Post-op day

I left you in the operating room.
My next memory is of being woken up, but not wanting to wake up - like when you are having a really good sleep. I was a little irritated that I was being woken up and then a little disoriented about where I was and why I was needing to be woken up.
The first face I was able to focus on was of Dr. Y, my anaesthetist and being the polite person I was trained to be, I caught her eye and thanked her for everything. Who does that coming out of an anaestthetic? I guess I do ;)
My next memory is of severe pain in the right upper arm. I tried repositioning the arm to see if I could alleviate it but that wasn't helping at all. I asked the recovery room nurse for some ice but she must not have thought I was with it enough to remove it if I needed to - she said 'I can't have you getting frost-bite'. I wanted the arm raised on a pillow but I'm not even sure I asked for this aloud, she was giving me Morphine which would cause me to drift in and out of consciousness.
After a period of time (it was difficult for me to tell how much time I was actually there) she once again asked me to rate my pain on a level of 0 to 10 with 10 being the worst pain I could imagine. I said 7 and she then told me that she was going to send me back to Day Surgery because she couldn't give me any more Morphine, I think she said she'd already given me 14 mg of it and there was nothing more she could do for me there.
I don't remember the trip back to Day Surgery but I do remember the nurse in Day Surgery bringing me an ice pack and a pillow for the arm and this helped immensely with the discomfort. The rest of the afternoon was quite a blur and next I awoke I was feeling nauseated from the Morphine and was given Maxeran. This didn't seem to help much but I drifted in and out of sleep and was basically not too aware of much that was going on. I don't remember my son Caleb coming to check on me or him saying goodbye as he left, but apparently he did.
I do remember Rod and our good friend Wade stopping by, Wade with a big smile on his face. Rod quickly got my signal that I wanted to be left alone for awhile longer so they left.
I was finally given Gravol which for some strange reason works for me and it was a little like a switch going on, I quickly woke up and the nausea dissipated. I was able to walk to the washroom and back, very shakily and not without a great deal of right arm discomfort but I did it and I was proud of myself.
I was given Percocet for pain and did OK with it until they brought me a supper tray. There was a cream of celery soup on the tray as well as a full plate of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and carrots. I tried the soup.
My son, Justin arrived from Cranbrook and came in with my husband to see me. He was just in time to grab a tray for me to throw up in, what a greeting he got!
I sent him home with Rod to get settled and told them to come back later and bring our 17 year old, Kenny with them, then I let myself rest, this time receiving Ondansetron 8 mg IV to help with the nausea.
When I next awoke, I was surrounded by my family, Jordan and Celia, Kenny, Justin and Rod. I was told that Jordan and Celia had been there for an hour but didn't want to disturb me. They had brought me the cuddliest, cutest teddy bear ever and a rose bowl. We visited for a while, Kenny cracking us up with one liner jokes, he was in rare form.
Once they left, I was given Percocet and Gravol as a bedtime cocktail. I was sure when I woke up at 1 a.m. that I must have slept the night through already, being in the Day Surgery area with patients from Emergency coming and going to the OR, lights all on was disorienting in regards to time. Each time I was up was getting easier and I was starting to feel like I was going to make it through this ;)
In the morning, I had a very kind nurse who's mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer last fall. She told me she was going to change my dressing. When she removed the dressing she had me take a look. My initial reaction was very clinical. My thoughts were - minimal bruising, nicely approximated edges, very neat, no redness or swelling to be seen, two drain sites, secured with sutures and a little extra skin sitting in the axilla to allow for 'future expansion'.
Physio came to see me to discuss the arm exercises I would be required to do and we went through each of them. This person also had a mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, in this instance 15 years ago. I found these stories very encouraging as they shared them.
As if it had been carefully orchestrated rather than just happening to be the case, Rod and Justin showed up just then and I was discharged.
Once home, I was settled into my recliner with ice and Percocet, a washroom nearby and this became my station for the duration of the day, being waited on hand and foot by my family.  Life is once again good.