...Preparation, Pain, Pee, Puke and Provision
This time tomorrow my surgery will be over! Glory, Glory Hallelujah! Can I get an "Amen"?!
Surgery day is upon us! After midnight tonight I am to have nothing by mouth to prepare for tomorrow's festivities in hopes of, among other things, not experiencing nausea or vomiting as I wake up from anesthesia. I've had that happen and it is MOST unpleasant.
I've been put to sleep 4 times, and I vomited twice coming out of it. The first incident was after my gallbladder was removed. Imagine, if you will, coming out of a hazy state with 4 newly-poked holes in your belly, lying flat on your back and puking like a champ. I don't recommend it.
The second time I yakked after surgery was with my wisdom teeth, and I yakked with such gusto, that I also peed my pants. (Yes, it is OK to laugh, because it is funny. I think it may have the makings of a sitcom episode someday.) And I did not take any pain medication with me to the appointment because I knew they were going to send me straight to the pharmacy for medicine immediately after surgery. And they did. However, it snowed that day, and even though the roads were not dangerous, there was extreme gridlock. So what should have been a 45 minute drive from the oral surgeon's office to the pharmacy turned into about 4 hours of creeping, crawling agony. Imagine again, if you will, the anesthetic (from having 4 impacted wisdom teeth jackhammered out of your face) gone before you even leave the office, and when you emerge from the office to the parking lot, all there is, is snow and crawling traffic as far as the eye can see. And because you've peed your pants, you ride home not only in excruciating pain but also with a cold, wet tushy. Talk about adding insult to injury! Fortunately a nurse gave us a trash bag for me to sit on so I wouldn't soak the car seat. I thought that trip would never end. The Hubs, I am sure, felt the same way. We can laugh about it now...sort of.
And this, boys and girls, is why I never leave home now without hydrocodone in my possession or on my person. NEVER. Accidents happen. Falls happen. Pain happens, and never when it is convenient. So now, I am of the "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" school.
Because I won't be able to take large pills for a while after surgery, this time I have been prescribed a liquid hydrocodone to use for pain. The nurse says it takes effect more quickly and lasts longer than the pill form. I hope not to need much of it while I recover, but I ain't gonna white-knuckle really awful post-op pain. I will take medicine if I need to. I know from working with hospice patients that it is easier to control pain before it gets too severe than it is to relieve it once it has reached the "oh-dear-Lord-I'm-in-the-worst-pain-of-my-life" stage.
I expect to feel really crappy for a few days. But when I think about all I've been through preparing for this step of the journey, I am amazed at how God has provided what I have needed, when I have needed it. He got me through the withdrawal from caffeine and carbonated drinks, which was not a fun process. He enabled me to do my overnight sleep test the night before my CPE interview and to be accepted into the unit. He got me through the barium swallow test without more puking!
He has given encouragement from family and friends for not only my weight-loss surgery but my writing as they have read both the blog posts and some of my writings for CPE. And He will provide what I need going forward. Maybe not exactly how I might expect, but He will take care of me. He always has.
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