Take Down Update
It's been 36 hours since my loop ileostomy closure surgery and I'm feeling fabulous!
Check in was a bit delayed because of a power outage but it didn't take long to move from patient registration to the pre-operative bay. Just like last time, I got to dress out in a special purple gown that was convection heated. As I heated to a toasty 98 degrees, I felt like a batch of cookies. According to my surgeons research, warm cookie patients have better outcomes.
I was then wheeled into OR #8 with a farewell kiss from my mother still lingering on my check. With a quick injection and a few deep breaths of the gas in my mask, I fell into the hollow unconsciousness of anesthesia.
I woke up in pain in the post-operative bay, but it was quickly controlled by the amazing nurse that was assigned to my bed, Melissa.* Melissa turned out to be a ray of sunshine in the chaotic storm that is the post-Op bay. I spent 10 hours there waiting for a bed to open up on the GI surgery recovery floor, 6K. She was like my fairy godmother, conjuring up a solution to every discomfort I experienced. Pain? *poof* Gone! Uncomfortable in the post-Op stretcher? *poof* Hospital bed. Itching from the side effects of pain meds? *poof* & *poof* IV Benadryl and cooling lotion. Imagine waiting at a restaurant for the table you reserved months in advance and being told the previous nights guest we're still eating and you couldn't have it: that's the frustration I felt. Luckily, Melissa was there to keep me company and kept a smile on my face.
I finally received a bed on the 6K "overflow" floor: 8C, a trauma floor. The vibe is definitely different on this side of the hospital. However my luck continued by pairing me up with experienced nurses and a very kind roommate. My brother brought me a smoothie from Xtreme Juice (the most amazing smoothie place on this side of the Mississippi) and my roomie's family picked me up some McDonalds fries as soon as my diet was bumped up to low fiber from liquids only. My pain is minimal and well controlled with the medications I've been given. I've been out of bed and walking around after only 5 hours after my surgery. I'll even be receiving some amazing visitors - friends and family - later this evening.
Recovery so far has been so fantastically uneventful and I am beyond grateful to my nurses, doctors, family, friends, and acquaintances that have made it so. It seems the luck of the Irish has been on my side; someone remind me to kiss the Blarney Stone or an Irishman in thanks.
*Names have been changed to maintain privacy.
