Karen's Posts

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.