11/16/07 - Went back for packing removal. The wound looks good, it's healing. It is still draining unbelievably. I can now advance to soft foods, yeah!

 11/12/07 - Called Wasser's office and made the appointment to come in for him to look at the wound. He looks at it and says he's going to have to cut it open so that it can fully drain. Oh no, is this going to hurt? I was so scared, I hate pain. He sprayed with a numbing agent, waited 5 minutes and started to cut it open. I could feel it but it wasn't that bad. The worse pain came when he put the packing in, that hurt like a mother. He told me it was minor and that it doesn't happen too often but it does happen. I'm one of the lucky ones I guess. I have to go back on Friday for him to remove the packing.

 11/10/07 - I was in the shower at 10am and noticed this awful putrid smell. It took me a few minutes to realize where it was coming from. I looked down and saw all this gunk flowing down my stomach. It was disgusting. I rinsed off quickly so that I could get out and call the surgeon. It took me about 30 minutes and 50 tissues before the flow had stopped enough for me to go on the carpet to get the phone. Greenbaum was on call and he told me that we wanted it to come out. To gauze it up and let it drain, call the office on Monday to see if Wasser wanted to see me.
At first I was changing the gauze every hour because it was draining heavily. The egg went away, it was a huge puss pocket. Best of all, my pain went away. All the pain I was having in my abdomen was from the infection.

 11/8/07 - I noticed tonight a huge egg right above the incision site. It looked like I swallowed an egg, it got stuck and stayed there. I didn't think anything of it and thought I'd call on Monday if it was still there.

 11/7/07 - Called surgeon first thing in the morning because the incision site was really red and hard and hot. He wanted to see me that afternoon. I couldn't drive yet so mil took me. The incision was scabbed over and looked to be healing well. However, Wasser did not like the fact that it was red and hot, so, he put me on an anti-biotic in case anything was going on underneath the surface.

 11/1/07 - Surgeon came in at 7:30am and checked me out. Gave me discharge instructions and said I could go home when someone arrived to pick me up. Mom came at 10:30 and we were on our way.
The minute the car pulled in the driveway, I ran into the house, grabbed my cigs and went outside to smoke a cig. It made me a little lightheaded but it felt good.
I pretty much sipped and rested this day. I would go for small walks when I went outside to smoke.
I was in pain and kept taking the oxycodone. Mom left around 3 and mil arrived until mom could come back later that night. Both mom & dad came back around 6. My pain was increasing. It wasn't until around 8pm that I realized it wasn't cut pain, it was gas. I took a gas-x strip. About 2 hours later it kicked in. But not only was the gas coming out, but I was also liquid, mucousy ass. So I couldn't fart unless I was on the toilet because I didn't know if liquid ass would kick in as well.

 10/31/07 - I woke up from the little sleep that I did get when the surgeon came in around 7am. He checked my small incisions and said everything looked good. I had bruises all over my arms from the night nurses trying to get the IV in me the night before.
I was taken down for the xray to check for leaks around 10 am. No leaks so I was allowed clear liquids. All that I was given was water until I was transferred to a regular floor around 4pm. Mark had arrived around 2:30 and was so pissed at the bruises on my arms.
I was transferred down to a regular floor from ICU around 4pm. I was brought broth and tea and green jello. I ate a little broth and drank all of the tea over the course of the night. Mark & I walked the circle repeatedly through the night.
Nurse came in at 5pm to take vitals and I was running a 102 fever. Doctor ordered a tylenol suppository to get the fever down. Nurse was pissed because they never should have let me leave ICU with a fever. But I did tell her that they took my temp before they brought me down and it was normal.
I slept pretty good this night. I woke a few times because my cpap kept coming undone. They also had to redo the IV in the middle of the night so that added another bruise.

 

10/30/07 - I arrived at the hospital at 7am with my husband and my mother. I was prepped and they were able to sit with me until I was wheeled to the OR. Once I was in the OR holding tank, had lots of different people coming over to see me and ask me questions. They had taken my glasses before wheeling me up, so I didn't even recognize my surgeon when he came over to talk to me. He thought it was funny.
I was out of surgery at 11am, that's when Wasser called the waiting area and told Mark that everything went well.
In recovery, I woke up with the worst cotton mouth. It was horrible. They gave me a swab to swab at my lips and teeth but it only helped for a few minutes, then I was asking for another.
I was taken up to ICU around 2:30. My mom and Mark met me there. It was so good to see them. Mark had a vase of flowers for me, he's so thoughtful.
The nurse had me up and walking by 4pm. Just a short little walk. I didn't feel too much pain as I could push the morphine pump every 6 minutes. I know I was drugged up. I later talked to family members who said they had spoken to me on my cell phone the day of the surgery and I have no recollection.
It was so hot in the hospital that I sent my mom & Mark's mom to Walmart to buy me a little fan to get me through.
I made everyone leave at 7pm because I was just so exhausted. Little did I know that I would not get any sleep that night. The nurse kept coming in to give me IV fluids because he said I was dehydrated. Then my veins kept blowing and it took about 10 trys for them to finally get it situated.