I woke up in the recovery room with oxygen tubes up my nose, a catheter in, a heart rate monitor on my finger, very blurry vision, and a confused brain.  I remember only wanting to see my family and get a drink of water. I was so tired and groggy, but so thirsty and wanting to see my husband, mom, and dad. When I finally got this across verbally to my supervising nurse, she informed me that family doesn’t come into the recovery room and I would be with her for another 2 hours before I would be wheeled to a hospital room. I remember crying for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only 10 minutes, because I kept falling asleep in between. Little did I know, my family was waiting with baited breath to see me, also; but Dr. Sinervo had talked to them throughout my entire surgery and when I was finished. He had let them know exactly what happened in the operating room in those 3.5 hours of surgery.

I finally got wheeled up to my waiting room, and less than 5 minutes later, in walked my family. I was really so happy to see my hubby, my mom, and my dad (who had flown in while I was in surgery). I still kept falling asleep, and I just remember profusely apologizing for it. I wasn’t in a whole lot of pain from surgery, but I also had a dilaudid plunger that I was able to press a button every 10 minutes, and it would send pain medication through my IV. I didn’t use it as often as I thought I would, but it was nice to have after surgery, I can’t deny that. I had my catheter for 24 hours after surgery- not going to lie, that was super awkward; both having it in and getting it taken out! I also had the oxygen tubes up my nose, a breathing monitor, and a heart rate monitor on my finger for 24 hours after surgery. TOTAL SIDE NOTE: I had to have my IV re-done after 48 hours, because the nurse that originally put it in did NOT get it in the correct place, and it started a “cord” (not sure of the medical term) in my arm–OUCH! That’s basically where the fluid is just pooling in the spot where the IV is in your skin and it makes a weird hard bump that feels like a large contusion!

Starting the day of surgery, all of my nurses, techs, and doctors explained the importance to me of moving, hydrating, and breathing. Because they did this with my support group in the room, those three hounded me for the next 5 days about walking every 1-2 hours, using my spirometer, and drinking as much water as I could humanly hold in my bladder. However, it paid off, because I was out of the hospital in 3 days! That’s right, 3 days after a bowel resection, appendectomy, salpingectomy, and LAPEX excision surgery.

If you’re asking me, “How?” I will tell you. You have to get up and move! No matter how much pain you are in, do not just sit/lay around in that hospital bed. You have to get up and move around to get all that gas from the laparoscopy to move around. It is a big deal after surgery when you have your first fart. I don’t think my mom or husband has ever been so excited to hear me fart! That’s one way that the doctors and nurses know that your bowels are beginning to work again. So you get moving to get that gas working, and when you get back to your room, sit in the chair! Don’t get back in bed, sit up as long as you can- and drink your water and do your spirometer breathing. I rolled my eyes at my husband every time he bugged me about it, but I really think all of this helped me in the long run. Honestly, you get no sleep in the hospital due to all the beeps and interruptions of nurses and techs coming in. I just wanted to sleep a full night through.

Now, let’s talk about food, because that’s definitely a topic of interest after completing a bowel prep and not eating for 48-72 hours. After surgery (depending on what you have done, I’m assuming this is because of the bowel resection) I was still on a liquid diet- chicken broth, jello, water, soda, just anything liquid. Once I flatulated, I was upgraded to a “soft foods” diet. Let me tell you something, this still sucks. Cream of chicken is no better than the chicken broth that I was guzzling down after my surgery. However, when I made that first bowel movement, that’s when I really graduated. I was then upgraded to “GI soft” which was normal, but bland food. When I tell you that those were some of the best scrambled eggs and baked chicken I’ve ever eaten, I mean it! My stomach really couldn’t take as much flavor as I was craving anyway, and I ate in very small portions.

I definitely had my moments after surgery where I was in a lot of pain. The first walk I took made me instantly nauseous and I had to sit back down. I hate needles and IVs, so finding out 1. that I had to get a lovenox (blood thinner) shot every day that I was in the hospital, and 2. that I had to get my IV re-done just about sent me into a panic attack. My surgery was on a Thursday and by Friday afternoon I was no longer on the pain medication plunger- and the nerve block that the doctor performed on my bladder area while in surgery wore off. I woke up with so much pain in my abdomen that I started to sob, but quickly stopped because it hurt so bad to cry that I was holding my breath. One of the craziest things was getting a terrible migraine the day I was released. I signed all my paper work, and the nurse was nice enough to call in a prescription for migraines for me and let me sleep it off until I was ready to leave. There was a point on our 12 hour ride home that I thought I might be constipated, which is a big red flag after having a bowel resection and having several bowel movements post-op. It could mean a blockage or a leak, and if not caught early it can be very dangerous and even fatal.  

However, I made it home in one piece, and in time for all of the holiday festivities that were going on in my family! Now, what I didn’t fully anticipate for was for my first post-op period. In case you haven’t figured out my pattern in story-telling here, I’ll tell you about it next week! I will also catch you up to how I am feeling 8 weeks post-op! Please enjoy reading and don’t forget like, comment, and share!