I Didn't Wake Up!

I did it! I survived the surgery and best of all I didn't wake up!

Brian and I got to the hospital at 6:00 am, boy the hospital was busy at that time! Unlike Ami, I was unable to wear make up, lotion or anything else that would make me look pretty! Thankfully I was surrounded by older people that didn't care what I looked like! Plus when I asked Brian to take a picture he said we would look "fruitcakey", so no need for makeup.

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After about an hour and lots of paperwork I was taken prep room. This is when I REALLY wanted to throw up and cry. I changed into the fashionable hospital gown and waited for the nurses. Waiting in that little "room" with the curtains surrounding me was so nerve wrecking. all I wanted to do was cry and run back home. But, I did not cry (not yet). The anesthesiologist came in to talk to me (very nice man and very calming) and gave me this wonderful little anti-nausea patch! That was the best gift ever. Then the nurses came in to do my IV. Ugh! Apparently I have bad veins that have valves. She poked me THREE times in the left arm and once in the hand trying to put in the IV. No luck. I could tell she was panicking a bit because not only was the IV not going in, but I was bleeding... alot. Plus she whispered something under her breath and said, "This is a big surgery, the IV has to be good." Not very comforting! At this point I was in complete denial about how "big" this surgery was. Another nurse came in and tried on my right arm. This was not fantastic, but she was successful. Whew!

My bruised arm from so many IV attempts and blood drawing.

After my IV was in, Brian came in and this is when I became a cry baby! I felt like a idiot, but what can I do now. They wheeled me to the OR and that is all I remember! The next thing I know I am in recovery, very sore and unable to talk. Once Brian came in the nurse gave us a few tips about how I would feel and told me I shouldn't talk. i think this was the best news Brian had gotten all day! A silent wife :)

After awhile, Dr. Coffman (i.e. Brad Pitt) comes in to check on me.
Apparently when I woke up the first thing I said was, "I was dreaming about school." Really! I can't escape.

Dr. Coffman did find another nodule on one of my lymphnodes, but removed the entire thing. He's not sure if it was cancerous or not. He did reassure us that even if it was, once I take my radioactive capsule anything left in my body will be zapped.

So you probably think I am exaggerating about how handsome Dr. Coffman is, well, let me tell you about ALL of my nurses! My first nurse, Tanya, looks at my wristband and says, "OOO Dr. Coffman is your doctor? He is so nice! He's our McDreamy." Another nurse who came in to give me my 2nd IV (yes, more IVs! One was hard enough, now I needed 2!") noticed that Dr. Coffman had written his phone number on a piece of paper for me. She says, "Oh, Dr. Coffman gave you his number?" Me, "Yeah, I can't remember why, but there was a reason." Nurse, "OOO maybe he wants to ask you on a date! He is sooo cute." And on and on they went!

I had to have calcium running continuously because my calcium levels were very low. I almost had to stay another night due to such low calcium levels. Thankfully they went up (from 7.6 to 7.7 Normal level is 8.4 - 10) so Dr. Coffman said as soon as these 2 bags were empty I could go home. Yeah, the last bag finished at 11:00 pm! They should have just kept me, but it was nice to be in my own bed and shower though.

This is me with my 2 IVs. One was giving me calcium the other magnesium. This was pretty miserable. Going to the bathroom was really tricky and I had to go ALOT!

Thankfully my mom was here. She was quite the trooper in the hospital, unplugging my IV each time I had to go potty (even at 3:45 am), putting my slippers on my feet, even feeding me lunch while 2 nurses were poking and prodding at each arm and "sleeping" in the most uncomfortable chair known to man.

Here I am looking like Frankenstein. Notice the nice orange color on my face?

A close up of my incision. Not quite sure what the arrow is for...

This is my "breathing" machine. I had to inhale in the straw and my goal was to make the big blue thing on the left move up to the small blue arrow all the while keeping the small blue thing on the right in between the dark blue arrows. (did that make sense?) anyway, it was VERY hard! But it was supposed to exercise my diaphram so that I wouldn't get pneumonia. Brian of course thought is looked like something very inappropriate!
I came home with 6 different prescriptions! I have 2 different calcium pills to take, 1 magnesium, a thyroid med, pain killers and doculace (sp?). I am such a fan of pills... Yeah right! Especially now that it hurts to swallow.

These are all of my prescriptions. The pile of pills is what I have to take in ONE day! Thankfully it is only for a week or so.
I have to have more blood tests done tomorrow, don't know where they are going to get blood from since my veins are shot. So that should be interesting.

I will be on the thyroid med for 4 weeks, then on my diet for 2 weeks and finally the radioactive capsule. This should all be over by June 8.

The hardest thing so far has been being home with Jaxon. I can't hold him, pick him up or even give him his bottle for fear that he will whack me in the throat. The poor little guy just doesn't understand and he crawls over to me, stands up and starts whining. It makes me so sad. At least he loves my mom and she gives him as much love, if not more, than I would. Like she says, "There's nothing like a grandma."