SURGERY

Hi everyone.  I am back.  I'm not entirely all back, but here nonetheless.  I thought I would give you a rundown on what my day was like yesterday.

I had to be at the hospital by 11:30 a.m. to check in.  My friend, Carole, picked me up at 10:30.  I wanted to get there early and it was a good thing I did.  We went to the parking lot and there wasn't a single spot open.  So we went to get valet parking.  We sat there for about 10 minutes because everyone else had the same idea.  So I told her to leave and go to the Cancer Center because there is always easy valet parking there.  We did that and then walked through the hospital to the Main Building.  I thought that was where we checked in.  I was wrong.  I had to go to the Medical Office Building to the Short Procedure Unit.  While all of these buildings are connected, it's like a maze trying to find your way around.  We walked around for about 20 minutes asking people with badges where the different buildings were.

I finally got to the place (and we were 10 minutes early), checked in, and was taken back to a cubicle where I undressed, put on a gown, a beautiful blue hat (ha, ha) and beautiful blue booties to match the hat.  Then I got into bed and waited.  And waited.  And for two hours I waited.  It was freezing.  The nurse brought warm blankets for both Carole and me.

Finally around 2:00 this nurse assistant named Tim came to get me.  We were talking on the way up to the surgical unit.  He has been there 30 years and knew Joe from when he worked at the hospital.  He also grew up just two blocks from the library I work at and used to go there as a kid.  He said he will stop in in a few weeks to see the old place.  What's more when I got to the surgical unit there was another male nurse who grew up a couple of blocks from where I live now and also used to go to my library and a female nurse who was also from Port Richmond where the library is.  Small world!  It made me feel so much better.

I looked at the clock when they took me into the Operating Room and it was 2:20.  When I woke up in recovery it was around 4:00.  It took about a half hour to have someone take me back to the Short Procedure Unit where Carole was waiting for me.  The movement made me very sick and I started gagging to throw up.  Of course I am not able to throw up any more because of my stomach surgery, but my body sure thinks I can and it's a horrible experience.  The nurse brought me a dish and gave me some breathing exercises to stop the nausea.  She gave me some juice and graham crackers, but that made it worse.

We left around 5:30.  I got so sick on the way home that Carole had to pull over a couple of times to let me recover.  I got home around 6:00 and laid down for several hours.

Today I am feeling better.  Still not there, but getting there.  The pain isn't too bad.  I've been able to control it with Tylenol and most of the time I don't even need that.  But I am still having trouble eating and am really tired.  I'm sure I'll feel better as the week goes on.

Thank you, everyone, for your good thoughts and prayers.  They are very much appreciated.