I posted this in my diary yesterday so some of you may have already seen it. Thought I should post it here too as some of you dont have enough posts yet to access the gold members section.
Warning – this is going to be a long post. Ok here goes…
Saturday 29th August.
I arrived at hospital at around 4pm with Neil and my youngest daughter Zoe. Shown to my bed, booked in and told I was 4th on the list for theatre tomorrow. Was also told I could have nothing to eat but to drink as much as I liked before midnight when I would be nil by mouth. Spent some time unpacking, said my goodbyes and settled down to read some of the magazines I had taken in. Had a comfortable nights sleep.
Sunday 30th August
Was woken at about 6.30am to shower and get gowned up. The consultant anaesthetist came to see me, and shortly afterwards Mr Khans registrar came to see me to go through the risks for one last time and for me to sign the consent form. Sat patiently then until it was time to go down to theatre just before 1pm.
Arrived in the theatre area to be greeted by Mr Khan who told me that due to a mix up with equipment I would be having Laparoscopic Surgery and not the open surgery I was expecting. Gave him a huge hug and then sat down to have my canular fitted to take the anaesthetic. The anaesthetist was lovely and did his best to keep me calm. Surprisingly, even at this point I didn’t feel nervous. So with canular fitted I made my way into theatre and climbed aboard the operating table.
The staff all seemed to spring into action really quickly. There were a couple getting instruments ready in the background, while another lady fitted my blood pressure monitor and heart tracing little pads they put on your chest. The aneasthetist was sat behind my head and asked me what drink I would like to calm my nerves. I asked for champagne as it was a celebration and he asked me to take some deep breaths of oxygen while he prepared my champagne. Then he said, “OK, your champagne moment is here” I was gone.
Next thing I knew I was being woken up. I was in terrible pain and shaking violently which I guess was just an effect of the aneasthetic wearing off. They put a blanket over me which appeared to blow warm air around me and I soon felt warm again. Once I stopped shaking the pain wasn’t so bad. I must have gone back to sleep as next thing I knew I was back on the ward and it was 4.30pm. The nurses were fussing over me, doing my obs and I was wired up to a saline drip for hydration and morphine for pain relief. I had a button to press which would release a measured dose of morphine every 5 minutes. I managed a 10 second phone call to my husband to tell him I was OK, and then I drifted back off to sleep and awoke at 6.30 to find my wonderful husband sitting beside me. I wasn’t much company but he was happy to see me OK and conscious and knowing that the operation had been a success. He didn’t stay too long as I was tired and in quite a lot of pain and I just wanted to sleep. I had a very disturbed night with the nurses doing hourly obs, and making good use of the morphine as often as I could.
Monday 31st August
Was woken at around 7am and helped out of bed. I had a catheter fitted so didn’t need to worry about loo trips. Was told someone would help me shower as soon as a shower room was available so sat in the chair for an hour or so and sipped on some water. I was told I was now on free fluids again, and whilst I had a drip to ensure I didn’t become dehydrated I was told to sip sip sip as much as I could throughout the day. Once I had had my shower I sat out for a while but still in a lot of pain I was back in bed by around 12. Neil brought my two girls for visiting at 3pm and they had made some lovely get well cards. Then my two wonderful friends Angela and Terri came to visit at 6.30. I wasn’t very good company as by this time I was so spaced out on morphine and quite uncomfortable. Had a more comfortable nights sleep though as I wasn’t disturbed so often by the nurses.
Tuesday 1st September
Woken around 7am again and managed to get out of bed. Felt a bit more comfortable than I had the previous day and managed to shower myself. I tried my best to be more mobile and had a few walks around the ward and up and down the corridor to get the wind moving. It started shifting and the pain started to subside. Had my canular removed so only had soluble paracetamol for pain relief which I just could not get down me. I had a much more comfortable day and was a lot more with it when Neil and the girls came to visit.
Wednesday 2nd September
Had a “swallow test” at 10.30am which is a drink under xray to make sure there were no internal leaks. The test was fine and I was told I would be allowed to go home that day. It took until almost 4pm before my drugs were ready. Neil took me home and the journey was painful but I was so glad to be back. My lovely friend Tammy came to visit me and I was in bed for 8pm. Slept comfortably but my poor husband had to be woken up every time I needed to move as I couldn’t pull myself out of bed.
Thursday 3rd September.
Suffered with the pain a little bit today as I still cant manage to get the soluble paracetamol to go down. Got some sugar free calpol instead which took the edge off the pain, but obviously isn’t as strong as the tablets I had been given. Slept comfortably again though.
Friday 4th September
This is the day I felt I finally started turning the corner. I had a pretty much pain free day and managed my fluids much better than the previous two days. The bloating seems to have started to subside and I’m no longer suffering with wind pain. Im still feeling very tired though but I suppose that’s to be expected when Im surviving on probably 200 cals a day.
So, that’s been my week. Sorry for such a long post but I thought the pre oppers who read this might benefit from knowing how I felt throughout the week. If you were to ask me what I wish I had known beforehand it would have to be how much pain I was in. I have always thought myself to have a high pain threshold but this was off the scale. I don’t say this to frighten anyone, and I know we’re all different anyway but I wish I had been more prepared for how much pain I would be in.
My hospital insists on fluids only for the first four weeks. So far since I have been home, I have managed water, coffee, highlights hot chocolate, cup a soup, a small amount of fortimel, and NAS Robinsons Orange and Vimto Cordial. Today I’m going to add in some sugar free Jelly and I’m going to get some slim fast on hospital instructions as I just cant cope with the fortimel and need to up my calorie intake. In a week or so, I will add some thicker liquids like liquidized soups.
Hope I havent sent you all to sleep with such a mammoth post and hope someone out there finds it useful. xx
Warning – this is going to be a long post. Ok here goes…
Saturday 29th August.
I arrived at hospital at around 4pm with Neil and my youngest daughter Zoe. Shown to my bed, booked in and told I was 4th on the list for theatre tomorrow. Was also told I could have nothing to eat but to drink as much as I liked before midnight when I would be nil by mouth. Spent some time unpacking, said my goodbyes and settled down to read some of the magazines I had taken in. Had a comfortable nights sleep.
Sunday 30th August
Was woken at about 6.30am to shower and get gowned up. The consultant anaesthetist came to see me, and shortly afterwards Mr Khans registrar came to see me to go through the risks for one last time and for me to sign the consent form. Sat patiently then until it was time to go down to theatre just before 1pm.
Arrived in the theatre area to be greeted by Mr Khan who told me that due to a mix up with equipment I would be having Laparoscopic Surgery and not the open surgery I was expecting. Gave him a huge hug and then sat down to have my canular fitted to take the anaesthetic. The anaesthetist was lovely and did his best to keep me calm. Surprisingly, even at this point I didn’t feel nervous. So with canular fitted I made my way into theatre and climbed aboard the operating table.
The staff all seemed to spring into action really quickly. There were a couple getting instruments ready in the background, while another lady fitted my blood pressure monitor and heart tracing little pads they put on your chest. The aneasthetist was sat behind my head and asked me what drink I would like to calm my nerves. I asked for champagne as it was a celebration and he asked me to take some deep breaths of oxygen while he prepared my champagne. Then he said, “OK, your champagne moment is here” I was gone.
Next thing I knew I was being woken up. I was in terrible pain and shaking violently which I guess was just an effect of the aneasthetic wearing off. They put a blanket over me which appeared to blow warm air around me and I soon felt warm again. Once I stopped shaking the pain wasn’t so bad. I must have gone back to sleep as next thing I knew I was back on the ward and it was 4.30pm. The nurses were fussing over me, doing my obs and I was wired up to a saline drip for hydration and morphine for pain relief. I had a button to press which would release a measured dose of morphine every 5 minutes. I managed a 10 second phone call to my husband to tell him I was OK, and then I drifted back off to sleep and awoke at 6.30 to find my wonderful husband sitting beside me. I wasn’t much company but he was happy to see me OK and conscious and knowing that the operation had been a success. He didn’t stay too long as I was tired and in quite a lot of pain and I just wanted to sleep. I had a very disturbed night with the nurses doing hourly obs, and making good use of the morphine as often as I could.
Monday 31st August
Was woken at around 7am and helped out of bed. I had a catheter fitted so didn’t need to worry about loo trips. Was told someone would help me shower as soon as a shower room was available so sat in the chair for an hour or so and sipped on some water. I was told I was now on free fluids again, and whilst I had a drip to ensure I didn’t become dehydrated I was told to sip sip sip as much as I could throughout the day. Once I had had my shower I sat out for a while but still in a lot of pain I was back in bed by around 12. Neil brought my two girls for visiting at 3pm and they had made some lovely get well cards. Then my two wonderful friends Angela and Terri came to visit at 6.30. I wasn’t very good company as by this time I was so spaced out on morphine and quite uncomfortable. Had a more comfortable nights sleep though as I wasn’t disturbed so often by the nurses.
Tuesday 1st September
Woken around 7am again and managed to get out of bed. Felt a bit more comfortable than I had the previous day and managed to shower myself. I tried my best to be more mobile and had a few walks around the ward and up and down the corridor to get the wind moving. It started shifting and the pain started to subside. Had my canular removed so only had soluble paracetamol for pain relief which I just could not get down me. I had a much more comfortable day and was a lot more with it when Neil and the girls came to visit.
Wednesday 2nd September
Had a “swallow test” at 10.30am which is a drink under xray to make sure there were no internal leaks. The test was fine and I was told I would be allowed to go home that day. It took until almost 4pm before my drugs were ready. Neil took me home and the journey was painful but I was so glad to be back. My lovely friend Tammy came to visit me and I was in bed for 8pm. Slept comfortably but my poor husband had to be woken up every time I needed to move as I couldn’t pull myself out of bed.
Thursday 3rd September.
Suffered with the pain a little bit today as I still cant manage to get the soluble paracetamol to go down. Got some sugar free calpol instead which took the edge off the pain, but obviously isn’t as strong as the tablets I had been given. Slept comfortably again though.
Friday 4th September
This is the day I felt I finally started turning the corner. I had a pretty much pain free day and managed my fluids much better than the previous two days. The bloating seems to have started to subside and I’m no longer suffering with wind pain. Im still feeling very tired though but I suppose that’s to be expected when Im surviving on probably 200 cals a day.
So, that’s been my week. Sorry for such a long post but I thought the pre oppers who read this might benefit from knowing how I felt throughout the week. If you were to ask me what I wish I had known beforehand it would have to be how much pain I was in. I have always thought myself to have a high pain threshold but this was off the scale. I don’t say this to frighten anyone, and I know we’re all different anyway but I wish I had been more prepared for how much pain I would be in.
My hospital insists on fluids only for the first four weeks. So far since I have been home, I have managed water, coffee, highlights hot chocolate, cup a soup, a small amount of fortimel, and NAS Robinsons Orange and Vimto Cordial. Today I’m going to add in some sugar free Jelly and I’m going to get some slim fast on hospital instructions as I just cant cope with the fortimel and need to up my calorie intake. In a week or so, I will add some thicker liquids like liquidized soups.
Hope I havent sent you all to sleep with such a mammoth post and hope someone out there finds it useful. xx
