I'm Almost Normal

Surgery went off without a hitch, although he did take longer with it than usual.  I spent over a week in the hospital, for various reasons.  First off, they didn't take out my NG tube the day after, as we expected.  I had it in all weekend before the doc came in on Tuesday (or maybe it was only Monday? - I have no idea) and said it was coming out - which he proceeded to do instantly.  I also got my foley catheter out that day as well as having the morphine pump taken away.  That part was fine by me as I had been in a total fog and really don't remember much of the first few days - scary huh?  I had to have clear liquids at first, but once I managed to move my bowels I was allowed solid food and started to feel human again.  The pain levels went down daily, but I was still having plenty of it by the time I went home.  I did use the percocet for a few days but because it was making me constipated and foggy I quickly weaned myself to ibuprofen. 

My first followup was a week after I was discharged, at which time the doc said I was moving pretty good considering I was only 2 weeks post-op.  I was having some problems moving my bowels and was prescribed Metamucil, which I later learned was to bulk up my stools and help keep my colon stretched out some.  Well, he told me to take a tablespoon of it in 8 oz of water twice a day, which is impossible.  You damn near have to chew it at that ratio!  At the next follow up a week later, when I brought it up and said 8 oz is not enough water and I had reduced the dosage, he said "I don't care if you mix it with a gallon of water!  You need the big doses" so I went back to mega doses.  Of course the smart doctor knows what's best and the mega doses did help.  I go back again next week, not quite 3 weeks from the last visit, and at this point he should have no objections to signing my release to go back to work.  I'm still not having what I would call "normal" bm's but at least I go every day and I'm getting there.  The pain is still there, inside, where it was stapled back together.  Also, I have some numbness near the main big incision site.  It kinda feels like your lip feels when the dentist gives you a shot of novacaine.  Both of these sensations should ease up with time, doc says, although I may not get all of the feeling back where it's numb.  I can deal with that to have a normal life again.  It was a really big deal to me to be able to wear a pair of jeans again!

I have spent the past month doing almost nothing but resting, and it gets boring.  Now that the girls are out of school I have a bit more to keep me busy finally.  They have been pestering to go swimming constantly so we've spent a lot of time across the street in the pool.  I'm running out of time now, as I'll be going back to work on June 30th.   I almost don't want to go back!  Now that I'm feeling a lot better and haven't needed anything for pain in over a week, I'm enjoying being off work.  The kids are loving it too, and will miss me and the fun we've been having.  Today we are mainly just hanging out because I had to wait for a tech to come and check my phone lines due to problems with my DSL service.  We seem to be all fixed up now after almost 2 hours of checking this and that and making repairs.  Good thing too because I was beginning to get really disgusted with Verizon and regretting ever switching providers.  I did it for the money I was saving, but it wasn't worth it considering my connection kept dropping.  Anyway, now it seems fine and I will be a happy camper again. 

We're also just hanging out because the weather has turned lousy today.  It's much cooler and very cloudy with rain on the way.  Guess we won't be doing any swimming today!  I'm thinking about taking the girls to the Carnegie Science Center tomorrow to have some fun, just because we haven't done much while I've been off and I want to just have a relaxing day with them doing something other than floating around a pool.  We haven't even been to camp on the weekends because there were too many parties and activities to attend.  This weekend the girls are singing in church and we have a bridal shower on Sunday also.  I may take them to camp on Thursday evening and come home Saturday night, just so they get the chance to go.  We plan to go up next weekend too, since we haven't been there hardly at all.

wow I'm rambling.  time to quit.....toodles

Fairy Tale

Happy Easter

For a refreshing change, we are spending the holiday with my family instead of my inlaws.  My sister-in-law generally calls a few days before Easter to invitie us to her gathering, but the call didn't come this year so I'm assuming she's not having everyone over.  Her daughter just had twins and lives down south so I'm guessing maybe they are visiting and spending the weekend with the new babies.  Fine by me, because my family has always invited us and we never go.  My poor neice is hosting, and her mother (my sister) keeps inviting more people to come.  Jess is probably about ready to slap her mother and tell her to stop! LOL

The girls and I did the church thing.  The girls sang a song with the group they are in, I sang with the choir, and Megan and I both performed with the bell choir.  Everything went well and all performances were well received.  The kids did an egg hunt before the service so they came home with more bags of candy to add to the baskets they already have.  We are just about ready to leave to go to the party, so I must go and chase them into some shoes.  They are very excited to be spending the day with their "other" cousins and are hoping this becomes a new tradition.  We'll see.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.  toodles

So it turns out I didn't have a new UTI after all.  My doctor sent me to see my urologist, who gave me an explanation.  The stent I'm wearing is causing a great deal of irritation that just FEELS like I have a UTI.  It is actually about a foot long, and runs from inside my kidney all the way down the tube and into my bladder.  The bladder is rejecting this intrusion and trying to eject it at every chance it gets.  That invasion of the bladder causes dirty specimens too, so if they do a urine dip it shows I may have an infection and a culture is needed.  I'm constantly having bladder spasms, and sometimes the pressure of a full bladder makes the stent move a little and it irritates my kidney also.  The course of action for now is to take a stronger pill to control the spasms so there is not so much irritation.  It's helping a little, but not giving complete relief.  Apparently I have to just deal with it and wait out the next month until I can schedule the reversal surgery.  The urologist says I will probably have to leave the stent in until the last surgery is completed, and they might remove it during that same session but after everything else is taken care of.   I was hoping I could have it removed sooner but he wants to leave the decision up to the surgeon.  No one has called me to say "hey, come on in and we'll yank that puppy!" so I guess I'll keep dealing.

Ya know, I felt pretty healthy until I actually got health insurance to cover me.  Since then it's been a downhill slide. 

toodles