Ok, so you may or may not have read part one of my surgery… if not, you can do so here. Now on to part two…
The day after surgery wasn’t too awful–except that I had an incompetent nurse who was really neglectful. The evening nurse complained about her and even called her an idiot. She didn’t have me up walking (as the surgeon wanted me to), she forgot to give me any food (Her response? “MY BAD!”), almost forgot to change my bedding and didn’t take the dressings off my incision. When the surgeon found out about all of this, he was VERY unhappy and ordered me to walk right away and I was promptly given food – Which was in fact nothing but liquids! But hey, I was so hungry I didn’t complain.
My husband, me and Dad.
When the nurse came in that evening she removed the dressings around my incision site–I was impressed. They didn’t staple me together, nor did they stitch me up! I was taped together with steri-strips!!! This will, I am told, create minimal scarring (YAY!). I slept a little better, but was still uncomfortable. I woke up pretty early to a semi-rough start as I waited for my medicines and for my blood to be collected. Mom helped me put on some clothes and as she did so, Peeves decided to make his presence known by making several rude noises. I immediately got excited and texted my husband who slept at home that night so he could get plenty of rest. My bowels were waking up!
I was also very happy with the nurse I had (Andrew). Not only was he very attentive, but he was also very kind and knowledgeable. He made sure I had my food and was up walking. He even popped in to check on me throughout the day. I suspect my surgeon requested him after the not-so-good nurse I had the day before.
The surgeon informed me that this day (the third day) would be a hard day… and it would likely be a roller coaster as the epidural would be wearing off and I might even vomit. He told me that he really wanted me to get walking and drinking plenty of liquids.
I ate some Jello, drank some broth and had a little bit of water. Remembering that the surgeon told me I needed to take it easy as far as eating goes, I ate until I felt full and then stopped. I also put on a little makeup (who says you can’t attempt to look nice in a hospital?).
ME & MY NEW BUNNY POSSE
I received many, many gifts: flowers, cards, balloons, bunnies, bags, etc.from my loving family and friends. I even received several cards from some members of my church whom I’d never met before.
My surgeon came in to give us many good reports once again: The blood count looked really good. The pathology report shows no surprises and no cancer! He also revealed that there was no mistaking the fact that I have ulcerative colitis and not Crohn’s disease! He also informed me that I was “ahead of the game!” The stoma swelling had gone down and he was very pleased that Peeves was making noises and producing some output (to put it in a not so disgusting way). Because of this, I was now allowed regular liquids (as opposed to clear liquids only).
I also had my second meeting with my ostomy nurse, Jacque, whom I found out also attends my church! She is REALLY awesome and really good at her job. I am SO thankful for her. She showed me how to change my appliance. This is going to take a lot of practice, but eventually I think I’ll get the hang of it.
