What I Did On My Christmas Vacation

Or The Story of My Surgery and Recovery From an Abdominal Hysterectomy~

The day before my scheduled surgery the lights went out. As in, we had a power outage. For 17 hours. Because all of our phones are cordless we missed the call from the hospital to come in early. Oh well.
At the hospital, my pre op nurse looked like an aging Cindy Lauper and was sweet as can be in a Flo the waitress kind of way. She gave me a nice pep talk as I was rolled into the O.R when she saw the tears in my eyes. I love kind strangers.
Apparently the surgery went without a hitch. As I was waking up I heard a name that I knew. The name of a friend of mine that I don't see much of any more. I had complete lucidity when I heard the name and felt like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to be there. She didn't realize it was me until I was in my room and she shouted out my name and asked what I was doing there. I mumbled, "Hysterectomy" and the other nurse laughed and said, "I think she meant, 'What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?' " She gave me a hug that felt like pure warmth. Everything was so clear at that moment except for being completely black. (I couldn't open my eyes.) I felt like that experience was a tender mercy from the Lord that made me feel loved and safe.
For the next, I dunno, 8-10 hours? I pushed my little Morphine button. Then I started to itch, became extremely nauseous and felt like I couldn't breathe. Mild panic attack, I guess. After they took me off of that nasty stuff, I still had the spins and couldn't open my eyes for 8-12 hours. I took a couple of Vicodin, but hated that,too. I was happy with 800 mg. of Mortin a couple times a day. I was actually doing quite well despite my Morphine reaction and was able to con the doctor into letting my go home a day early. I felt great, went home and proceeded to utterly crash for an entire week. Very sore, very emotional at times and ick, hot flashes! Even though I kept my ovaries, they are asleep right now and will hopefully wake up in the next couple of months.
At 3 weeks 4 days out of surgery I had my first day of not hurting when I coughed and sneezed. I could roll over in bed easily and pain free.
Tomorrow it will be 4 weeks. I did laundry and dishes today and sat on the couch doing school work for awhile. I was in bed at 2:30 pm for 6 hours. I just got up a little bit ago to type this post and then it's back to bed. The nice nurse told me I will feel pretty normal at 8 weeks. It's up and down until then.
So, here is what I did on my Christmas Vacation:


*Watched a whole season of Super Nanny, Nanny 911 and The World's Strictest Parents online.

*Read the first 3 and 1/2 Harry Potter books for the first time. They're o.k., but I haven't picked the 4th one up in over a week. Just not grabbing me.

*Read The Pioneer Woman's Black Heels to Tractor Wheels love story on her blog.

*Watched Julie and Julie online from Amazon. (They were having a special and it was free.)

*Surfed decorating blogs and made a list of things to do.

*Got a new calling. (Week and a 1/2 into recovery. Haven't quite wrapped my brain around it fully yet. Second Counselor in the Young Women's program, btw.)

*Watched my nails grow to terrific lengths while I was completely labor and house work free.

*Started all of my Christmas shopping online the day after I got home from the hospital.(Dec. 9th)Continued to one click shop at Amazon until Dec. 17th. Everything arrived on time. L-14 and P-10 did most of the wrapping of their sibling's gifts.

*Watched marathons of Cake Boss, What Not to Wear, 18 Kids and Counting, Iron Chef, The Next Food Network Star and various Little People shows on TLC. Cable is new for us. We haven't had it in 10 years but decided to get it for my recovery and the BYU channel.

*Forced myself to get dressed and go to a work dinner party in downtown San Diego (link) for my hubby. Had calamari, crab cakes, seared Ahi tuna sushi thing, Lobster Bisque, Filet Mignon with crab and Bearnaise sause (swoon) and assorted sides. Creme Brulee for dessert. It was some seriously fine cusine. Too bad my taste buds were still a bit off. I also had to get up and just stand for awhile since sitting is about the most uncomfortable position to be in. Came home totally dizzy and crashed for about 3 days.

* Was congratulated by the doctor for having the largest uterus of the year, maxing out at 8 times the size of a normal one. Ew.