January 18, 2008

Well Folks, I'm here for the weekend. That's the official word from the surgeon. While surgery was a success, my blood calcium level is dangerously low and they want to keep an eye on me over the weekend.

The Benadryl has finally worn off and I'm not falling asleep at the drop of a hat anymore. Yep, you heard right, I actually SLEPT while I was in the hospital! I've also blown 2 IV's already and have bruises up and down my left arm from all the needle sticks.

My neck is hurting more today than it did yesterday, probably because I had morphine yesterday and refused it today. I don't need anything else that's going to make me groggy for hours!

I went down to the cafeteria to get some sushi and they were out of it! I almost cried! Instead, I got some really good turkey noodle soup and some baby carrots and dressing. The mystery meat they sent me for lunch didn't appeal. Nor did the potatoes and carrots. How are you supposed to eat potatoes and carrots without butter? UGH! So that's why I went to the cafeteria. I needed to get off my duff, anyway.

One good thing about being here for the weekend is that I get to go up to the 4th floor where there are private rooms, not a glass wall in front of me with a curtain for privacy.
The dialysis suite is up there, so I had my dialysis treatment and returned to my room.

I blew the third IV they put in and I think that's a new record for me. I was really close on breaking my "time it takes to blow an IV" record. My record for having an IV put in and then blowing it is 90 minutes, and I blew the third one in about an hour and 45 minutes. My hand was about three times bigger than it should have been because of all the fluid escaping from the infiltrated vein.

My surgeon was called to put a central line in. She tried to put one in my jugular, but it felt like she had a metal file against the bone. OMG, that hurt! She finally decided to do a sub-clavian (under the shoulder blade), which didn't bother me at all. I actually prefer those, because I can wear my camisole tops instead of the stupid hospital gowns. Add a pair of boxers and I almost feel human!

Stitching at this point is not an option because my eyes are still blurry from the Benadryl.