Well after last time’s ‘panic post’, I’m glad to say nothing of the sort eventuated. I’ll cover the experience now. My 76th birthday was on Friday 27th, the day of the operation. A nurse realised and when I went into the operating room everyone shouted “Happy Birthday” which was really nice. So, went off to sleep with no fuss at all and woke up in ICO, in subjective time, almost immediately.
I was in ICU partly because of my age, but especially because I have a couple of stents and they wanted to be sure I was somewhere that had crash carts handy in case they were needed which, luckily, they weren’t. As I said in the last post a few days back, I was expecting a *lot* of pain and discomfort whereas in fact I had *none*. No pain from the wounds, and no pain from gas. I was given Fentanyl via an ‘on-demand’ supply and was told to press for a shot even if had a slight twinge to keep on top of any potential problems, which of course I did. I had no nausea and felt quite comfortable through the entire process.
After a day and a half in ICU, I was transferred to the surgical ward. My movement was restricted until the next day when I was finally allowed to get up and move around more. That afternoon they decided I was able to be discharged. They ensured I was capable of taking in sufficient fluids and I had a bowl of consomme for lunch along with a tub of apple juice, and the same again in the evening, and was then released. On discharge, they gave me a supply of medications which included liquid Endone to control possible pain as the Fetanyl finally left my system.
At home, I had a really longed-for cup of tea, which I drank in sips until it went cold but was still comfortable. Took most of my medications but decided against the Nexium and Endone Bed at around 9:00 and dropped off to sleep.
It became apparent through the night that leaving out both Nexium and Endone wasn’t such a great idea because I wasn’t actually “in pain”, it *was* uncomfortable and, I think on reflection, I should have taken it, if only for reassurance.
Other than that, it’s been plain sailing so far. I went out with ‘the wife’ and dog for a stroll around the local reserve for 45 mins (with the wife holding the lead when necessary), and came back a little tired but still mobile. I was able to sit down a couple of times but managed ok overall.
Anyway, from here on in, I think my ‘problems’ for the next few weeks (such as they are) will revolve around how to fix my diet so that I take in sufficient nutrition, especially during the ‘clear fluid’ stage. which I admit I’m not really sure I’m following properly because I’m slowly working through a diet shake. I’ll check that it’s ok to do this, but as I’m using a straw and taking gentle sips I hope it’ll be fine.
So here we go, stepping out into the Great Adventure, hoping that the surgery and restrictive diet will do what I want, i.e. to reduce the weight I’m carrying around and make it easier for me to move and possibly even prolong my life a little. We’ll see. 🙂
The Eclectic Interweb 