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Day 6, and I finally feel well enough to sit at my desk to type up my surgery experience.

My surgery was the first of the day, with a hospital arrival time of 5:30 am. My father and son came with me to the hospital. I was taken back to prep immediately and received my IV, anti-nausea patch, antibiotic shot, and all the instructions I needed to understand what would happen that morning. The pre-op area was hopping, with a party atmosphere, with surgical staff and patients pouring in, while I waited for the surgeon to arrive for my 7:30 am surgery. After the surgeon arrived, I was wheeled down to the operating room, and I got one glance of it before I was apparently sedated.

My next recollection was the recovery area, and I was in a tremendous amount of pain in my abdomen. It never improved, as apparently my surgeon only allowed IV tylenol after surgery, which I didn't know until that morning. I knew he didn't send his patients home with narcotics, but I thought I would at least have pain relief in the hospital. I was still in a large amount of pain when they wheeled me to my room, and transferred me to my bed in front of my horrified father and son. They wanted me to get up and walk, but I was so shaky from the anesthesia and beside myself with pain that I couldn't get out of the bed. Every time I tried, I felt a burning in my abdomen, which I would later find out was the largest incision. My family advocated for me, and they added Toredal to my pain relief, which is IV ibuprofen. Once that kicked in, I had a small nap, and woke up that evening with much steadier legs. At this point, my other child had joined us, and my 3 family members escorted me on my first walk down the hall. 

I knew I had to walk to get rid of the gas, which was uncomfortable under my sternum, but the only time I was able to get out of bed to walk was after the Toradol took effect, and I got that every six hours. I made the most of the moments when I felt ok to walk until I felt shaky. The gas never spread anywhere else in my body, and by the end of Day 2, I really didn't feel any extra pressure from it at all. My pain was mostly this big incision, which continues even today.

I had trouble getting comfortable in the hospital. My body is shaped wrong to sleep flat on my back, even propped up. I usually sleep on my side, which just wasn't possible. I finally got the night tech to understand my issue, and he adjusted my bed so that my butt was lowered and my legs propped up, and that put a lot less pressure on my abdomen. The morning after my surgery, I was very concerned about my pain levels without the Toradol. The surgeon visited and told me he had done a hiatal hernia repair and if the pain was too bad, when I got home, I could crush 3 motrin and take them with applesauce. I was discharged with haste, by 11 am, I was dressed, in a wheelchair and being pushed out to my father's car.

The drive home was comfortable. I had two small pillows to cushion the seatbelt and prop my side up on, and the 30 minutes home wasn't bad. I was able to climb the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment, slowly but without issue. I tried managing the incision pain with liquid tylenol, but it only ever took the edge off. Before I went to bed, I crushed the 3 motrin, which makes a LOT of powder, and I took it with several small teaspoons of applesauce. I have a wedge/body pillow set up to sleep with, and that worked very well to sleep. One of my children is a night owl, and stayed up to help with my 1 am pain relief, and the other is a capable early riser, and they got up early to help with morning pain relief and everyone hovered a bit to make sure I had the items I needed, since I still wasn't too steady on my feet. 

By Day 4, I discontinued the tylenol, because it just wasn't worth it. It wasn't making a dent in the pain, and it meant I had to stop taking in liquids for a while, to make sure it digested. I've been managing my pain with cold packs mainly. I never took a second dose of the ibuprofen because it was so uncomfortable to take it, it also didn't seem worth it. I've been taking my omeprazole and blood thinners, and this morning I started my ADEK vitamins.

I've seen a steady rise in my ability to get down clear liquids and I am able to get down 4 oz of premier protein shake in 30 minutes, which is what my dietician wants me to do, every 3 hours. I would like to have more clear liquids in a day, but I can't seem to find the time to get them in. Between medications and meals, and having to stop for 30 minutes before and afterwards, there just isn't math that equals to me being able to drink the 64 oz of clear liquids PLUS 80 grams of protein a day. I need a much bigger capacity to do that. My urine is the right color, so I'm not dehydrated at least, but I am thirsty.

Big flavors aren't as appealing as they had been before surgery. I prefer plain water, herbal tea, and watered-down broth to full flavor anything. I am drinking some gatorade zero every day, for the electrolytes. Nausea hasn't been a problem yet, though I do get a lot of stomach gurgling when I take my medications with applesauce. I definitely feel pressure and get a hiccup when I am full, but it's not uncomfortable.

Energy-wise, I am able to walk around the apartment and take a few strolls around every day. Around 4 pm every afternoon, I usually take a nap for about an hour and a half, and I'm no longer waking up in the middle of the night. The incision pain isn't as raw as it was at the start, but it does pull when I get up and down from my seat. The cold packs help a lot. I'm really looking forward to being free of that pain.

I'm looking for a little more diversity in my full liquid diet, which I'm on for 15 more days (unless by some miracle, I'm cleared early). I did step on the scale yesterday and was a little alarmed that I'd lost 20 lbs since surgery. That seems like a LOT in five days. Perhaps I was retaining a lot of water?