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Long Week - NEs Surgery

March 14th, 2015 at 05:38 pm

On Monday we were told that NE had to be at the hospital to check in at 9 a.m. On Tuesday afternoon we were told that the 7 a.m. patient "probably won't make it because they are sick" so to come by 7 a.m.

So ... on Wednesday I picked NE up at 5:30 a.m. and we made it to the hospital about 6:40. Guess what? The 7 a.m. patient previously scheduled HAD come.

So we waited in the intake lobby for about 40 minutes. NE hadn't slept in 24 hours (too anxious.) I went to the lady at the desk and asked if there was anyway he could go into his room early while we waited. Nope. However she did tell me about a lobby with some comfy chairs (and couches!) We sat on a couple of chairs for about 20 minutes before I could convince NE that nobody would care if he laid down on one of the couches. (the lobby was pretty empty)

A bit after 9 the guy in charge of taking NE to the preop area found us and took us there. We were there for over two hours.

About 11:20 NE was taken to the operating area and I was told how to find the surgery waiting area.

About 12:15 I was told by the volunteer that the surgery had started.

About 2:30 they were closing up and going to recovery.
The doctor came in and talked to me then - let me know everything went well.

About 4:15 I got a call telling me his room number and that he'd be up "soon."

At 6:30, nearly 12 hours after arriving, he was FINALLY brought up to his room.

The head nurse mentioned that if I wanted to spend the night, they could get me an extra pillow. Neither of us had known that was a possibility. I had thought I'd be heading home by 7 at the latest ...

I stayed the night. And I'm so glad I did! They were short staffed - let's just say that.

About midnight they took the blood pressure cuff off of him (which inflated every 30 minutes ...) and said they'd leave him be til 4am. During that 4 hour period I managed to get maybe two hours uninterrupted sleep, plus a few snoozes.

I got up and got ready to go home at 5 a.m. Drove by his place to check on the cats quickly, then got home. Pulled into my spot around 6:50. Ate breakfast and went to work.

I was SO out of it... my boss asked me why didn't I call in (after I told her about spending the night at the hospital) I told her I didn't because I knew it was staff meeting ... which of course was canceled.

Instead I went home at noon and managed to sleep about 30 minutes before my phone rang. Sort of dozed off and on for another hour.

About 3 I headed back to the hospital. Ended up being there til about 8. NE had his first meal, which I helped him with (which is why I didn't leave earlier.)

I had a few brief moments of ultimate panic that my car had been stolen. Thankfully decided to look down one more level before calling the police ... Smile

Thursday night managed to sleep about five hours. Went to work in a slightly grumpy mood which was not helped by an emailed question from my boss (a misunderstanding, but just rubbed me the wrong way.)

Left work at 3:30, arrived at the hospital at 4:45. NE had ordered me a piece of cheesecake from the room service menu. Smile

Waited and waited for the charge nurse to do the needed paperwork for discharge. Picked NE up in front of the hospital shortly before 7:00.

Got to HyVee to pick up meds shortly after 8.

Dropped him off at his place a bit after 9 - of course could not find his keys which he'd put in my purse on Wednesday. Luckily I had a spare key in my change compartment so he could get in.

I stopped at Burger King on the way home (hadn't eaten anything other than the cheesecake since 3 pm.)

Compounding all this is that my allergies / sinuses were beating me up badly. Especially yesterday afternoon.

Slept about six hours Friday night and decided that I would stay home from church - just too exhausted.

This morning I cleaned out my car (something I've needed to do for a long time) in an effort to find the keys. I had cleaned out almost the entire car when the thought hit me - we'd put something in the center console. There they were. Whew!

I had two slip ups this week on my no buying junkfood for 40 days quest. Thursday and Friday. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, but just continue on back on track.

---
Now I'm going to try to catch up with everyone!

14 Responses to “Long Week - NEs Surgery”

  1. ceejay74 Says:
    1426355790

    Wow, crazy week. I'm glad everything went well, and hope you both recover soon!

  2. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1426359089

    Thanks Ceejay!

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1426367847

    That is a rough week, especially traveling out of town on top of it. I hope you get some much needed rest this weekend. At least he is home and you won't be driving as far in the coming days.

  4. VS_ozgirl Says:
    1426388296

    That was a full-on week & I hope NE is recovering well! I would have had junk food here & there too! Good attitude of not beating yourself up about it and simply getting back on track Smile

  5. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1426393285

    CCF - Yes, it definitely is better now that he's five minutes away rather than an hour and change!

    VS - Thanks Wink NE does seem to be recovering pretty well so far.

  6. Looking Forward Says:
    1426393627

    What a week!
    Hopefully NE has a full recovery... and you too! Smile

  7. LuckyRobin Says:
    1426401050

    That sounds like a very stressful week. Make sure you take a little time for yourself during all the craziness of taking care of NE. Is the prognosis good for his shoulder now that he has had the surgery?

  8. snafu Says:
    1426411855

    Wow! After those two days, you need some rest and pampering. Looking after guys following surgery can be tear-your-hair -out stressful. I hope you'll plan something like bubble bath, facial, manicure, pedicure time for yourself. It needn't be a 5 star spa, the high schools and beauty culture schools offer services for a modest cost with teacher supervision.

  9. MonkeyMama Says:
    1426427459

    Hopefully you are getting some needed rest this weekend! Thanks for the update.

  10. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1426435205

    Thanks everyone.

    LR - Yes, it does look good. Of course it is still early days, but his doctor feels like the surgery went well and since NE is so young (relatively) that he should recover a good bit of mobility.

    Snafu - Funny you should mention that .. Smile I was thinking about getting a pedicure today. Just have to actually get myself going.

    MM - I am getting some good rest this weekend with the help of sleepy making cold meds!

  11. PNWMom Says:
    1426449987

    Glad to hear everything went well! Smile

  12. scottish girl Says:
    1426451148

    Glad everything went well Smile

  13. CB in the City Says:
    1426513883

    Glad that NE is doing well. His surgery schedule sounds pretty typical to me -- you just have to count on it that, all in all, surgery will take all day! Get some rest!

  14. Ima saver Says:
    1426602631

    Bless your heart, you aare worn out. Glad that NE is doing well. Now, take care of yourself.

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