surgery update

Since I'm back home and a bit more coherant, I'd thought I'd post an update on my gall bladder surgery. Thursday I had my surgery in the early afternoon. It took a bit longer than expected because my gall bladder was apparently quite swollen and showed signs of many previous attacks. Apparently there was no bile in the gall bladder, which meant it had been blocked for at least 3 weeks. The doctor gave me quite a scolding for not listening to my body signals, but also said I'll just have to be aware that I have a high pain tolerance, so need to be especially aware if something seems off.

The surgery was laparoscopic except for one incision that had to be a little wider to extract my swollen gall gladder. The scars should be much less ugly than the one I have from my appendix. One lesson I learned from this experience is that one should NEVER be alone in the hospital. Every patient needs an advocate. Tom had to leave after the surgery to get the girls, so I was alone in my recovery room when the anesthesia started wear off. I woke up because my IV had run out and was beeping incessantly. I was in a lot of pain and was incredibly thirsty, but the nursing staff was behind and I couldn't get someone to come even after repeated calls. After more than 2 hours had passed, I had enough and had Tom take the girls to the neighbors so he could come in and be with me for the night. It wasn't until he came in that he was able to chase down a nurse and finally get me some pain meds and water. My doctor balled them out the next day when I told her about it, and so after that they were pretty apologetic. Hospitals aren't my best friend, so I was glad to go home on Friday morning, and Tom has been taking great care of me.

I've been fairly comfortable as long as I stay on top of the pain medicine, and I feel like I've been improving a little every day. Thanks, everyone, for your well wishes and support.