Sunday 12.25.11 Merry Christmas!! 5 days post op

Today I got up with PT/OT and a determination to go home today!! I got up and walkered down the hall and we did the stairs. Too bad Daniel wasn't there, I really wanted to get that on video. Oh well. I did fantastic. We went back to the room and I had to do that again when Daniel got there so he could be prepared to see what it looked like and to know how to help. Make sure you ask PT/OT how to do things you will need to do at home. Like if you have a tall bed, how to get in/out of the car/truck, etc. Whatever you will be having to do at home make sure you ask while you are with them so they can show you. Cush was amazing. She really worked hard to get the insurance company to order and negotiate with the medical equipment company to deliver a bariatric commode to the hospital. She rode them guys to getting it there. She was awesome. I will definitely be sending her a card. I was so anxious to go home. I NEEDED to get busted out of there. For the last few days this old woman was screaming. She was suffering from Alzheimer's and very confused. She was yelling; "go to hell! Their killing me, help me! HELP ME! Please oh my god help me it hurts!!" It was awful. I was ready to go yesterday.

The ride home was crazy! They wheeled me out, again crazy top speed!! lol Well we went down to the entry door, and Daniel got the truck. Now this is where it gets interesting. Its 38 degrees when we exit the hospital. OMG I have never felt so cold in my life!! It was so windy and cold. Anyone who has had a PAO in the winter probably knows that when your cold and shivering, you are miserable. Your bones and joints are shaking and it does not feel good. So I'm cold and trying not to shake and tense up and now I have to try to get into the truck. Crap. Well, it was awkward for sure but I took it slow. He brought 3 pillows from home to help me. I put one between my hip/leg and the door, the other across my incision and the last one between my legs and then we covered me up with the thick blanket of my daughters I brought to the hospital. And on we go. I had so much motion sickness but thankfully I did not throw up. all I wanted was something to eat but we passed all the good fast food stuff and I just said let's go home and most likely I would not have kept it down. It was a long 1 hour bumpy ride home. When we got home it took about 20 mins to get me out of the truck and into bed. It was rough but I was home. And on comes the really hard part. Living at home.

So I don't want to share this but you should know. I was really getting worried about the fact I had not pooed in 8 days. So Daniel got me Dulcolax suppository and I used one. About 15 minutes later I was literally giving birth out of you know where. It hurt, I was sweaty and afterwards I needed a nap. Lucky Daniel, I did it in the commode so he had to dump it. You should have seen him with my bright purple ear plugs shoved up his nose and him trying not to puke while dumping it in the toilet lol. I asked him to weigh it, but he refused, I know, I am terrible.

In bed I had 2 pillows beneath my head, 3 under my leg, one under my left leg, and 1 next to my hip between me and Daniel so I didn't get a swift knee to the PAO. I slept OK. Still had the headache but I felt 100% better just being home. The night was just like me being an infant without the crying. Though since I used the commode it was still like changing my diaper lol. We were up every 2-3 hours taking meds and he was giving me food so I could keep the meds down. Thankfully once I was home I never puked again. It was good to be home.

Ok so here we are on the ride home. You might be able to tell I have a greenish color. Motion sickness was killing me. I also have a cold wet towel wrapped around my head which was helping with the spinal headache. And finally that is my commode in the closet. That is my newly remodeled bathroom. Right next to the bed and also you can see the walker too. :)