mbodo

Hi all -

This forum was recommended to me by several other patients in one of my pre-op classes last week (thanks to those that suggested it, I'm sure you'll be reading this eventually).

I haven't really been reading through the forums much in the past as I've literally only heard of them recently, so I figured I may as well stop by and post what my findings are a few days after the procedure.

Day 0 - I hardly remember a thing. Just before I went under, I do remember feeling all goofy and asking the doc if I could get a copy of the video they were going to use to see my insides. I got a big kick out of it, I think they were happy I was drifting fast asleep.

I do remember getting a shot of morphine to 'ease the pain' and then telling the nurse "Don't ever (explicative) do that to me again!!". Apparently morphine for me does not act as a pain reliever. It just made me realize there was pain, but not a bloody thing I could do about it. The nurse was a little shocked (hey I hope she didn't take it personal) and advised me that I would be switching over to Demerol.

I had visitors come by on Day 0, my wife was there, but I think that may have been it. Oh I did have about a thousand phone calls or so it seemed like it. It was funny because the phone would ring on the opposite side of the room I was on, and there was no way for me to just JUMP out of bed and answer it. These things you can't control just have to be chalked up into the "funny" category. I began walking towards the end of the day. It was difficult on account of how many wires were hanging out of me.

Day 1 - More visitors came by, more phone calls, pain subsided from the 8 it was on Day 0 down to a 5-7 depending on how the Demerol was wearing off. Was up and walking around FAR more than Day 0. Felt much better. I was starting to realize that going to the bathroom with a million wires hanging out of my body wasn't as bad as it was on Day 0. Made a few "hallway buddies" that were mostly relatives/friends of patients who got a kick out of watching me walk my portable tune-up garage up and down the hallway as I did laps. I did wind up taking a shower that night and the funny thing about it was because I had the lidocaine pump (or .. whatever-caine pump) in catheter in my stomach, I was pretty much numb from the waist up to my ribcage on the inside. When I put my gown back on, I thought something felt weird. Yup, it felt weird because I had a towel hanging from my rear end. Kind of laying over my left cheek (yeah, you're welcome for the visual). Again, chalk this into the "think its funny" bucket.

Day 2 - Discharge day!! - Hooray, I get to go home. I was worried about them taking the pain pump ball catheters out of my stomach on account of feeling sore afterwards, but no worries, it was all good. Took all the wires out of me and I immediately gained confidence in walking around and using the restroom without having to call for a nurse! Got driven home by my wife (.. folks, make sure your significant other has a nice comfy sedan or something, rode back in a truck-based SUV .. oy vey!! what a ride) Got home, went to the grocery store with the wife and bought broth and Jell-O and all the good stuff for the clear liquid days. Took a few tablespoons of the hydrocodone pain med, watched the Padres play the Brewers in HiDef, and went to sleep (didn't stay up to see who won). Ironically was dreaming about work the whole time. I am probably one of the few people who has ever dreamt about implementing Veritas NetBackup on an enterprise level for the entire night!! (yuck)

Day 3 - Today - Feeling downright WONDERFUL. Did my little walk inside and outside of the house, found a 1 minute path I could walk back and forth on and just did five laps. Getting ready to go have my Jell-O as it has been about 45 minutes since I've had propel, and I'll be doing great for the rest of the time, I just know it!

Thought I'd share that little bit of information with you folks. I'm only 3 days into it, but I'm looking forward to it for the rest of my life.