FEB 13 2016 Florence Hospital ****FYI-Graphic Details****

FEB 13 2016  Florence Hospital
****FYI-Graphic Details****

Last night was rough, not gonna lie about it. I was in a lot of pain and the gas was unbearable. My whole upper belly, lower back and into my chest hurt so much. Also surprising to me was how sore the area where the drain is hurt. The nurse says that the biggest part of the drain is inside your belly and could rub up against stuff in there which is why you get the sharp pains. Don't get me wrong, I feel pretty good, and I expected the pain due to my own circumstances, and just to comfort some, a lot of patients I met in the hallway walking during the night are all drugged up and not in any pain. I had a few bouts of severe dry heaving which was so painful as you use your belly muscles when that happens. I coughed up quite a bit of blood which is normal as your stomach will have blood in it from surgery.

Sleep, hmmmmmm will be nice when I get some of that. It quite hard to find a comfortable spot with cords here, drain ball there, beeping noises, and nurses coming in every 1/2hr or so.

I started to feel the constant pain lessen around 8am this morning and believe the long hours of walking down the hallway worked on some of the gas pains. I got to brush my teeth which always makes you feel a little more normal. As I was walking again was told I could now have a shower, and take these horrendous socks off. It was the best shower ever. Got into some normal PJS, bandages changed, and then headed down for the leak test.

Leak Test
For the leak test you go see the same cute older man who did you XRays the day before. He is a doll. You go stand in front of a different XRay machine and drink a small amount of this nasty liquid. The you stop breathing and he takes a series of shots of your belly. Each time he needs the shot, you take a deep breath and don't exhale until he says so. In his broken English I though he said I have a leak and started to panic a bit but then a lady came in and translated. No leak! What a relief.

Then when I came back to my room....FOOD!!!!!!!!!!
Well a 2 ounce cup of water, a 2ounce of apple juice and a 2 ounce cup of Gatorade.
Its quite weird having liquid pass through your body and feeling it go down. When you think about it even in your mothers womb you had stuff in your belly. Mine was completely empty, so outing food back into it, your belly is like what up with this crap. Its funny, you sip, and then you feel it travel down, gurgling, and then once there it hurts. You body trying to cope with all that has happened I suppose.

Saw Dr. Z today, which is always a treat. He chatted with us for a bit, gave me some tips on what do you with my liquids, gave me a great hug, and just reminded me I have the best surgeon ever. Chris and I brought him a gift for Valentines and a thank you, but wont see him tomorrow so gave it to him today. A Canadian package if you will, a bottle of our finest Canadian Whisky (maple flavor), A box of Rogers Chocolate, some local tea and local soap (Rhubarb scented). I sure hope he will like it. We will see him at the hotel before we leave.

My Nauseous comes and goes but is not longer a constant, which is nice. My back and shoulders and neck are killing me still from the car accident, and I still have a head ache.

Walk walk walk, is all I am doing, but trust me it helps so much, and then there is gas ex...amazing. Hoping to get some more sleep tonight.

Stay Tuned~Nat
Body Under Contruction