Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Phew!

Well, I made it through the surgery, not brilliantly, but it's over thank god.
Last week things got worse by the day in the run up to the op. I nearly crashed my car twice by leaving the handbrake off, I left it unlocked all day at work one day, went to work another day and didn't turn on the burglar alarm at home.... Get the picture? One highlight was a lovely good luck card and stitched gift from Sally which I received a couple of days before which brightened my week (hugs Sally). I hope you don't mind me borrowing your pic of it Sally as I'm not up to setting up the camera and taking pics just yet.

So when Friday came I just wanted it over. I did have a few tears but when it came down to it I was pretty calm. I remember seeing 2.02pm when I first went into the anaesthetic room, and the last I remember was 2.05pm, then I was in the recovery room with people pestering me to wake up lol.
I didn't find out til later that day, but the surgery didn't go exactly to plan. The largest of the 4 incisions should have been 10mm, but ended up being over 50mm as my gallbladder was so inflamed and filled with lots of large stones that if they hadn't of done this they would have had to have opened me up fully to remove it. I was also told that if I hadn't have had the op when I did I'd have been in casualty within the next couple of months with it as an emergency because it was so bad.
My hospital experience on the whole was good though. The nurses were nice, I was in a room with 3 lovely ladies who seemed to take me under their wings as a surrogate daughter and it was made sure that I was well looked after with pain meds etc.
The worst part came when I came home and my plan of feeling great on Day 2 like lots of people I've heard about didn't happen, Day 2 was my worst day with my tummy getting really swollen and me being in floods of tears. I felt so low and regretted ever having it done as I was in so much pain.
Thankfully things seem to be improving very slowly with each day, but it's been a big shock to the system to realise my recovery is going to be a lot harder than I expected (I thought I'd be out dancing the night away on Day 2 haha!). So far all I've managed to do is do a slow waddle around the house picking up the odd thing as I go past, watch tv, surf, and finally last night I managed about half an hour stitching before I got too uncomfy.
Erin has been such a little star. She is very careful about cuddling me and has only caught me offguard once by mistake which made her cry because she was scared she'd hurt me lots. She is playing nurse and fetching and carrying for me and helping to tidy up and I'm so proud of her it brings tears to my eyes. Tomorrow however she goes on holiday with my mum for a week and although I know she will have lots of fun and it's better for her to be on holiday with them than stuck in the house with me, I'm going to miss her like mad and keep crying when I think about it. This weekend DH and I are going to have our first weekend alone since before she was born and I'm not well enough to make the most of it lol. We have said if I'm up to eating a bit more by then though we might have a nice takeaway and a DVD.
Thank you again to those who've left comments, emailed and sent texts with good wishes and asking how I am, I really appreciate them. Thanks also to Claire for her lovely get well card which came yesterday and brightened my day and also to Dawn for coming to visit me yesterday even though I'm living in my pj's right now lol.
Hopefully my next post will be more back on the topic of stitching and I might even have some update pics to show!

6 comments:

Sally said...

You are so welcome for our wee gift. So glad you like it.

Sorry to hear the surgery didn't go quite as planned but better now than in an emergency. Take it easy and don't overdo things too soon. {{{{hugs}}}}

Aww bless Erin. You brought tears to my eyes with that bit.

Jennifer said...

Like Sally said, better to go planned than have an emergency, even if the surgery wasn't quite what you expected. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Sue said...

I'm so glad your surgery is over with and that you are recovering well. Take it easy though, we always want to jump into things much sooner than we should ;)

Karan said...

Glad it's all over & done with - definitely agree with Sally. Hope you recover well & soon. I can recommend Jayne's prescription: lots of time with your feet up, stitching in hand. :0)

Lynn said...

Glad to hear your through the op and home again. The worst is over, so take things easy now and enjoy the chance to sit, relax and stitch :)

Stitchingranny said...

Go at your own pace Lisa. It was a month before I felt happy driving again despite everyone knowing someone who had been back driving after a week or two at the most. We all heal differently and I also think having an op can make you lose a little of your confidence even though it may sound silly. I had felt so constantly sick before the op eating anti-sickness tablets like smarties, so to not feel sick anymore was wonderful, and made me feel better right away but that does not mean you will. Good Luck with your recovery and I am sure you will soon start to feel the benefits.