As you may recall from a previous post…I spent pretty much ALL day in surgery on Tuesday, November 11th. My incision started at one hip and traveled all the way across my abdomen to the other hip. Essentially…my “muffin top” had just been relocated to my chest. J (*insert lots of fun cheers here*)
They continued to keep a close eye on me in the days that followed. Vital signs, Doppler readings, checking incisions, emptying drainage tubes and the dreaded 1st time I tried to get out of bed. Wow. They really mean it when they say that you don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone! Gone was the simple motion of just being able to sit up without assistance! Why was this so hard? Oh yes, your core is responsible for helping you do a lot of simple, everyday life things; sitting up, turning over in bed, standing up, lifting things…the list goes on and on.
Thank God for the hospital bed that could raise and lower me at the push of a button! It took at least 2 hospital staff to help me get up out of bed to a standing position, only to walk about 3 steps to sit down in a chair. It was painful and I didn’t like it one bit! I had to have them put extra pillows behind me on the chair because the simple act of leaning back slowly to sit in the chair was not so simple any more. It hurt and I couldn’t wait to get back in my hospital bed. Since I was in a lot of pain and it was hard for me to get up and move around, they decided that I could leave my catheter in for an extra day. (Yay for not having to go through a lot of pain just to walk to the bathroom!)
Another thing that the staff wanted me to do was to practice deep breathing. When you are under anesthesia for surgery, your breathing is slowed way down and you don’t take as many deep breaths. Because of this, your “alveoli” (little air sacs) don’t fill with air and you can experience complications like pneumonia.
To avoid complications, they gave me a little plastic “spirometer” to breathe into. It had a tall measurement tube with a ball inside of it. Coming out from that, was another tube that I needed to purse my lips around and blow into. The ball inside would rise with every one of my breaths and the height of the ball was proportionate to how much air I exhaled.
It seemed like a menial task and I didn’t see a lot of value in doing it early on, so I didn’t really do it unless my nurse asked me to. I did end up having a change of heart however, when I experienced a tight chest and difficulty breathing the night after surgery. I don’t care what anyone says, when you don’t feel like you can take deep breaths, it is kind of scary! I called the nurse and she encouraged me to get up out of bed and walk around to get my lungs working more efficiently. Get out of bed? UGH…do I have to? That’s not the easiest of tasks at this point in time.
I didn’t have a ton of options though…the breathing bothered me SO much that I did it anyways. Getting out of bed was tough, but walking around wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I took a little stroll down to the end of the hall with my little IV pole in tow and then meandered back to my room to try to rest. Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick…my breathing felt more normal and that made it easier for me to relax.
The next evening, my dad (who had been staying at our house with the kids, so that Aaron could be with me at the hospital for the duration of my stay) brought the kids in for a visit. My sweet friend Tina (the extremely talented photographer), also came to the hospital to help me capture the visit in pictures. (Thank you Tina….I truly CHERISH all of the photos you took of my journey!! Bless your heart for helping me with this!)
When my family arrived, we decided to take a walk down the hall to the “Elsie O. Mitchell Meditation Sanctuary”. The warmth and peacefulness of this room was so inviting….had I not been dressed in hospital clothes, it would have been easy to feel like I was at a spa. Each of the elements in this room served a purpose (described best by the write up from the hospital’s Web site):
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A space of healing and rest
“The Elsie O. Mitchell Meditation Sanctuary includes symbolic elements common to many faiths and traditions.
Prayer wall
Inspired by the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, this prayer wall is a reminder of the spirit that connects us all. It is a sign of our common humanity, a shelter to gather our hopes, fears, laments and joys.
Meet the heart of God. Let go, offer up, release.
Fire element
Fire symbolizes Divine presence, community and passion. We experience this sacred fire through belonging, inner peace and wisdom.
Gather near the fire and radiate its warmth.
Water element
Water symbolizes life, renewal and healing. Find rest beside the still waters.
Listen…receive…be refreshed.
Labyrinth
Walking the labyrinth is an ancient spiritual practice that invites us to journey inward.
Walk the sacred path with openness. Reflect. Surrender. Embrace the mystery. Listen for the spirit within.”
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What a beautiful, harmonious place for patients and their families to escape to during their hospital stay. Kudos to Elsie O. Mitchell for her generosity in creating such a space!
You can click on the photos below to enlarge them (photos by Tina Vega Photography).
Another post to follow on the days and months after surgery…
Thanks for reading along. J
Love to all,
Nae
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