So the next thing I remember is being in my hospital room in the Neuro ICU unit... totally out of it..... in quite a lot of pain. Before my surgeryt he doctors had told my Mom and Dad that my surgery would take approximately 3 hours. Well the doctors didn't tell my parents that I was almost an hour late going into my surgery and on top of that they ran into some problems during surgery so my 3 hour surgery ended up taking more than 6 hours. They never once came out to tell my parents what had happened so I could only imagine how worried they were. I was later told that my mom was pacing back and forth pretty much the whole time and would not sit down. She also kept telling my Dad to go find out what was going on. My Dad was like "I am sure they are just going to let me walk in to see what is going on!" Needless to say everyone was very worried about me, and had no idea what was taking so long.
When I opened my eyes I tried to move and the nurses like jumped on me yelling "Don't move! Don't Move!" Totally confused and unsure of what was going on I looked for my Mom and Dad. All I knew for sure is that I was in pain, my back, my head, everything......My mom looked worried, my Dad did too... and that scared me. Still groggy from the anesthetic, I remember trying to figure out where I was, who was there.... it was all foggy for a little bit. Once I was awake enough to comprehend my parents explained to me how the surgery had gone. Apparently my 3 hour surgery had turned into a 6 hour surgery. While trying to remove the tumor the doctors had accidentally knicked my brain fluid sack so they had to insert a drain (a long narrow tube) into my spine to make sure that any leaking fluid did not stay in my body and cause any infection. This meant that I was not allowed to sit up, in fact it meant that I had to be perfectly level for a couple days. At that point I didn't want to even want to move, I hurt SO bad... it was the most painful feeling I could have ever imagined! Then the nurse tried to move me over and she grabbed my leg.... I screamed because it hurt when she touch my left leg. When I screamed she had no idea why it hurt... she pulled the blanket back and realized that there were stitches in my leg. Apparently they needed to us some tissue from my leg to put in my head to block fluid from leaking out... would have been nice if they let all the nurses know!
I had a huge bandage across my nose (I later found out that I also had "packing" up my nose, which is pretty much like a tampon) and I had to wear a mask to keep my nose mosturized to prevent the packing from drying up inside my nose (which would make it extremely painful to remove), I had sore spots on my head from the clamps that were used during surgery to keep my head still and positioned correctly, both my eyes were black (from them having to break my nose, and move the cartilidge over to allow access to wear the tumor was located), and I had IV's in both arms. My mom said I looked like I had been in a car accident. I had wraps on both my legs that would inflate and deflate to make sure that I didn't lose circulation in my legs. I never got to see what I looked like, but I could imagine that I wasn't ready for a beauty pagent!
Following my surgery I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything for 12 hours. Because I was on so much pain killers I don't remember alot the first couple days after my surgery, but I do remember being SO thirsty. I was begging the nurses to let me have a drink, and they kept telling me I wasn't allowed any fluids. I remember literally crying because I felt as if I didn't get something to drink that I was going to die (harsh I know but thats how I felt). The next thing I remember is in the middle of the night my nurse Nikki (she had just graduated from nursing school and she was absolutely WONDERFUL) woke me up to tell me that I was allowed a drink. I don't think I could have received any better news. All I wanted was apple juice (don't ask me why), so she went and got a jug of apple juice and would pour a little in a cup. I couldn't sit up so I was lying flat on my back trying to drink. It was extremely difficult and I felt like I would never get enough to satisfy my thirst. Nikki got a brilliant idea... she went to the nurses station and stole someones water bottle for me. It was way easier to drink out of a water bottle than it was trying to drink out of a cup. That water bottle became my best friend!
Over the next couple days I struggled with the pain... I would wait to long to ask for painkillers and by the time I would get them the pain was so bad that I thought I couldn't take it anymore! Everytime I even moved my arm my IV would plug off and start beeping so I couldn't move my left arm. My mom figured out how to fix it so the nurses didn't have to come in all the time. Eventually they decided that they needed to move it because my vein was so damaged that it was plugging off all the time. The only problem was that they couldn't find a vein in my arm or even in my hand that would work and they didn't know what to do. My mom ever so brilliant that she is (sense the slight sarcasim) suggested that they put it in my foot! So the nurses took a look and found a good vein right away. Let me just tell you that it hurts WAY more getting an IV in your foot than in your arm or hand! ... thanks for that suggestion mom!
As I mentioned earlier my sister and her now 6 week old son were also visiting me. They would not allow Logan into the ICU unit because there was alot of infection and they were scared he would get sick. Luckily for me I had a room with a window out into the hall so they held him up so I could see him. I turned to look at him and remember feeling like I had been spun around in circles for an hour. I got really sick from trying to look at my sweet little nephew but I thought it was worth it... just to see him made me feel better. I remember wishing that I could just hold him. He seemed to have a way about him that just made everything bad disappear.
Now it was rest time.......
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