Gallbladder surgery was exactly as advertised = quick (to me) and pain free.
Recovery, not so much. Surprising amount of pain from the gas they pumped into my stomach to separate organs. The better to see them, doc said. That's fine by me, but Oh Lordy! The last thing I expected to wake up with was a massively distended, swollen belly.
Am surviving. Thank Goodness M was there and took the next day off too. I was really shocked by the pain, and the gobs of percocet the docs lobbed at me. The cure for the gas is to get up and walk, yet the more percocet one takes, the less one feels like getting up to do anything (and the more constipated one gets, as well).
In any case, I am decidedly on the mend. Now I am in my warm apartment, wrapped in a frowzy bathrobe pacing the floor like some modern day Mrs. Rochester. (I'm dying to see the new Jane Eyre movie.) It's impossible to get outside (two flights of stairs plus nasty weather) so I pace, pace, pace, nap, nap, nap, pace, pace, pace in an effort to rest and get the gas and anesthesia moving out of my system. Suspect I will feel very good indeed once the worst of the gas is gone.
Worst moment of the whole thing? Cab ride home from hospital. Delusional being that I am, I somehow thought I'd float out in minor discomfort and just hop in a cab. Instead, I hobbled out, bent over in pain, fighting the urge to vomit everywhere, and was treated to your usual 20-minutes of cabbie hell in NYC rush hour traffic. Start, stop, swerve, brakes, pot hole. I finally had to cry to the driver to please take it easy.
M said I was the whitest he'd seen me all day when I finally got out at our house. He grabbed my elbow because he thought for sure I was going to keel over. He wanted to take me back to the hospital, but no way was I getting back in another cab!
Learning moment in all -- do not send your friends flowers when they are recovering from an operation. It's a very, very nice gesture.... but who do you think has to get up to answer the door?
Thanks everyone for all the good wishes and for checking in. I'm ok, or I will be, once these next few days are over.
How can this be possible
2 years ago
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I am so glad you came through okay! Get lots of rest and speedy healing (eat that protein!)
ReplyDeleteGlad it went well. I once read that rocking chairs are great for that kind of gas post-surgery. I didn't have that issue but I did have the constipation and since that is not good for hernias, my doctor had me on all sorts of stool softening and system speeding up meds. Hope you feel better soon:)
ReplyDeleteMy best to you for a speedy recovery. Hope you will feel better soon, it just takes some time! Rest--don't hurry recovery too much. That was my biggest mistake. Take care.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you got to come home so fast. Keep moving, give it a few days and the pain will hopefully calm down soon. (((hugs)))
ReplyDeleteOuch, poor you. Still it sounds like it will get better and better and the worst is behind you (that was not a poor-taste flatulence joke!).
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I'm so behind in my blog reading. SOOOO glad you came through Ish. Hope you feel 100% again soon!!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad the surgery went well. The gas pains...well, bless your heart. They're not fun and it does take a few days. I wore jeans to a laparoscopic exploration that took less than an hour and couldn't get the blasted things zipped for 2 weeks after that. Take care of yourself and allow M to pamper you. You've been through a ringer for months with that stupid gallbladder and a little pamper time goes a long way toward healing.
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