TAC - Part II

Saturday
Somewhere in the early hours of the morning, after the reglan kicked in, the pain got so bad I gave up and used the pump. I knew it would prolong the pain, but I literally couldn't draw a full breath and was too exhausted to care. It took the edge off, nothing more. That said, I got more pain relief this time than I did when I lost the twins and was on narcotics and NSAIDs, so that was beneficial. Sometime in the morning, the nurse came. I still had a catheter, but really felt like I needed to urinate, so I asked her to remove it so I could go. Initially she just asked me if I'd tried to push to pee with the catheter in - rather than helping to remove. Eventually she took it out, and DH helped me stumble to the bathroom. I peed, which caused burning in my incision, but otherwise was fine. The next time I peed, about an hour later, I got the explanation for why the catheter hadn't worked: a decent amount of air came out along with urine. That would have impacted the catheter, and wasn't good for me. Once again, the UC nursing staff missed something.

Eventually Dr. Haney came in. He said the cerclage itself had gone well - 3 bands placed, but then commented that I had serious digestive system issues. Apparently he thought my colon was the worst he'd seen in 20+ years - it was so bad that he called the intern to scrub in so she could feel it. I'm not going to lie, hearing that some random intern had her hand in me and squeezed my now utterly agonizing colon really irritated me. First, it's rather rapey to do that to an unconscious patient, and second, the last damn thing my poor colon needed was someone else messing with it. Haney commented that his wife has similar issues, and her GI encouraged her to do a colon resection to address it. This is not the first time major GI surgery has been suggested to me. Haney said the same thing my past doctor did - wait until it's a lifestyle issue, then address.

I asked Haney for an ongoing rx for Reglan for the next few days, and he agreed because it would help restart my digestive system. I also asked for ambien, as I find my sleep schedule gets really messed up from anesthesia. He wrote both prescriptions, told me that he'd write me out of work on STD for a month, although I could return earlier, and said I was good to discharge. I badly wish I had felt better so I could have celebrated how well the TAC went, but I was in such bad shape I didn't care.

Originally I had booked a room at the LaQuinta because the Hyatt was much more expensive. At this point, with the agony I was in, I had DH change reservations. The Hyatt was great, got a room with early check in for us. I was discharged around 1. I had been worried that with my "23 hour hold" at the hospital, they might discharge me before I had anywhere to go, but the day nurse said she'd be happy to hold me as long as needed - it meant she probably wouldn't have to admit another patient before her shift ended! My discharge instructions were a hot mess. Despite my chart saying everywhere that I'm allergic to NSAIDs, discharge instructions said to use percocet and aspirin every 4 to 6 hours. There were other errors in the instructions but that one was the truly dangerous one. One more example of how bad the University of Chicago hospital was.

DH had to help me get dressed, between the surgical and intestinal pain, I couldn't even raise my feet up to put my own socks on. A hospital "patient transport" person was assigned and was going to take us directly to the car in the parking structure. Since I get cold extremely easy, and I was terrified of shivering with the abdominal incision, going out into the 30 degree structure seemed a poor choice. DH asked the transporter to please leave me somewhere warm while he brought the car around. That concept took a long time to convey, but the lady was super nice.

The Hyatt had a wheelchair, so DH checked in, got the wheelchair, and then got us and our stuff up to our room. We were in a block with a whole foods and a nearby CVS, so DH left to get some food for me and to get my prescriptions. At this point I was still having to use the percocet every 4 hours, and the tylenol every 6. DH brought back great food options, but all I could get down were a few bites and then the pain was too much and I stopped. I think I watched some Law and Order, and went to sleep. DH went back out and got himself some deep dish Chicago pizza.

During all of this time, the surgical incision was sore, and it burned like mad when I had to pee, but wasn't horrid. The entire length of my sigmoid colon felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly, and my whole abdomen was painful to the touch. I couldn't pass gas in either direction, or get anything moving in my GI system, and it was awful.

Sunday
We had planned to drive home Sunday. Although I still couldn't take a full breath, and didn't want to contemplate 8 hours in the car, I was terrified that eventually my digestive system was going to let loose, and I didn't want a blow out in the car. DH loaded me up on meds, went and bought Depends and wet wipes as an emergency measure, and we set off around 10-11. Talk about reaching a new low.

The drive was miserable. One side effect of all the swelling was that I couldn't feel the need to urinate. I was also not sure I could make it from the car to a restroom, so I was really worried. About 5.5-6 hours in, the pain got worse despite the meds and worst of all, I started to have muscle spams down the left side of my abdominal muscles, where the pain was already the worst. When it was happening, I couldn't breathe at all. Eventually it got so bad I told DH he needed to pull over. I knew if I couldn't stop the spams, I would need to find a hospital because I wasn't making it home. I legit thought I was at risk of lung collapse or just hypoxia from being unable to draw a breath. I also thought I might need to pee, but there seemed to be absolutely no way I could get from the car to a potty. DH stopped at a random diner somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin. I asked him to figure out where the restrooms were, and he did, then moved the car as close as possible and helped escort me in. Standing up and moving, as hard as it was, helped, and peeing helped even more. I still couldn't breathe deeply, but the spasms stopped. Random Wisconsin diner, thank you - I owe you more than you know! We decided I would take an ambien to see if I could sleep, since part of the problem was muscle tension (confession: DH drives a bit aggressively, and when I know that's happening, I freak out and tense up - that was part of the issue).

I texted my family waiting at home to ask for specific food and to ask them to put a sheet on the sofa so I could sleep on the main floor if I couldn't walk down stairs, and to make up our other guest bed in case I could walk downstairs. Our waterbed, in the master bedroom upstairs, was a clear impossibility because it's low to the floor and hard to get out of normally!

We arrived, I had a bit of food, crashed on the sofa, then shuffled downstairs to the guest bedroom and crashed there. DH made himself a bed on the floor next to me, and set alarms to make sure I woke up to take pain meds at all the right times.

Monday
Monday was more of the same. Some pain control with the meds, but still tough to take a full breath. I got my first shower. DH had to help me with my socks again, but I dressed myself otherwise. At this point I'd been on Reglan since Saturday morning, AND been taking peri-colace, miralax, and cirtucel. Still, no movemenet until just before bedtime. I can still no longer tell when I need to pee, and there's still intense burning and bruising along my incision line.

Tuesday
GI swelling is finally starting to reduce on the right side of my abdomen, and the pain is dropping a bit. Surgical site pain is getting better. DH gets busy with work, so I get a shower on my own with no issue. GI floodgates open and I'm constantly using the toilet, which in turn triggers other problems. Stop taking percocet mid-day. Remain on Tylenol 325 every 4 hours. Make sure to get up and walk laps around the house every hour, and it's going ok.

Wednesday
DH leaves for a work trip. GI pain continues to reduce, surgical pain is clearly getting better. Swelling down - can see my hip bones again! Able to move my hips using my ab muscles for the first time when rolling over in bed! Very excited. Constant bathroom trips after severe lack of bathroom trips has resulted in a thrombosed hemorrhoid. Also, the constant wiping gets the skin very irritated. I find myself wondering how in the hell people have/enjoy anal sex. Pain from an entirely new part of my GI system is not wanted! Push Tylenol out to once every 6 hours. Am finally able to take full breaths with only mild pain! No longer burning around incision site and incision bruising is gone, although what appears to be a thumb-sized blood blister remains on the left.

Thursday
Thursday AM goes well. Similar to Wednesday. Hemorrhoid pain getting worse, GI pain getting better. About 5 pm, all that changes, and I'm back to knives stabbing my colon and an inability to take a full breath. At this point I'm only on Tylenol and I don't want to change that and add percocet back, so I try to solider through. I have to cough, and despite holding a pillow to my stomach, I start my incision bleeding. Can't stand to be touched on the left side of my abs. I am unable to sleep because the pain is so bad when lying down that I can't breathe at all. Drowse after midnight while propped up in bed with pillows.

Friday  - well, I guess I'll split this into 3 posts! So far I've gotten a shower and been off all pain meds, but still have a stabby colon. I will not be returning to work Monday like I'd planned, nor will I get to cycle again in November. I'm sad, but my body is really jacked up and needs time to heal. Hopefully part three of this note will be better.

Oh - and as a side note, remember the mice? E-gads, they've taken over. :( Dad has trapped 10 since he arrived on Saturday. Bless my amazing family for dealing with me and all of this.