The first new day of the rest of my life began yesterday. My appointment to be at the surgery center was 9:00 Am...I got there at 8:32 Am, hungry, nervous, anxious, excited for the future...all the norm (so I was told). Everyone from Susie the front desk assistant to the pre-op nurse, Natissa (I think that was her name), to Julie-OP nurse, surgeon Dr. Shawn Stevenson (very nice and comforting), the Anesthesiologist (I want to say Ted but can't remember....was a funny guy) to Carrie my post-surgery nurse....ALL were very comforting and made me feel like I was very special the whole way out the door. Hah! Everything went accordingly. I woke up with a really sore throat and a huge gas bubble in the middle of my chest (which I was forewarned could happen). Those were the things I noticed the most and then I felt the pain of the incisions, so Carrie asked if I needed pain meds/drip and I said YES PLEASE! So she loaded me up with Demerol which helped, but that darn gas bubble was the worse. All I could think about was letting out one great big huge BELCH but nothing, nadda, zip, nuel, zero. Ugh! So I continued on.

Carrie told me I could get up whenever I felt like it. I told her I wanted to do it then so off to the bathroom we went. Thank goodness she accompanied, I felt like a little baby needing to get dressed. I probably should have waited a bit longer, but in all the information/tons of reading done pre-op, I had it in my mind that they want you up and moving ASAP. I was bound and determined to be superwoman....for about a minute!

By then my beautiful daughter was by my bedside asking me how I was. I think I told her okay/fine or something of the sort OR I may have vocalized rather loudly how much I just wanted to BELCH. She laughed. Since I must have been impressive in my superwoman state of mind, Carried started preparing me to leave. She removed my IV and made sure I had plenty of sipping water for the bubble pressure. She checked all my vitals and then said I was good to go if I wanted to leave. That's when the nausea kicked in BIGTIME! Unfortunately since she had already removed the IV, I had to wait to take the meds that I thankfully had filled the night before and brought with me. So my daughter left to pull up to the exit and Carrie wheeled me to the car, helped me and waved good bye telling me to make sure to take my meds right away and call if I had any problems. My daughter immediately stopped at the first convenient store and got me some water for my meds. I took them immediately and I believe the nausea went away shortly afterward. I wasn't thinking right because I forgot that the nausea meds were dissolving tablets that melted on your tongue. Oh well...it helped.

Homeward bound in the middle of noon-rush hr traffic...one hour later we arrived home. First thing I did was get my GAS-X strips and took one for the intensely insane gas issue. It really hurt and my throat felt like I had strep or something similar. Water was my best friend beside the Gas-X. Eventually I let out a little "urrp" enough for my daughter to laugh at me. She's usually the one that does the loud burping and I'm constantly after her to use her manners (best she can) to be as lady-like possible. But now I know when you got one of the bubbles in the midst....LET IT OUT! Of course I burp...everyone does, but it feels SOOOO goood. Matter of fact - as I'm writing this one just came out...yippee!

So the rest of the day pretty much was a blend of trying to lay down, but getting back up, doing some walking, doing the lung thingie, taking meds, back to bed, walk a little more, do another round of lung exercizing, try to belch again & again, sip some water to ease the throat soreness, etc., etc., etc. I also took a vitamin C and Fish Oil caplet to get some nutrients in since I'll be living off of broth for the next week. I was very careful to take them each slowly. Was successful, felt no pressure/pain in swallowing them.

I thought for sure I'd want to sleep all day & night, but I had the worst insomnia bout...I just couldn't get to sleep. I didn't feel so much the pain of the incisions as the gas pressure as it started to move under my left breast and back area. It's still with me today; not as bad but it's there.

Today - my incisions hurt and I feel stiff and groggy/sleepy. I finally went to bed about 6:00 AM (I think) when I finally fell asleep until about 10:00 AM. While laying there waking up, I thought I don't feel any pain (nothing excruciating) so maybe I could forego the pain/nausea meds until later when I truly needed them. But as I got up to pee...my body immediately told me I wasn't SILLY for thinking I didn't need to take my meds FIRST THING! I'm also hungry...enough to start the broth thingie. So I took my meds, regular meds (Nature Throid for hypothyroidism) and my daily multi-vits/supplements. I'm a big naturopathic healthcare nut when it comes to vits/supps. I've never been able to do well at following a good healthy eating plan, so the vits/sups help as back-up. I see a Naturopathic Doc (ND) regularly which was part of my reason to finally do something about my weight. She's been wanting me to lose weight for the 5+ years I've been seeing her and although I've lost weight at times, I never kept it off. Sadly, I'm heavier today than I was when I first started seeing her. Ugh! But that will be another blog for another day. I'm getting tired and my broth is getting cold, so off to bed I go, hoping to get some much needed rest. I will check back in with you later. Thanks for stopping by. Nighty nite....