Wednesday, December 17, 2008

If Thy Gallbladder offends thee...

...pluck it out!

I'm back with one less organ.  I had surgery this morning and everything was very textbook and mechanical.  Surgery lasted a total of 38 minutes and I was in recovery, albeit a little sore from the gas and intubation.  The doc said I had a lot of small (1/8 of an inch) gallstones.  Those are probably the kind that are just small enough to get wedged in the ducts and cause problems later on, so I'm glad I had it done.  He also said it was really easy to get my gallbladder out (only 2 incisions instead of the normal 3 or 4!) because I had good anatomy and was so skinny.

Did I mention I'm marrying him?

And all that sleep and such I was looking forward to?  It ain't happenin'.  I slept a total of 15 minutes today aside from the surgery and have only needed one pain killer all stinkin' day.  I'm glad I'm not in any pain, but I'm certainly disappointed I can't sleep more.  I don't know if it's just the fact that the last time I had surgery I didn't have kids or what, but I can't seem to settle down enough to rest.  I've been up doing minimal parenting and feeding Cupcake but otherwise taking it easy.

My biggest complaint is I feel like they shoved the arm of a cactus down my throat!

Only one funny story to relate.  I just went to a surgery center, so it was very "numberish."  You get put in a cube with a curtain for a door and wait.  And wait.  And wait some more.  Then one by one you watch as the nurses move closer to your cube to take you.

And let me just tell you, the "happy" shot was good enough to make me contemplate becoming an addict...

Recovery was sort of the same way as pre-op only there was just curtains for walls instead of cubes.  Two people down from me was a fairly large aged man that I'm assuming had just had a colonoscopy.  The nurse kept saying really loud, "Bear down and push out the gas, sir!  Bear down like you're having a baby."

Even in my groggy, doped up state I was thinking:  Number one, he's a man.  Number two, he's never had a baby.  Number three, I'm REALLY glad he's not next to me.

Just give him a TV, a remote and rest will take care of itself.

I came home to one of my best friends bringing me some beautiful flowers.  My mother in law got us dinner.  And a few of my friends from church are bringing me dinner through Monday night.

It's times like this you realize how very blessed you are! (and not just because the fat man wasn't next to me!)

6 comments:

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Oh, I'm so glad it went according to plan (well, except that you haven't had as much sleep as you hoped...maybe tomorrow).

And, the man with the gas...gross!

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

I'm glad it went well! Feel better soon.

Anonymous said...

That is too funny that they were yelling that at the guy next to you! I'm SO glad that everything went so well. Hope you get to sleep more soon.

Unknown said...

Glad everything went well. Our computer has had a virus since Tuesday (the day Annaliece had tubes put in her ears) and I didn't want to call in case you've been sleeping. Looks like that ain't happenin', huh? I love you girl and I'm glad you came through with minimal pain and you didn't have to smell 85 year old farts. Mine are bad enough, right?

Anonymous said...

I am so glad things went so well!! I must say I laughed so hard at your story about the man in post-op. Marc got a kick out of it too.

Rest up and take advantage of your down time as much as you can. I am praying for you.

Someone Being Me said...

Is it sad that I am incredibly jealous you got your gallbladder out? I'm going to talk to my doctor again tomorrow to see if there is any more testing they can do while I'm pregnant. I'm glad it was an easy surgery for you.