Second Day After Operation Day

Hard day. Period. The end.

That is all I had planned to say, but that doesn't exactly paint a clear picture of what my worst day looked like.

I had great sleep the night before, only being woken up every two hours or so this time. My first indication that this would not be my best day was when I went to the bathroom. Coming back to bed, my incisions were burning! The burning created soreness across my whole belly. The soreness wasn't really different from the day before, but the burning sensation seemed to lower my ability to cope. I cried.

My breakfast came. I had one bite. My mouth said "yum," but my throat warned me of upcoming nausea, should I try that again. I took a sip of water. Yuck! It tasted like plastic! My empty mouth tasted like copper. I ate a third of my lunch potato soup and a third of my banana. I was not on a restricted diet by the doctor, but by my body. When dinner came, every smell was nauseous to me, even the smell of the cookie.

One of my closest friends came to visit me. I loved that, but I felt bad that I couldn't be happy for her. Of course, she wasn't expecting me to be anything but in serious pain, so she wasn't disappointed by my feeling sick, but I was.

My first indication that I was going to get sick is when I have zero desire to smile. That could last a while. Then I lack desire to talk at all. Instead, should someone ask me anything, I simply look at them. Then nausea hits, fast and hard. You know how yucky it feels just before throwing up because of a stomach flu. Now times the intensity by 10. This nausea is horrible, horrible.

The outcome is no longer burps. It's full on heaves that either produces the last meal (potato soup doesn't smell too bad coming up, thank goodness), or stomach acid, or nothing. VERY IMPORTAT INFO: it is much, much easier to throw up sitting in a normal chair than in a bed, even if the bed is created into a chair!

The nurse gave me anti-nausea meds. They didn't work.

Nausea and the following stomach cramps after throwing up pretty much summed up my worst day. That, and staring into numbing nothingness.

Ooh, but I did learn something valuable. Coughing and throwing up are much more comfortable (if you can even call it that) if you are already in an upright sitting position.