee so asked for help getting up. But once I had my feet firmly on the floor, I felt a bunch better and realized I could go to the bathroom myself and once I realized I wasn't in much pain, I decided to sit up for awhile. It was so much more comfortable than the hospital bed that I must have dozed off again. Around 3, I tried to take a walk, remembering all the advice about how valuable that was. The nurses station looked up in amazement and Ed cheered me on. I took a little trip down the hall and back to my room where I returned to the chair and felt I'd accomplished something. Later when I reread the literature, I learned I wasn't supposed to walk until the day after surgery.
I didn't have anything to eat or drink that day, but could suck on a spongy stick resting in a styrofoam cup of ice water. I needed it because whenever I woke up from a nap, my mouth was so dry and icky feeling.
That night I stayed up (sort of) to watch the Red Sox lose 7-3 to the Tigers, I kept falling asleep and waking up. I saw the final out, turned off the TV and went to bed.
My night nurse was Lena and Maud was her assistant who checked my vitals every four hours.
On Thursday, I was out of bed by 5:45 a.m.. Marie, an intern (I think) from the surgery rotation came in to see how I was doing, asked if I'd belched, had stomach grumbling that kind of thing. She told me a group of doctors would be in later doing rounds. I went for more walks, including one in mid-morning where I saw Ed in the hall and he melodramatically groaned about how his mean boss took me away from him. "I finally get a female patient who loves the Red Sox and I don't get to keep her." It was fun to tease with him and I did miss him that day. His replacement, April, however was super nice and professional. She told me I'd be going down to X-ray soon so Dr. Pullatt could see if there were any leaks. That was not a terrific experience, had to drink this foul stuff, including barium to provide contrast medium for the radiologist. Took about an hour for the whole process, When I got back to the room, Mom and Dad were there and had been for most of that hour.
They didn't stay long, had to get back for Baxter. But Mom had brought a pretty rose colored vase with a few carnations in it. Said she bought it a Super Bi-Lo. They seemed proud of how I was doing and told me to call when I was ready to come home Friday.
That day I was brought a tray of assorted shot glass size drinks - unsweetened tea, lemonade and apple juice - 2 of each. And I had a second tray just like it at night. I drank it all and realized I was starting to think about food.
The Red Sox kept me occupied that night. A great 4-3 win started by Lester. We had a 4-0 lead and hung on carefully through three 1-run innings that could have been worse if not for luck, defense or clutch pitching. Unlike the night before, I was able to stay up for the whole game and when Maud came in at midnight to take my vitals, I hoped the game would be over when she came in at 4 a.m. Not to worry, Koji got the final five outs and we took a 3-2 lead in Detroit. Game 6 would be Saturday night.
I woke up early on Friday too. Again talked to Marie before 6 and met with the rotation of doctors (still not including Pullatt) around 7. One of them, (Will I think) asked what kind of night I'd had. With a big grin, I said: "Awesome. The Red Sox won. Turns out Will went to high school with Jake Peavy, so there was little discussion of my condition.
Saw Dr. Pullatt later in the morning and he assured me I could go home as soon as the paperwork was ready, so I called Mom and told her noon. That morning, my tray had a yogurt, a juice, Lactaid milk, a container of cottage cheese and coffee. I liked the yogurt and juice and reluctantly tried the cottage cheese. Surprisingly edible, but I never touched the coffee and the milk wasn't for me.
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