Last Wednesday, I entered Houston's Methodist Hospital for some routine laparoscopic surgery. "It will be such a quick recovery!" I heard. "Just a few small incisions!" I heard.
You know what I didn't hear? "You will have gas pains in your chest, shoulder, and rib cage that won't go away until you fart the gas volume equivalent of a mature African elephant." That's what I didn't hear.
Yes, friends, the worst part of my mostly easy recovery has been the strange gas pains that have settled in my shoulders. I'm told there is a sound scientific reason for this, but part of me thinks the flamboyantly fabulous OR nurse (Kevin) just did it as a prank.
Not really. Everyone at Methodist, from my wonderful surgeon to the anesthesia team, to the floor nurse and techs, to the food services and transportation people, were delightful, more than competent, and genuinely interested in my well-being. I had a private room that rivaled those of a nice hotel. My in-room TV had TBS, TNT, Comedy Central, Bravo, and E!. It couldn't have been nicer.
That being said, a story...
My overnight technical aide (takes vitals, etc.) was a sweet Russian lady, who kept going on about my beautiful eyes. It really gave me a nice little boost. As I was leaving, she said, "Okay, pretty lady, when you go in to get your hair colored, ask for a lighter color to set off your eyes." I said, "Oh, I don't have my hair colored." She smiled and said, "You should." Bless her heart.
It is now 6 days after surgery and I am doing great. I'm still in some discomfort (come on, shoulder farts!) but nothing awful. I'm sleeping well at night and walked over a mile today. Very soon I should be a healthy, normal 30-something mom, able to keep up with my kids, teach school, cook dinner, perform my church calling, and play three different games on Facebook.
Life is good.
Burn Baby Burn
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“It was the 80s & hot sticks and the “Burning Bush” hairstyle was the
latest craze and my beautiful sister was rockin’ it.”
The post Burn Baby Burn appea...
2 weeks ago
6 comments:
Bless her heart indeed!
I'm glad you're doing well!
So glad you're doing well. Shoulder farts?! From which end come the emmitances that relieve the pain?
I'm taking a silent guess at the surgery and saying good for you and woo hoo!
And, your eyes and hair are both lovely just the way they are. I do think you should get a tattoo though...:)
You had a TV room without Lifetime and VH1? I admire your ability to cope through those difficult times.
How could I have forgotten? The special "IV team" watched Project Runway with me on Lifetime whilst placing my IV. And I had VH-1, but not much was on. I'm not an Ochocinco fan.
So, the thing that scares me the most about hospital stays? The complete lack of normal human privacy. I am comfortable with my body, I just don't want others to see it...
Yes, after each of my three hospitalizations, it has taken me a few days to readjust to "normal" boundaries. I think it's perfectly okay for whoever is in the living room to see me change clothes, or inspect my incision, or whatever, because there just aren't boundaries in the hospital.
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