justalonewolf007
Member
- Apr 30, 2007
- 657
- 0
Things went fairly well yesterday. I managed to deal with my anxiety too.
Got there at 11am with Don (boyfriend), and my parents showed up a minute or two later. They started out with just checking me in, putting a ID wristband on me, and giving me my “patient’s rights” pamphlet. Then they took me for “questioning,” which just ended up being a brief inventory of my symptoms, and a little family health history.
At that point I really started getting fairly uncomfortable, but having Don with me really helped. The allowed him to come into the “holding room” where I was given the evil hospital gown. The first nurse gave me some heated blankets, and that felt really nice! Unfortunately, no matter how hard they pulled on the rubber band around my arm, they couldn’t find any of the veins or arteries in my hands. The 2nd nurse didn’t have any more luck than the first, and the 3rd was no better. Number 4 took one look and called another specialist who was finally able to get it in. None of them appreciate my joke about how they should have given up with the needles, and just given me a good crack on the head with a brick or something.
The room was really quite cold, so after a bit, my hand started feeling extremely cold where the IV was going in. The bag was putting some pretty doggone cold fluids inside my arm…and rather wondered if my hand would freeze off…
I mentioned that I got nauseous very easily, and they gave me a lot of anti-nausea medication to counteract that. Finally I was able to talk to the anesthesiologist, and she answered my questions and gave her spiel regarding the whole “you will have a sore throat from this tube we’re gonna shove down your throat.” My surgeon arrived about 10 minutes after that, and gave me a few last suggestions and the like. Then another nurse came in and put the sedative in my IV, and said I was going to be feeling very tired very soon. It took longer than that, and I was wide awake even by the time I was rolling into the operating room. I started getting bored and asking questions. They didn’t pay much attention to me, just asked me to scoot over to the operating table. After that I don’t remember anything except them putting the rubber mask thing over my face, and telling me something about helping me breathe…
Supposedly I was in the recovery room for an hour, but I don’t remember much past asking for my boyfriend once or twice. I was sleeping again instantly…
The next thing I remember was waking up to see Don there right beside me and feel him holding my hand. I heard my parents talking (my dad’s voice has a way of being extremely loud, and carrying very far), and finally figured it out that things were all over. My voice was little more than a rasp, and my mouth and throat were parched. Water has never tasted so wonderful, that is, until I spotted the bottle of Pepsi that Don had brought. I asked for some, and the nurse said it would be fine for me to have a sip or two as long as I didn’t guzzle things down. After that I began to feel extremely sleepy again. I remember the Surgeon walking in to discuss things, but I wasn’t coherent enough to even understand what he was saying. I waved at him and said hi. I also told him that I was wide asleep. He didn’t even try talking to me…just turned around and left with a promise that he’d be back after a little bit.
After another long nap, I woke up in a lot of pain, and a nurse showed up with toast…and she had even put jelly on it! When I told her that I was hurting pretty badly, she said I only had to eat half a piece, and then she would give me the first dose of pain meds. I said I would have to pee first. Getting to a sitting position was insanely painful, despite the help from my boyfriend and the nurse. Walking was okay with help, and I managed sitting down by myself, but had to get help standing back up again. The nurse said “oh…yea…well you absorbed 3 full bags/liters through your IV, and you’re working on your 4th. You’ll probably be making this return trip pretty quickly!”
Getting back into bed was insanely painful too.
After that, I was too tired to touch the toast, and took another short nap. After one bite, I took another nap. Soon the nurse was harassing me, as it was getting late (4:30 or so). She came back every 10 minutes to ensure that I was making progress. Eating has never been so tiring in my life! By the time I managed to finish the half piece, she whisked the rest away and showed up with two pain pills which I gratefully swallowed. I was a little too eager to get them down, and forgot to take a little fluid with them. They stuck in my throat and I gagged lightly on them. This hurt more than lying down or sitting up.
I spent the next ten minutes whimpering pathetically, then the nurse came back and tried to help me dress. I got impatient and made her leave my little curtained area after she helped me with the difficult articles of clothing.
I got the rest of my stuff on with no problems, and waited for them to find a wheel chair. The dumb nurse forgot about the metal trim that stuck up from the floor at every door way, and earned a painful yelp at each one she hit (probably 5 or 6 total). Finally the boyfriend showed up, and came to help get me in my car. Since the parents threatened to disown me if I stayed with the boyfriend (because of it being inappropriate even though there is no physical way would could possibly engage in anything inappropriate), it was decided that I would be driven an hour and a half to Fargo to stay with my older sister, because my parents have no room for me, and I am allergic to their dog (among a few other things).
Driving out of Grand Forks was not fun, as I felt every jar and bump. However, as soon as we were on the interstate, the pain meds kicked in, and with the boyfriend holding my hand, things fell into a blur, and I pleasantly slept most of the way. Once there, getting out of the vehicle wasn’t easy at all. I was so sleepy that I was having a difficult time balancing. Trying to keep my balance caused me to tense up quite often…which made me rather feel like I was being punched by Shaquille Oneal.
Once in the building, I shuffled to the elevator, and was helped down the hall. I was put on the couch and was soon joined by the boyfriend. Once my parents arrived, some rather boisterous conversation started up, but I was too exhausted to pay any attention to it in the least…I fell asleep holding my boyfriends hand.
A few hours later, the parents and boyfriend left me to the care of my older sister. It didn’t take long before I had another dose of pain meds, and I was quickly asleep after that. We set alarmclocks to go off every four hours as the Doctor recommended. He said I shouldn’t wait for it to start hurting before I took the meds – otherwise I’d be in a great deal of pain while waiting for them to kick in again…
All in all, it really didn’t go too badly. Laughing right now hurts like you wouldn’t believe. But I am in a nice state of tiredness…Not exhausted, but that level where it just feels nice and comfortable when you close your eyes…
Thanks to all who encouraged me, sent "care packages" and gave wise words of wisdom!
Just can’t wait to get back on the bikes again!
Got there at 11am with Don (boyfriend), and my parents showed up a minute or two later. They started out with just checking me in, putting a ID wristband on me, and giving me my “patient’s rights” pamphlet. Then they took me for “questioning,” which just ended up being a brief inventory of my symptoms, and a little family health history.
At that point I really started getting fairly uncomfortable, but having Don with me really helped. The allowed him to come into the “holding room” where I was given the evil hospital gown. The first nurse gave me some heated blankets, and that felt really nice! Unfortunately, no matter how hard they pulled on the rubber band around my arm, they couldn’t find any of the veins or arteries in my hands. The 2nd nurse didn’t have any more luck than the first, and the 3rd was no better. Number 4 took one look and called another specialist who was finally able to get it in. None of them appreciate my joke about how they should have given up with the needles, and just given me a good crack on the head with a brick or something.
The room was really quite cold, so after a bit, my hand started feeling extremely cold where the IV was going in. The bag was putting some pretty doggone cold fluids inside my arm…and rather wondered if my hand would freeze off…
I mentioned that I got nauseous very easily, and they gave me a lot of anti-nausea medication to counteract that. Finally I was able to talk to the anesthesiologist, and she answered my questions and gave her spiel regarding the whole “you will have a sore throat from this tube we’re gonna shove down your throat.” My surgeon arrived about 10 minutes after that, and gave me a few last suggestions and the like. Then another nurse came in and put the sedative in my IV, and said I was going to be feeling very tired very soon. It took longer than that, and I was wide awake even by the time I was rolling into the operating room. I started getting bored and asking questions. They didn’t pay much attention to me, just asked me to scoot over to the operating table. After that I don’t remember anything except them putting the rubber mask thing over my face, and telling me something about helping me breathe…
Supposedly I was in the recovery room for an hour, but I don’t remember much past asking for my boyfriend once or twice. I was sleeping again instantly…
The next thing I remember was waking up to see Don there right beside me and feel him holding my hand. I heard my parents talking (my dad’s voice has a way of being extremely loud, and carrying very far), and finally figured it out that things were all over. My voice was little more than a rasp, and my mouth and throat were parched. Water has never tasted so wonderful, that is, until I spotted the bottle of Pepsi that Don had brought. I asked for some, and the nurse said it would be fine for me to have a sip or two as long as I didn’t guzzle things down. After that I began to feel extremely sleepy again. I remember the Surgeon walking in to discuss things, but I wasn’t coherent enough to even understand what he was saying. I waved at him and said hi. I also told him that I was wide asleep. He didn’t even try talking to me…just turned around and left with a promise that he’d be back after a little bit.
After another long nap, I woke up in a lot of pain, and a nurse showed up with toast…and she had even put jelly on it! When I told her that I was hurting pretty badly, she said I only had to eat half a piece, and then she would give me the first dose of pain meds. I said I would have to pee first. Getting to a sitting position was insanely painful, despite the help from my boyfriend and the nurse. Walking was okay with help, and I managed sitting down by myself, but had to get help standing back up again. The nurse said “oh…yea…well you absorbed 3 full bags/liters through your IV, and you’re working on your 4th. You’ll probably be making this return trip pretty quickly!”
Getting back into bed was insanely painful too.
After that, I was too tired to touch the toast, and took another short nap. After one bite, I took another nap. Soon the nurse was harassing me, as it was getting late (4:30 or so). She came back every 10 minutes to ensure that I was making progress. Eating has never been so tiring in my life! By the time I managed to finish the half piece, she whisked the rest away and showed up with two pain pills which I gratefully swallowed. I was a little too eager to get them down, and forgot to take a little fluid with them. They stuck in my throat and I gagged lightly on them. This hurt more than lying down or sitting up.
I spent the next ten minutes whimpering pathetically, then the nurse came back and tried to help me dress. I got impatient and made her leave my little curtained area after she helped me with the difficult articles of clothing.
I got the rest of my stuff on with no problems, and waited for them to find a wheel chair. The dumb nurse forgot about the metal trim that stuck up from the floor at every door way, and earned a painful yelp at each one she hit (probably 5 or 6 total). Finally the boyfriend showed up, and came to help get me in my car. Since the parents threatened to disown me if I stayed with the boyfriend (because of it being inappropriate even though there is no physical way would could possibly engage in anything inappropriate), it was decided that I would be driven an hour and a half to Fargo to stay with my older sister, because my parents have no room for me, and I am allergic to their dog (among a few other things).
Driving out of Grand Forks was not fun, as I felt every jar and bump. However, as soon as we were on the interstate, the pain meds kicked in, and with the boyfriend holding my hand, things fell into a blur, and I pleasantly slept most of the way. Once there, getting out of the vehicle wasn’t easy at all. I was so sleepy that I was having a difficult time balancing. Trying to keep my balance caused me to tense up quite often…which made me rather feel like I was being punched by Shaquille Oneal.
Once in the building, I shuffled to the elevator, and was helped down the hall. I was put on the couch and was soon joined by the boyfriend. Once my parents arrived, some rather boisterous conversation started up, but I was too exhausted to pay any attention to it in the least…I fell asleep holding my boyfriends hand.
A few hours later, the parents and boyfriend left me to the care of my older sister. It didn’t take long before I had another dose of pain meds, and I was quickly asleep after that. We set alarmclocks to go off every four hours as the Doctor recommended. He said I shouldn’t wait for it to start hurting before I took the meds – otherwise I’d be in a great deal of pain while waiting for them to kick in again…
All in all, it really didn’t go too badly. Laughing right now hurts like you wouldn’t believe. But I am in a nice state of tiredness…Not exhausted, but that level where it just feels nice and comfortable when you close your eyes…
Thanks to all who encouraged me, sent "care packages" and gave wise words of wisdom!
Just can’t wait to get back on the bikes again!
