Karen's Journal

Woke up this morning feeling even better. Surprised my husband when he came to visit by telling him he can take me home today! When I got home one of the first things I did was take a warm shower and clean all of the tape I could from my torso! I did not sleep well for the first few nights, probably because I was accustomed to being awakened every hour for poking and prodding! I slept mostly on my back for the first week. Managed to roll to my left side for a bit but feel most comfortable on my back.

It is Sunday morning and I feel so much better than yesterday. I can move around and use the bathroom by myself. I am walking around the CICU alone and my appetite is slowly returning. My nurses all want to have me as a patient because I am so easy! I\'ve had many visitors today and enjoyed talking, although my voice is scratchy from the tubes. I think I might get to go home tomorrow.

I got really sick to my stomach from the pain medication. I would not take any morphine, I did not think that the pain was bad enough! The nurses were all so helpful and worked hard to find a solution to resolve my sickness. Late that evening my chest drain was removed and that relieved most all of my pain. I just needed Tylenol after that! This was by far the worst part of the surgery.

My surgery was scheduled for January 21 2011 at 7am. I was to be at the hospital by 5am. My mom and brother flew in from California the night before. My husband, mom and brother all accompanied me to the hospital and before I knew it I was prepped and off to surgery. I do not remember anything at all from the time the IV was started until I woke up in CICU about 7 hours later. I do know that surgery took about 6 hours. My breathing tube was removed immediately after surgery in the OR. (I guess this is rare). I felt ok when I woke up and dozed for the rest of the day-night.