Hospital Stay

The first night in the hospital was a little rough as you could tell from the last post.  It was the plan of the doctors and myself for me to only be in the hospital one night; so the next morning at 0630 my little friend known as the pain pump was to be removed, and I was to intake as much fluids as I could before leaving the hospital.

Well, 0630 came and the nurse was right on time to remove the pain pump.  Right before she removed it she allowed me to hit the button a few more times to load myself up with some pain meds (nice lady)….the next few hours was ok; but after that the pain really sat in.

With the pain pump removed the only meds they could give me were hydrocodone; and as strong as that med is; it was not enough to offset the pain.  The pain wasn’t a bad pain, but very annoying pain, I could never find a comfortable position, it was hurting to inhale deeply, drink, swallow, cough, sneeze, anything like that.  And on top of all of the pain issues, my bladder still had not woken up fully.  I could go to the bathroom and stand there and strain and strain and stain and only get about 100cc of fluid out, which is not normal.  The nurse throughout the day would come in and do a sonar of my bladder, and each time it was coming back full; but I was determined to not allow myself to get cathed again ( it wasn’t that bad the night before, but I had the good meds, now I didn’t!).  So every hour I would get up and try my best to use the bathroom, each time I was able to push a little more out than the time before.  While in the room I researched the issues I was having with my bladder and found out that it was an a-typical problem to have but was associated with anesthesia and pain meds; and the best way to work it out of your system was movement, so I started walking as much as I could, and eventually throughout the day I was able to produce about 300-400cc of fluid, which is not perfect but was good enough not to get cathed again.

Well, the time came for the doctor to make his rounds.  He came to my room and explained to me that due to my pain level and issues I was having with my bladder he suggested that I stay in the hospital another night for monitoring and to make sure that everything was ok.  I agreed!  So that day started coming to an end, that night I had some friends stop by and visit from the fire department and that helped pass a couple of hours, and then I hit the sac around 2230.  That night sleep was pretty good, the nurses continued to do their job and come check on me every few hours but I was so exhausted I mostly slept through all the checkups; even the blood draws, which is very unusual for me being that I have a huge fear of needles. 

The next morning I woke up around 0630 and felt much better.  I got up, done my laps, took my meds, came back to the room and packed my bags because I was going home that day (in my head I was, no matter what the doctor said, I was tired of the hospital).  During this time I was able to clean myself off and wait for the doctor.  The wait for the doctor seemed like it was forever, but it was July 4^th at this point; but he did show up around 2pm.  We discussed how I felt throughout the night and my progress, and we both agreed to allow me to go home.  Before doing so he went over some pictures of the procedure that I had requested him take. (I will post these as soon as I can).  This was very interesting seeing what all was done on my insides and how they looked now.  After the talk with the doctor, the next thing was in store which I was not looking forward too.  This was the removal of the drain tube I had in my body.  Unbeknownst to me this thing is like 5 ft long and pretty much surrounds my insides to drain fluid.  The nurse helped me prepare for the removal by doing some deep breathing and things like that, but when she pulled it; it was a feeling that I will never forget.  It was not a painful feeling it all, but a very awkward feeling.  It felt as though someone was tickling you from the inside, but the nurse was awesome and had it out in no time.

After that I was free to go with a few signatures on a piece of paper…I could not get to my apartment fast enough…I just wanted to sit in my recliner and relax on my own.

Look out for the next post as I go over my first week of being alone!