On Sunday, March 25, I was hospitalized for what turned out to be pancreatitis and I had surgery on Thursday, March 29. My gall bladder was removed. I'm told it was very full of gall stones.
I've been having stomach related health problems for several weeks, but we kept thinking it was either a bug or something I'd eaten. I've had several instances where I would throw up and then not really be any better and frequently I was in a lot of pain. On Saturday the 24th, shortly after I went to bed, I was up in the bathroom throwing up and stayed there most of the night. Literally every hour, sometimes 2 or 3 times per hour. About 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning, I realized that it was not "normal" and I told Bill we needed to get me to the doctor. I really had no concept of time, I didn't realize it had been so many hours until he told me what time it really was. He took me to the emergency room, I was thinking that they would give me a shot to relax my stomach muscles or something like that. Instead, they hooked me up to an IV and gave me at least 2 bags of fluids quickly - I was pretty dehydrated - and then they started blood work. The blood work showed pancreatitis, which the doctor explained is an inflammation of the pancreas usually caused by it being blocked by something. He thought it was my gall bladder, so he sent me to get a sonogram and they also gave me a pain shot which helped a lot. The sonogram showed what they suspected.
From that point until Wednesday, I had nothing at all by mouth but I was so drugged up that I really didn't care! I had the IV's, so I really did not notice it anyway. At one point on Wednesday, my blood sugar got dangerously low so the IV bags were changed to the type with glucose in them and then my blood sugar got back to where it needed to be. I am not diabetic, but one of the side effects of a blocked pancreas is that blood sugar levels go crazy. After the surgery, I had to have 2 insulin shots because that also caused it to rise. Starting on Wednesday, they started feeding me again - jello & clear broth! Which actually was like a gourmet meal since I'd had nothing for several days.
The surgery was on Thursday, I'm told it's normally performed as outpatient which is surprising. Because of the massive pancreatitis I had, outpatient was never an option but I wasn't complaining! The surgery went well, I had ice packs to keep on the 4 incision sites until Friday morning. The surgery was laparoscopic, so the incicisions are not big sliced spots but rather are small areas where the camera and instruments were inserted, and then one larger one where the gall bladder was removed. They are not that bad actually, I'll probably have some scarring but it's a price I'll gladly pay!
I came home on Friday afternoon, and I will probably not go back to work for several days. The doctor said that normal recovery from this type of surgery is 3 days to a week, but that because I also have to recover from the pancreatitis that it will probably be closer to a week. I see my doctor on Tuesday and the surgeon on Thursday. I'm unable to drive so Bill will take me on Tuesday and then I'll decide about the rest of the week. But I'm not in a hurry to go back to work, I have a well-earned reputation for doing too much too soon!
In the meantime, Otter is probably feeling like slave labor! She's done a lot for me, and I do appreciate all the work. It might sound like a fun thing, to stay in bed all day and do nothing but I suggest you try it and then you will see that it is not nearly as fun as it sounds! I can't even unload the dishwasher, I can't lift anything over 15 pounds and I am not supposed to do much of anything. I get tired from just walking down the hall so I'm not in a hurry to do anything anyway. But it does get frustrating at times!
Otter turned 15 on Saturday, Bill brought her a small cake from Wallyworld so we were able to at least acknowledge her birthday. Her presents will have to wait, we told her what we intended to get her and her party is not until the 15th anyway. Her birthday dinner has been temporarily postponed.
Also, our friend Larry passed away last week. He was a good friend and we will miss him. His death was not unexpected, it was advanced cancer but it was a lot sooner than we thought. His funeral was Wednesday.
The dogs seem glad that I'm home. Maggie was bouncy and silly, Frasier came in and immediately put his head in my lap. He stayed that way for about 30 minutes, just making sighing sounds and not moving away from me. I think maybe he was happy!
I've been having stomach related health problems for several weeks, but we kept thinking it was either a bug or something I'd eaten. I've had several instances where I would throw up and then not really be any better and frequently I was in a lot of pain. On Saturday the 24th, shortly after I went to bed, I was up in the bathroom throwing up and stayed there most of the night. Literally every hour, sometimes 2 or 3 times per hour. About 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning, I realized that it was not "normal" and I told Bill we needed to get me to the doctor. I really had no concept of time, I didn't realize it had been so many hours until he told me what time it really was. He took me to the emergency room, I was thinking that they would give me a shot to relax my stomach muscles or something like that. Instead, they hooked me up to an IV and gave me at least 2 bags of fluids quickly - I was pretty dehydrated - and then they started blood work. The blood work showed pancreatitis, which the doctor explained is an inflammation of the pancreas usually caused by it being blocked by something. He thought it was my gall bladder, so he sent me to get a sonogram and they also gave me a pain shot which helped a lot. The sonogram showed what they suspected.
From that point until Wednesday, I had nothing at all by mouth but I was so drugged up that I really didn't care! I had the IV's, so I really did not notice it anyway. At one point on Wednesday, my blood sugar got dangerously low so the IV bags were changed to the type with glucose in them and then my blood sugar got back to where it needed to be. I am not diabetic, but one of the side effects of a blocked pancreas is that blood sugar levels go crazy. After the surgery, I had to have 2 insulin shots because that also caused it to rise. Starting on Wednesday, they started feeding me again - jello & clear broth! Which actually was like a gourmet meal since I'd had nothing for several days.
The surgery was on Thursday, I'm told it's normally performed as outpatient which is surprising. Because of the massive pancreatitis I had, outpatient was never an option but I wasn't complaining! The surgery went well, I had ice packs to keep on the 4 incision sites until Friday morning. The surgery was laparoscopic, so the incicisions are not big sliced spots but rather are small areas where the camera and instruments were inserted, and then one larger one where the gall bladder was removed. They are not that bad actually, I'll probably have some scarring but it's a price I'll gladly pay!
I came home on Friday afternoon, and I will probably not go back to work for several days. The doctor said that normal recovery from this type of surgery is 3 days to a week, but that because I also have to recover from the pancreatitis that it will probably be closer to a week. I see my doctor on Tuesday and the surgeon on Thursday. I'm unable to drive so Bill will take me on Tuesday and then I'll decide about the rest of the week. But I'm not in a hurry to go back to work, I have a well-earned reputation for doing too much too soon!
In the meantime, Otter is probably feeling like slave labor! She's done a lot for me, and I do appreciate all the work. It might sound like a fun thing, to stay in bed all day and do nothing but I suggest you try it and then you will see that it is not nearly as fun as it sounds! I can't even unload the dishwasher, I can't lift anything over 15 pounds and I am not supposed to do much of anything. I get tired from just walking down the hall so I'm not in a hurry to do anything anyway. But it does get frustrating at times!
Otter turned 15 on Saturday, Bill brought her a small cake from Wallyworld so we were able to at least acknowledge her birthday. Her presents will have to wait, we told her what we intended to get her and her party is not until the 15th anyway. Her birthday dinner has been temporarily postponed.
Also, our friend Larry passed away last week. He was a good friend and we will miss him. His death was not unexpected, it was advanced cancer but it was a lot sooner than we thought. His funeral was Wednesday.
The dogs seem glad that I'm home. Maggie was bouncy and silly, Frasier came in and immediately put his head in my lap. He stayed that way for about 30 minutes, just making sighing sounds and not moving away from me. I think maybe he was happy!
2 comments:
I agree that it is not fun to have to sit down for a long time. Try doing it for 3-4 months. At least you can walk to the br. I had to hop on one foot with a walker. You have my sympathy.
Now that this is done we can go back to planning this summer.
Froggy
Glad you are well!!!!!
I'm so sorry you had to go through this and so happy for you that you're recovering nicely! Been there, done that back in the day when they didn't do the 4 little incisions. Very large scar across my entire upper torso. Yukko! Take care of yourself and don't do too much too soon! You need to recouperate!!
Azbax
Post a Comment