The Price of Gas

Hi Everyone! It's me! It's a little after 6pm on Sunday and I've been home for almost 2 hours now. Leaving me tucked up in bed, Nikki and Steve have gone to get my prescriptions filled. Sherry is flying and will be home Tuesday evening. So Nik gets to play stand in mom to Steve for a few days as well as nurse to me.

Nikki has been an absolute angel. I can't imagine what I would have done without her during the past few days. She didn't even have time to deal with her jet lag before she jumped in with both feet. Sherry picked her up at the airport Thursday night and brought her to the hospital Friday morning. Just now is the first time she has left my side since she got here. She has fed me, washed me, massaged me, gotten me in and out of bed, and helped me to take baby steps up and down the hallway, all the while keeping the rest of the family in the know and even posting to my blog for me!

The last few days have been rough. It would have been so much easier if all we had to deal with was just the post-op recuperation but it was the added issues that complicated matters. Nikki wrote about the migraine on Friday. That was horrible enough but as soon as that was resolved I developed gas pockets in my shoulders, a normal and expected complication from the anesthesia, according to the nurse. It didn't hurt as long as I was laying down but as soon as I would get out of bed to go to the bathroom or try to walk a bit, it felt like both of my shoulders were caught in vices. It has made moving around very painful but movement is the only way to work it out. Then there was the little matter of needing to pass gas before I could be discharged. It's required of every post surgical patient and (believe me!) much easier said than done. Surgery messes with your bowel system and I blew up like the Hindenburg! Between that and the shoulder pain I spent several hours this morning in excruciating pain. Neither one of those problems has completely resolved themselves yet but they will in time.

As for being 4 days out of surgery, I'm actually doing well with the abdominal healing. The worst is definitely behind me. I can get in and out of bed myself now and it was easier than I thought it would be to get up the stairs to my room when we got home this afternoon. All in all, after a rough few days, I'd say I'm doing pretty good now. And the best news of all is that there is no cancer! The day nurse today told me that I was her only non-cancer patient. I simply cannot express the relief I'm feeling right now.

I want to say thank you to all of my friends and family who have been so supportive during the last 3 months. I love you all and look forward to pestering you for many years to come!