SPRING AGENDA - THORACIC SURGERY 05.24.24: T+2 - Not so Quick, Missy

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Yesterday was a great day. Most important, I wasn't dead or dying; next, I came through the surgery without a stroke or heart attack or any other awful event, and I seemed to be thinking as clearly as one can under difficult circumstances.

I had a light supper and enjoyed yet another popsicle before going to bed. And then ... a heavy ache exacerbated by the burden of fatigue hit me. I found myself watching the clock, waiting for 8:00 PM when I could take 1000 mg of Tylenol. Before bed, I decided to go for the gabapentin (common brand name is Neurontin -- one of those multi-use drugs that helps with nerve pain and for me, it acts as a sleep inducer) and methocarbamal (common brand name is Robaxin -- for muscle spasms, which I tend to have anyway, because of MS, I think).

Getting into bed was awful. I sat down too far from the head of the bed, and moving back felt as though as I was sliding over bumpy wood. We have an adjustable split king bed, so fortunately I could fool around with controls until I found a reasonably comfortable position. I whined and swore. Not my finest moment.

Finally I got settled, but the only thing that kept me for resorting to oxycodone was the thought that I'd have to start all over again with the bed. Now, I specifically avoid any kind of heavy duty painkiller because opiates not only confuse my mind but also give me a headache and nausea. So this is evidence of how desperate I had become. I tried to quiet my mind with a few Hail Marys and eventually fell asleep. I was awake for a couple of hours after 3:00 AM but woke this morning at seven, a full two hours after I usually get out of bed.

I can't take a shower until tomorrow but managed to get reasonably clean, and I thought of my wonderful nurse Alice who laughed when I told her I didn't want to smell. The anticoagulant shot in the abdomen (enoxaparin -- common brand name is Lovenox) was easy from years of experience with myself (Avonex for MS) and Fritz the cat (insulin for diabetes).

I'm sitting at the dining room table in a straight back chair with a pillow behind me, and that may be the best position, as it so often is. Feeling energetic again, so this should be a good day!