The first 24 hours after surgery remain a bit of a sleepy blur...lots of sleep and images of activity around me. When awake, I actually felt surprisingly well. There was not the pain I had anticipated, nor were there any dreaded (put down your sandwich) bladder spasms I had been warned of as a result of the catheter.
The overriding lesson from the first 24 is: For God's sake bring someone with you if you choose surgery! You need someone to advocate on your behalf to an apparently overworked crew of nurses and aids...someone who hears what the nurses say to you and then insists they follow through...someone to ask the questions you're too groggy to ask...someone willing to learn the personal care routine and help you stay clean (something the staff seems uninterested in)...someone who cares for you rather than the computer charting...someone who watches everything happening. This is an important lesson...listen and learn.
We did take our first walk in the early evening after supper, I wasn't going to win any awards for speed, but I did not find walking to be painful (although getting out of bed was another story). I was surprised at how quickly I tired. Returning to the room, one of the younger nurses showed me how to get back into bed without pain; a good skill to learn early in the hospital experience.
Next up...catheters, a whole bag of fun!
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