At my surgery consultation I was told to expect to be in the hospital about two weeks.
In order to be released I had to have good blood panels, be able to walk, unassisted ALL the way around the nurses station (this was not a small wing, my friends), and go to the bathroom (remember they resected my colon, so they needed my colon to wake up before I could go home).
I was at the hospital for exactly one week. I was determined to LEAVE. The bed was horribly uncomfortable to the point where my back was so sore it hurt through my pain meds, I couldn't sleep properly because, well it's a hospital. The food was abysmal.
I was lucky in terms of nursing/CNA staff. Except for one floating nurse who was exceptionally rough and mean (we asked to have me removed from her care, even my CNA was alarmed at how rough she was and never left my side) the rest of my care team were all so amazingly friendly, kind and would even stop in to visit when they had free time. They cheered me on and up when I was feeling defeated.
The day before being released, I felt steady enough on my feet to take a shower, wash my hair and, the most scary thing, wash my wound!
During all of this time my surgeon came in multiple times to chat with me about how the surgery had gone (if you remember from a previous entry, it hadn't gone to plan, but that ended up being okay), seeing how I was progressing, and then finally letting me know I was fit for discharge. I was also lucky enough to get a visit from my nurse navigator (though I think I was a bit out of it when she came by), my oncologist and an amazing nurse who would be following up with me very regularly for 30 days post-op.
Honestly the hardest thing about my week in the hospital....well, three hardest things really was being alone so much with my thoughts and pain, (Mike had to work during the day after the first 3 days and my Mom watched the kids for us) Fina passing away on day three of post-op (that was heartbreaking, and still three months later doesn't feel real to me) and, not being able to see my babies (no kids allowed at the hospital).
All I wanted to do was love and snuggle on them, and it was a long time before I was able to properly do that. My body may be healed enough that I can move around the house and go from point a to
The very first thing I wanted to do when I was discharged was snuggle my babies, but I was still healing and had to settle for super duper gentle side hugs for a long time.
More coming!
xoxo
Browen