July 26th- 4:40 am my alarm went off. Not that I was actually sleeping, but that was the official cue to get up and get going. I drove there with my mother and boyfriend, both of them half asleep, while I was wide awake and chomping at the bit! We arrived promptly at 6:30 am where I signed in and was escorted to the back room to change into my sexy backless shirt thing and shower cap. Rest assured, I rocked that outfit. My anesthesiologist came over to give me the spiel about how I could die, yadda yadda (nice man!) and they wheeled me off. I wasn't really nervous at any point (other than getting my I.V.), but when they rolled me into the room, shit got real. I looked around at all the glimmering tools that would soon be slicing through my stomach like a warm knife through butter. There were about five people around me doing weird things to get me situated, the humongous lights seen in every surgery scene on T.V. hung above me, a familiar song played on the radio. The anesthesiologist turned to me and said, "Are you feeling that yet?" Right as my lips parted to say "No" it came over me like a wave. I nodded and said, "Please make sure I stay asleep." He smiled and replied, "Forever?" to which I quipped, "Maybe a couple of days. I could use the sleep." With that, I gave everyone in the room one last double-thumbs-up and drifted away.
"You did good.." I remembered hearing in a dream-like state. I lifted my hands with another double-thumbs-up in response. I pain throughout my stomach, throat, and chest. I felt like I couldn't breath, and tried repeatedly to let them know that. "We checked your oxygen levels, you're fine. You had a hernia that needed to be repaired while we were in there. That's what you're feeling." I calmed a little, but was still drifting between a dream and the throbbing of my incisions. I looked over and could make out the blurry shapes of my boyfriend and mother, both holding my arm to let me know they were there. The nurse kept pumping me full of pain medicine, making my eyelids grow heavy. I could faintly hear the chatter between my surgeon reassuring my loved ones that all went well, and the nurse informing them of my aftercare needs. Next thing I know, the nurse pulls off my blanket and tells me to walk to the bathroom. I had no idea what was going on, but my mother sounded a bit concerned as the nurse pulled me along. I threw up from the anesthesia and then sat down on the toilet. The nurse removed my smock where I finally looked down to see blood running down the front of my stomach. "No need to worry, one of your bandages came off." She cleaned me up and sent me packing.
The last few days I've had to deal with swelling, nausea, pain, ect.. I'm taking much longer to heal than I initially thought. I do still have cravings, even though I'm not hungry, and it's starting to make me really think about how much of my eating before was because I was hungry, and how much was because I was bored. My doctor has assured me I'm doing well and that everything looks fine. I've lost 9.2lbs in the last 6 days, which has been totally encouraging. I'm learning now that this REALLY isn't the "easy way out" like some people suggest. It's a struggle, but it's so worth it.
Also, a shout out to my wonderful mother who has been nothing short of amazing. She has taken care of my every need so unselfishly, whilst taking care of her other children, cooking, cleaning, and working. I love you, Mom!
