Day 10 post op Shower Day

 My world has continued to shrink from the bounds of my home and outdoors, to the walls of this hospital room and today, as I get up, I am limited to the 5 feet length of my Naso-gastric suction tube. I realize, as I wake up, that many of my daily pleasures, have been politely taken from me during my "gut rest" days, have begun to pile up. I wanted to go through a mental reset to solidly place my feet on the ground of today.

March 2 was my original abdominal surgery day. It went well, I recovered in a small room in the PACU and was discharged in 23 hours. Then home for 24 hours moving forward. Then, nausea/vomiting begins. My diet returned to clear liquids and, in retrospect, this was the first appearance of my small bowel obstruction. A rare complication for a hysterectomy, but common for a bowel surgery, which mine had become. Two surgeons handled my bowel to find signs of cancer, this procedure is called "running the bowel" and leaves the bowel stunned.  Walking, fluids, bowel rest is usually the prescription for a quick recovery. But, in my case, the place where they removed the messenteric mass was "sticky" and began to stick itself around the bowel, creating a partial obstruction.  I continue pushing clear fluids, vomiting begins, and 3 more days of blocked small intestine continue.  I am swollen, bloated, uncomfortable but not worried. We are now at day 7. I'm on IV fluids, nothing oral, vomiting constantly and hospital admission requires a long ER wait. 

Day 8, I have my post op visit. My doctor thinks I have made a gallant attempt to manage this at home, but wants me in the hospital. The way to a hospital bed is through the ER. The ER wait is long and requires being in your car or in the ER waiting room. She asks me to go to ER for admission for NG tube. We wait in the car for hours, nearly giving up twice. 

A bed opens in the evening.   NG is placed and 3 liters of fluid is drained from my stomach. X-ray shows my stomach has reached the size of my liver and my small intestine is larger than my large intestine. Looking back, this was a critical moment and had we opted to go home, my gut may have not been able to recover. 

Concern is that there may be damage to my small intestine from the intense pressure. My pain tolerance at this point, must have been very high. I had no awareness of how critical this was. 

Day 8- I stay in ER, drainage continues, I wait for a bed in the hospital with caregivers who have expertise in this area. and finally got one on evening of day 8. My Blog  on that day reflects the joy of arriving on Med Surg. 

Day 9 was GI contrast with serial X-rays. The process took about 6 hours, the test came to me, so I just had to relax, keep from vomiting the vile solution they gave me in three doses, and lay still for the x-rays. Graham stayed with me most of the time. I could not speak more than a few words at a time, so Graham took the lead and delved into the history of religion, the history of social justice, the politics of poverty, and the roots of corruption and power. He discussed the health care system in America and why we never made the leap to socialized medicine, despite the many examples of superior systems, including Canada's. Yep, it was a vast array of stimulating topics that kept my attention and made the long hours disappear. Thank you Gray. It reminded me of our long diverse conversations when you were in college at Berkeley. It also reminded me of how rare it is to have 5 hours, exclusively with my son, with absolutely nothing to do but chat.  And not vomit! 

I did have to escape into my Silk Pajama's playlist and nausea prevention efforts. I got several foot massages. At the  end, not a bad day. It felt like we were moving forward and on a path to more information and maybe getting this horrible GT tube out. Or at least, the suction turned off. 

Craig came in to help once the contrast and images were done, and Gray went home for a family dinner. Lizzie is enjoying her visit to Amma's house and I am here missing it. Take lots of photos please. 

Craig got the totally raw end of that deal. Poop Day. I couldn't have gotten better, more sensitive care from anyone. Craig is a master nurse and he brings dignity and comfort to every task. Thank you for doing the icky part so graciously. It was fun watching a little Ted between poop stops. 

Natalie set me up for the night and we snuggled together and watched Ted Lasso in my bed. She went home to her babies in the early morning and then I had a few hours alone. It was fine. I am settling into me new life that is on a 6 foot leash and requires me to call for help for nearly everything. 

A really sweet end, to a pretty weird day. I love my "team" and how you are balancing my needs with your own and helping Gene take a day off. You are the best. I appreciate you.

This is March 12th.

I was up early, feeling pretty good. I am now down to 2 attachments. My NG tube and my IV.  At this point, I have not had a meal for 10 days. I am getting really hungry, I want food, water, ice, anything. But I am restricted to sucking on pink sponges and  ice. I am only swallowing my saliva. This is horrible. I still drained over 600 cc of guck out of my oral tube. Not sure why.

At 4:30 am, I decided this was "Shower Day". My plan had to be worked out, designed, convincing and quick. So I spoke to my nurse and began begging. Gene arrived at 5:00 am and I pleaded again. By 5:30 am. My tubes were clamped, my pain med was in, the towels, clean clothes and hot water was ready.  It was glorious. I don't know how many days I have gone without a shower, but too many. 

Despite the many concerns everyone had. It was quick and worth the push. I think, anyone who has had to poop into a portable commode, use only wipes and sprays to clean up and repeat this 10 times in an afternoon, deserves a shower.  

Will I go home soon?  Unknown. Will I have another surgery? Unknown. Will I eat again? I really hope so. 

It is Sunday, the main health system is not fully running, so I am happy to have a shower, but not hoping for much more. Just hanging out, sucking on an ice cube and  so glad to be back on the blog. I missed the rhythm that the blog provides me, and the sense of moving forward. 

I hope I have filled in the blanks. I will be ready to speak on the phone when my GT tube has been out for a few hours. I don't know when that will be.