11 January - I'm home!

This will be a quick update for the blog.  The surgery took place on Monday morning at 8 as planned.  It took about two and a half hours and Dr. Dwyer was in to talk to my wife and son by 10:30.  By noon I was up in my room and spent most of the rest of that day in la-la land, dozing off from time to time.  The doctor felt that everything went well, there were no surprises.  Now my job is to heal.  Tuesday was a busy day.  I have a Foley catheter and that seems to be working well.  It will stay in for two weeks and then will be removed at the hospital.  There was also a drain from a point near the incision, but that was removed yesterday.  I was on IV with a morphine pump, but I seemed to be doing okay on pain meds by mouth, so I  only used the pump a couple of times out of curiosity more than anything else.  I’m getting antibiotics and will have those while I have the catheter.  To prevent blood clots, I was getting a shot in the stomach while I was in the hospital.  There was a lot of coming and going on Tuesday and I was able to get up and walk the loop of the floor six times with the nurse.  I sat up in a chair most of the morning.  Apparently all the happy medications were having their effect, because yesterday I wasn’t quite as perky.  I was on a full diet yesterday although I’m not overdoing that- need stool softeners now so that there is no strain on the incision.  My doctor gave me the choice of coming home on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, so I opted for Wednesday.  Around 4, son Eric came and collected Barb and me, drove us home with a stop for the various prescriptions.  It’s always good to be home and although the catheter bags (leg bag for the day and larger night bag) took a bit of getting used to, we did okay.  I’m sleeping on a recliner which seemed to help last night, and we have a raised seat on our toilet (recommended by a fellow veteran of the procedure) and that seemed to help today.  This is all for now.  Barb and I have both been overwhelmed by the support and concern shown by so many – you are much appreciated.  I’ll try to add a photo taken one day after surgery.  Stay tuned for new updates.