First I got Nellie ready to come with me. I particularly love the bunny slippers :)
The day after my surgery the girls came to visit me. Actually they were able to come most days to visit. It was always something to look forward to. They were really great about dealing with a strange situation. Lizzie was a little worried at first, but after Daddy took her for a walk and talked to her for a while she was feeling better and ready to come in.
Sabrina sitting in my wheelchair that was waiting for walk-time
Sabrina sitting in my wheelchair that was waiting for walk-time
Lizzie feeling better
With my girls. And my teddy bear.
Love these people with me!
Some of the beautiful flowers (check out that awesome froggie tea-pot!!!) and cards that I received while in the hospital.
They really brightened up the room.
Keeping me going...
Michael hanging out in the "super comfy" chair...
with all the posh ameneties.
Good ole I.V.... to start with at least. I did remember to request a bit of gauze under the circley part to avoid cuts into my arm. Painful previous experience taught me that one.
Every night a phlebotomist would sneak in and steal my blood. They'd slip in at about 3am, barely wake me up, and slip out with a fresh vial of blood. Fastest blood suckers I've ever met! They were really good at their jobs, I tell ya.
The first day or two after my surgery I was not allowed anything. No food, no beverage, no ice chips. Nothing. I was allowed some bits of sponge on a stick that I could get damp and swab out my mouth with. The next day or two I was allowed 500 ml of water per 24 hours. That's about 2 cups.
Finally they let me drink. Ahhh, blissful water!!!!!!!! And I'd been there long enough to merit a REAL cup too. Very exciting.
My stitches are all under the skin with the skin held closed with steri-strips. Nicer than staples or external stitches. Those itch even more.
On Sunday afternoon a group of college students came by and offered to sing some hymns. They sang us "I am a Child of God" -- because that's what the girls would have chosen -- and... I don't remember what else. I only remember that one. We had been visited in the morning with a couple to offer us the sacrament.
Another look at my sunshiney spot. It was the one bright spot considering the rest of my view:
this is my standard not-exerting-myself view. Riveting, I know.
If I *really* twisted around I could see the tippy top of Michael's head through the bars of my bed.
Though the camera could do a better job of twisting around than me.
This is when dinner started getting exciting! I had a baked potato!!! Of course, I couldn't eat the soup cause it took most of the week to get them to get my food allergies straight, but finally having something to chew after several days was nice.
That first picture of the I.V.? Yeah, that was when it was pretty. I'm sensitive to the adhesive on the plastic tape and it started to burn on my wrist.
I finally got it switched over to paper tape bit by bit.
Even now I have blistered, calloused spots on that wrist that are healing from the adhesive. I think if I ever have this to do again I'll remember to add "paper tape" to my requests with the "gauze under the I.V.". No point in doing this multiple times if I'm not going to get better at it!
Another afternoon visit from my girls. We read a little bit and I just loved having them close to me.
I don't remember where Kate got this ring from, but she loaned it to me. It didn't fit very well... even on my pinky finger, but it was very cute of her. :)
My night-time view really wasn't any more delightful than during the day.
...yet I felt inspired to photograph it nonetheless.
Trust me, I heavily edited the pictures. I deleted probably 90% of the pictures. But it was something to keep me occupied.
Michael's little nest in his chair. It didn't lean back even halfway, but he made it as cozy as possible.
Nellie snuggled up in her bed too. Michael gave me the super snuggly blanket. They kept taking it away from me the first few days because of my fever.
A few days in I developed double vision. It made seeing quite obnoxious. I also discovered that I had audio hallucinations. I would hear music playing as if in another room constantly. One afternoon it was loud enough to wake me up from a nap! Yet nobody else could hear it. Ever. As my vision got worse the doctor became concerned. So I was given pants (woo hoo!) and sent to an ophthalmologist. The eye doc determined that there was no obstruction to my optic nerves. My right eye was slow in responding while tracking inwards. Most likely a reaction to being on the hefty pain meds for several days.
Then he gave me these groovy Matrix-esque sun-shades and prescribed an eye-patch to cover one eye or the other to avoid the double vision.
Yeah, it's a rotten picture. I was very blind and drugged at this point.
This was the most incredible chicken. It tasted less like chicken than anything I've ever eaten. It most resembles reconstituted sawdust. I have never eaten attempted to eat anything so dry. My appetite was entirely lost by this meal. I was d.o.n.e.
Fortunately I didn't have too many chicken pieces to attempt. After 7 haze-filled days I was finally allowed to leave. Nellie and her new friend got dressed to go home. I'm afraid her friend doesn't have a name yet. I'd better get the girls on that. They always come up with way better names than I do.
Getting all our stuff together to leave.
And here's a new game -- it's sort of a tic-tac-toe on my belly between all the incisions. I have 4 scars from my choleocystectomy (gallbaldder removal), 3 scars from my appendectomy, one long one further down from my c-section, 3 short ones and one more long one from this GIST removal. I guess it cuts down the number somewhat to know that three of those scars take up only one spot just below my poor distorted belly button. I hope once the irritation from the steri-strips is gone it will look a little more human.
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