1/16 and 1/17: Days after surgery — and home!

1/16, continued

In the afternoon of the 16th, two days after my surgery, it was time to move to post-op diet stage 2. Stage 2 is still sipping water, and adding in chicken broth or Crystal Light. I'm not a fan of diet drinks, so I opted first to try some chicken broth. It was the saltiest thing I've ever tasted. Keep in mind I love salt... but five spoonfuls and I was done. My nurse gave me credit for what I ate and tried me on some Crystal Light lemonade flavor. To my surprise, I enjoyed it. 

Other things: I took a longer walk in the hallway, about twice as far as I'd gone the day before. I was still dragging my IV pole around, but moving around was easier. I asked my surgeon if I could tear anything getting myself out of bed; he said no. Great, that was all I needed to know. 

And I forgot about the heart and oxygen monitor I wore constantly. My left middle finger had an oxygen monitor that was connected to my heart monitor, which was a series of pads on my chest and tummy. The whole monitor sat in my johnnie pocket, and they came in a few times a day to check and/or change the battery (another one in the long line of interruptions). 

1/17

Friday, three days after surgery, I woke up to learn I'd been advanced to stage 3 diet. That meant it was time to start drinking protein shakes — and as soon as I could prove I could tolerate the shakes, I could go home. Woohoo! I drank water and Crystal Light that morning, followed by Carnation Instant Breakfast (low-sugar or sugar-free, I don't remember which). I sipped slowly, and it went down well. 

Late in the morning, they disconnected my IV and started me on liquid oral pain medicine. Now I could walk without dragging my IV pole with me. Around noon, I think, I was cleared for discharge. Paul helped me dress, and we walked downstairs together. (I'd thought maybe they'd make me ride in a wheelchair, but they didn't. I kind of wanted one but didn't ask, deciding I could walk. Yeah, stubborn.)

Paul pulled the car around while I sat and waited, and he drove me home. Since it was the middle of the day, traffic was light and we made it home in great time.

Home! And Paul runs around...

Poor Paul. He'd mentioned that one of the dogs had a growth that had started bleeding, and that he'd bandaged it as best he could. As soon as I walked in the house and saw Roo, I told Paul that we had to get Roo to the vet. Paul tucked me in bed, where I tried to lie on my side (boy, that didn't work) and then went to drop off my prescriptions at the pharmacy. (I was sent home with prescriptions for liquid pain medication, liquid Pepcid to prevent heartburn, and a capsule to protect my gallbladder. The pain medication is as needed, the other two are twice a day.)

After Paul picked up my medication, he took Roo to the vet while I crashed. I woke up a few hours later to my medications lined up, Roo bandaged and on antibiotics, and my wonderful husband taking care of me. Soon after, the doorbell rang; my dear friend Joe had come down from Maine to help for a few days. 

The three of us sat on the bed, me propped on lots of pillows, and caught up. Joe got to meet Daisy, our 9-month-old Border Collie mix puppy, and immediately fell in love (as everyone does). We brainstormed what we'd do over the weekend, and it was lovely to be home.