Week 5…The Doctor Did Not Warn Me About THIS

This past week has been one of the worst since the surgery.  The stent removal itself wasn’t bad. Or maybe it was, but I don’t remember because I was knocked out cold. But the after effects and the trauma to the ureter were pretty rough.  Between the discomfort, pain and at times, downright depression, I’ve not felt like writing anything. I started 3 separate posts but could only complete 1.  No motivation and total lack of concentration. Multiple posts on how much things sucked did not appeal to me.  So, I give you a basic rundown of how last week progressed.  

Monday:  Drive to surgery center at 5:30am. Prep at 6:00. Procedure at 7:00. Did not like the “gas mask.” Felt like there was not nearly enough oxygen flowing. Felt like I’d suffocate. But I was out by the third deep inhalation. I was awake and chatting up the nurses before 7:45.  I do not remember a whole lot about that. I do remember they were shocked at how fast I came out of it.  I remember the surgical nurse has a wife who is a social worker at the VA. NO CLUE how we got on that topic. I’m sure I initiated it, though.  I remember another nurse asking me about pain and I guess I said I was hurting because she gave me two Percocet.   I remember being hungry. I remember the nurse saying it would be best to stick to clear liquids for a few hours. I remember ignoring that advice. And I distinctly remember REGETING that I ignored it.  Honestly, not a whole lot more I even remember from the rest of that day.

Tuesday:  I spent the day in a fair amount of discomfort.  The trauma from having the stent REMOVED was far more intense than I anticipated. I was popping the pills every 4 hours trying to stay ahead of the pain.  Made it tolerable but did not erase the pain. It did allowed us to get out of the house for a short time and go check out Hometown Comic’s (our local comic book shop) new location, buy a new card game (Snake Oil) and then go grab a bite at Applebees.  I was moving very slowly and gingerly the whole time we were out. And by the time we got back home, I was ready for a nap.

Wednesday:  Exhausted. Extremely high anxiety day. Cried on and off. Took anti-anxiety meds...which I rarely do. Slept a LOT throughout the day after that.  Pain was minimal, which was good. Managed a blog post. But that was it.

Thursday:  Felt GREAT. Walked a mile and half in under 27 minutes.  No pain, no discomfort.  Excited because things were improving.  We drove up to get The Boy from school. Sure, he’s only been gone a week, but it was really nice to see him for a bit.

Friday: I twisted the wrong way, aggravated the still healing ureter and spent the rest of the day in as much pain as I had been in on Tuesday.  We had to drive down to Cincinnati and by the time we came home, I was in more pain than I’d been in since right after the surgery.   Again, I was taking a half to a full pain pill every 4 hours.  By 1:00am I was online looking up info to see if this was normal or if I should be calling my doctor’s answering service to see if I should head to the ER.  My urologist said NOTHING about having serious pain after the procedure. Just some “discomfort.”  Sure enough, a lot of people have gone through the same thing.  Found out I should have been taking NSAIDs…NOT Rx pain relievers.   Popped a couple of Ibuprofen and I was feeling SO much better within the hour.  (BTW, this was NOT caused by the walking from the previous day)

Saturday:  basically involved me taking Ibuprofen and resting and doing a bit of crying.

Sunday: Much better.  Spent time folding clothes and doing light housework. And doing a bit of pouting because the husband has been cleared for travel after spending nearly 3 months at home.  It’s been nice to have him around every day, but it’s also nice to know that his company is anxious to have him back on site. As much as we hate the travel, we do not take for granted how blessed we are that he has a good job.

Which brings us to this morning:  Feeling SO much better. Dishes done, laundry started. Feeling positive again.  Waiting for the daughter to come home and take me to the trail for another walk.  But, the house feels too quiet. I cherish the quiet. I really do. But I think it will take me a while to get used to it again.