DON'T LOOK IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH

It's over. Now the real fun begins. My surgery went off on the scheduled time...and this go round I was terrified. In pre-op they hook you up to all sorts of nerve monitoring devices. The guy who did that was Dennis and he was traned by the Navy to become a doctor who specializes in this...I forgot what it is called. This time I was awake all the way to the operating room.

Upon waking up in recovery I can't tell you the level of pain I was in. It was off the charts. Yes, this is normal, but it still sucks. A shot of demerol and the pain went down a bit, but then up came the nausea. Apparrently I don't take well to pain meds. Having been someone who's never done any drugs in my life, I'm guessing that's the reason. I went in to surgery at 7:15 a.m. and was out by 10:00 a.m. If you plan to have this done please know the pain is real bad for the first hours after the procedure.

I finally threw up a lot of water and that actually helped me feel better. You have to walk a bit and pee before you can leave. They let me decide how long I wanted to stay. And unlike last year where I was totally drugged up and couldn't leave until 9:00 p.m., I was walking out in the 85 degree sunshine at around 3:00 p.m. I live about 40 miles from the hospital and it was not a fun ride home. The potholes and rough roads are so exagerrated with this procedure.

Upon arrival I had a look at my back and, yuck, here's a photo. I really hope that the dermabond they used is working on the left hand side. My husband said the nurse looked at it and said it was fine. I had very little leakage last year. This morning at 4:00 a.m. I felt something wet in the bed, got up and noticed a huge blood stain on the sheets and my back where this incisions are. There had been a pocket of built up blood under the clear bandages and it managed to leak out a small crack. Of course, I freaked out. But right now, about 36 hours post procedure, only a couple of spots have been left on the bed. So hopefully everything that was going to leak out has. I also need to warn you how difficult and painful it will be to get in and out of bed, even using the log roll technique they tell you about. It will HURT where the incisions are. Period.

I'm taking my Percocet and Robaxine (muscle relaxer) every 4 and 6 hours respectfully and am thankful for these drugs. I've been able to walk about 1/4 mile outside today and will probably do another 1/4 mile before bedtime. Yes, I'm weak and have absolutely no appetite. I did make myself some bland scrambled eggs and piece of bread with hummus. My biggest problem right now is trying to have a bowel movement. Pain meds are notorious for binding you up and I have a lump of coal that is sitting in my descending bowel that is sure to turn to a diamond soon if it remains. I am taking stool softener and a gentle laxative, both of which I started before surgery. Well, eggs are getting cold....time to go.