How Tayo Came to Part With Her Gallbladder, Part 2

Posted on June 27, 2008

We continue on in the saga. If you haven’t read the first part, you can read it here (or just scroll down).

I was sent home from the surgery center with a stack of forms and instruction sheets and a prescription for Percocet (yes, the stuff that people get addicted to!). The most important instruction I received was that I should not eat or drink after midnight. I wish I could remember what my “last meal” was, but honestly I can’t.

That night, I cleaned up my house, got together some things for the hospital and the next day and was asleep by eleven; no use staying up later when I was pretty sure that I was going to end up feeling hungry if I did. I woke up the next morning at 5 a.m. to get ready for the 6:30 a.m. (yes.) surgery. I took my shower and then did a second wash with the betadine scrub that was given to me. My mom came by to pick me up and prayed over me and we were on our way.

Back at the surgery center, we found that I was scheduled as the first patient of the day. Lucky me. We went back into the surgery pre-op/post-op holding area. I was given a hospital gown (you know the backless ones) and told that if I had to pee, I should do it now. The nurse (Debbie) prepped me for my IV. And it was relatively easy compared to another experience I had when I was ten (let’s just say there were several attempts made involving sticking, missing and removing the needle into the thin veins on my little hand, shudder to think). I was also given an antibiotic to help ward off any potential infections after surgery. Then the anesthesiologist came in to verify some of the things from my medical history.

Then the anesthesiology assistant came in and started messing with the IV bags behind me. He offered to give me something to “help me relax” before the surgery. Mind you, I was just lying in the bed and I was pretty calm. I gave him a crazy look and told him that I would be fine and that he could just give me the drugs whenever they were actually ready to start the damn surgery (okay, I didn’t say “damn”, but I should have). He said “Sure” and walked out and I continued chitchatting with my mom. About five minutes later, he came back and disappeared behind me (where the IV stand was).

And that’s my last memory before realizing that I was being wheeled back from recovery.

My mom said that there was a conversation about her keeping my glasses, but I have absolutely no recollection of that.

The surgery was a laparoscopic cholecystectomic (sp?) surgery. Basically, the surgeon made four cuts on my abdomen, each about half an inch or less. Then a light and camera were inserted into some of the holes. My abdomen was inflated with CO2 gas (like a balloon) and then the surgeon did his thing. (I’m sure it’s a lot more complicated than that, but that’s my understanding of what happened.)

The next memory I have, hazy though it may be, was being wheeled back to the post-op room. My eyes were closed but I remember the feeling of the bed being wheeled through the halls. The next was the jolt as the bed was stopped back in the room. The next was hearing the nurse directing my mom back to the room. Smiling at my mom, telling her I was okay. The next was my father coming by. In between all these memories, I’m pretty sure that I was asleep because I know I had to stay in the post-op room for at least two hours and I don’t have two hours’ worth of memory from that time.

The next solid memory I had was of the nurse coming in and giving me a cup of ice water and my first dose of Percocet. She said since I had been here long enough and I could keep the water down that I could leave as soon as I was discharged. All in all, I was at the hospital for less than six hours (from 6:00 a.m. to about 11:30 a.m.) I was disconnected from the IV and I was able to climb out of bed myself and maneuver myself to the wheelchair. The nurse wheeled me out to my mom’s car and she took me back to their house. On the way there, we stopped at the grocery store so my mom could get me recovery friendly food (read: lots of liquids and plain breads and crackers).

When we got to my parent’s house, I went straight into the guest bedroom and went to sleep. Here’s how the rest of my day went: sleep, wake up, drink some water, eat a couple of crackers, go into the living room, walk around, go back into the bedroom, watch some of whatever was showing on Nickelodeon, go back to sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I must admit that I was not in any pain that entire day. I was faithful to that four-hour window for taking the Percocet. At times, I could feel the incisions begin to throb from beneath the layers and layers of gauze. At some time that night, my mother forced me to eat some chicken noodle soup (well, actually she would not leave the room until she was convinced I would eat it). The next day, my father took me back to my own house and made sure I was set up and comfortable. The rest of the day was spent very much like the first day except with a little less sleeping. My friends, wonderful people they are, called me to check up on me and asked if I wanted to go see Kung Fu Panda. Sure, I’m feeling better, I should be able to go watch the movie, I thought. So I told them I’d go with them.

Not the wisest decision.

Come back soon for the next part of the saga.

Comments

3 Responses to “How Tayo Came to Part With Her Gallbladder, Part 2”

  1. MrsGrapevine on June 30th, 2008 11:05 am

    How are you doing, now? I hope everything is well. waiting for Part 3.

  2. Tayo on July 1st, 2008 7:18 am

    Doing much better MrsG. Part 3’s coming. I’m just being lazy :)

  3. Sincere on July 4th, 2008 7:40 pm

    How long are you gonna be in “recovery” mode? Glad you’re doing better. Peace

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