Pain

Wow...nothing could have prepared me for the pain. The pain when I woke up, the pain when I move, the pain when the car hits the tiniest lump and bump in the road. Yes...I've finally been released. 

Things did not go smoothly with the operation. What was meant to be a 45 minute standard procedure turned into 2.5 hours and I'm having further tests as it's likely I have something more serious than previously thought. It's left me reeling and pretty down. But I feel grateful I could go through this with private healthcare. The hospital and all the staff were wonderful. 

So to recap...I came around from the operation and was in quite a lot of pain. They had given me a morphine drip on a PCA pump...i.e. I could self administer. The problem with this is that I am really sensitive to opiates and they make me really sick. So my first night I spent the time in pain and then nauseous and vomiting. I was given anti-emetics, but they didn't really help. I stopped taking the morphine around 6am and waited for the doctor to come and see me to try an alternative. 

In many ways, stopping the morphine drip was good. They took it off me, which left me more able to move. Not that I really want to start dancing about though...too painful. But this then left me in quite a bit of pain. It took a few days to sort out the best pain relief and some sleepless nights. 

My consultant though was very surprised at how well I was doing when he came to see me. He came round the following afternoon after the operation and had thought I'd still be pretty groggy...but without the morphine I probably looked quite bright...well, as bright as a person can be after major surgery. The following day the drain came out and I had no dressing...I was quite shocked at this, but actually I'm probably healing better as a result. I'm very bruised and battered though...my stomach and the marks are quite ugly and look awful. The tape that kept the dressing on also caused little blisters when removed, so I look even worse. 

Still, I managed to get released...the car journey back was horrendous though. I had no idea I'd be in so much pain with the slightest jolt. But now I need to focus on getting well again and healing.