It wasn’t the week I had expected. Today I was going to be cleaning and getting things in order so that I could enjoy a few days with Rebecca and Garrett, and mentally preparing myself for a hysterectomy this coming Wednesday. I had everything worked out, and allowed myself just enough time. Then, Bam! Literally. My head met the bathroom floor at 1 a.m. this past Wednesday morning, and plans changed.
I hadn’t felt well upon going to bed Tuesday night, and my temp was 101. I remembered thinking that I was probably getting some bug, and I had to get rid of it before my surgery the following week, so I would sleep it off. George had suspected something was not right with me for a few days, so he got me to the emergency room, which was not an easy task, unsteady and light-headed as I was. The ER doctor ordered lab work, and an EKG and decided that I had had a “dizzy spell” and sent me home.

Fortunately, my doctor had requested lab work from me a week before surgery, so I called in, and said that she could check with the ER and see if the lab work done there would suffice. It didn’t take long before I got the call back, that she had read my lab results and was concerned with my overnight misadventure and elevated white count. Neither of us knew where that was coming from. She mentioned my appendix might be worth checking out. She was going to check into the operating room schedule and see if she could get me in earlier.

Thursday around noon, they were wheeling me to pre-op. I went in around one, and remember seeing the clock in the recovery room at 2:50. Dr. K came by at some point and mentioned an infection, and said it was good we hadn’t waited another week. Later I understood more fully that my fallopian tubes had become infected, and the infection had started to spread. I dozed off and on till they found me a room, in Pediatrics! It was after 6 p.m. before I had a bed, and George and Rebecca could be with me. It was actually quite a pleasant place, with a comfortable bed, and a view of the hills out the window right in front of me. There were two empty cribs in the room, and I took two photos with George’s cell phone, because I knew I would think back that I had been hallucinating. The nurses were the best, as pediatric nurses usually are. They saw me through a roller coaster of blood pressure readings and IV drips to push both fluids and antibiotics into my system. My blood pressure dropped incredibly low at one point, causing a stir, and a call to Dr. K, and talk of a possible transfusion. Fortunately, that didn’t become necessary, and my pressures came up to where they should be.

A bed became available on the regular unit Friday evening, so I said goodbye to the wonderful people who cared for me in pediatrics, and headed down to the second floor. It wasn’t the same after that. 2nd floor was noisy, I had a view of the sink and the bathroom, and I was just one of the crowd. I asked for help getting out of bed each time, because that fall to the floor was still fresh in my mind, but by the time the night shift came on, I was on my own. Hysterectomy patients are routinely discharged within 23 hours, so they were fitting me in to that mindset.

Saturday morning Dr. K was in, and gave me the okay to go home. I was very anxious to have the IV tubing and the leg compressors unhooked, to have uninterrupted sleep and a real meal. Surprisingly, pain was rarely an issue after the surgery. That had been well-managed, and I only asked twice for anything not already provided.

So this weekend, I am home, I am laying low, I am being cared for, and it wasn’t what I planned. Garrett and Rebecca bought the groceries so that we have wonderful foods in the house. Everyone, but me, is cooking and cleaning and keeping up with the household responsibilities.

It’s a beautiful summer day, and we will eat our dinner on the deck, I will watch the birds, catch up with the blogs, do some reading, put my feet up, and relax. I hurt just a little bit, but it’s almost time for those pain meds. It’s so good to be home.