"It's only a Fleshwound": courtesy of "Monty Python" 😁
September 20th, 2021 I went into the hospital for the surgery called a right hemicolectomy, i.o.w. my ascending colon, neighboring lymph nodes and appendix were removed. But, when I came to, I was relieved to hear that all went well and that my colon was stitched together again and thus I had no need for a colostomy/bag. One less thing to worry about! The surgery was performed through laparoscopy: 3 incisions were minimal, but the 4th one right by my belly button was a bit more involved. It looked like a nasty "hook". All healed well though. It took time of course. A month to be exact. A great heartfelt Thank You to my surgeon and his team! They did a great job! He still phones me up from time to time to see how I am doing.
Right after surgery was definitely not pleasant: I had tubes coming out all over the place and my lower legs were wrapped in plastic pumping bags that hospitals now use to mechanically pump each leg in turn to stimulate your circulation so you won't get any blood clots. I could not move if I wanted to. Of course in walks "Nurse Ratchet" who tells me to get up off the bed. I did not oblige! She was not pleased! Neither was I.
The day after surgery the catheter and oxygen tube were removed and later on the pumping bags for my legs also, because I started to move around a bit, mostly without any help. What I found a bit disturbing was the fact that I was prescribed fentanyl as a painkiller. Now we all know what a good reputation that particular drug enjoys! So when they sent me home with a prescription for it, we did go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription and took it home. And I must say that I was tempted to take it for the pain as I had been taking a few pills in the hospital, but then I decided to take a couple of Tylenol instead and that did the trick - for the most part. I was so relieved that I had another option! But it did make me aware of how easy it would be to go down that other path and possibly get addicted. So easy. It could have happened to me also! (And in case you are wondering: I sold the prescription on the black market and made a fortune! Just kidding! If I'm not mistaken it got flushed down the toilet. 😇)
In addition I had to inject myself in my abdomen with Lovenox, a blood thinner, once a day for 4 weeks. I was a bit queasy about it at first till my husband suggested he would do it. But since he was shackier than me, I decided to do the job myself instead. After a while it became old hat. Nothing to it!
One more interesting tidbit of information. During my 4 day hospital stay I woke up in the middle of the night and did not feel sleepy. So I was watching the city from my 6th floor window. All of a sudden this bright light came toward me outside. It kept coming closer and closer and I was getting worried it would smash into my window. And the light kept getting brighter and brighter. For a moment I thought I played a part in a James Bond movie! It was then that I realized it was a helicopter ready to land on the roof just above my room: they were shuttling Covid patients from one hospital to another during the night at the height of the pandemic!
Back tomorrow with 1 or 2 more.
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