Good Sunday Morning

I thought I would give everyone an update from last night and this morning so far. My pain continues to be all localized to the incision the doctors made. I haven't tried to mess with the bandage or look at the staples but I assure you, they are there. We had a nice evening last night. Melissa picked up some Olive Garden and we watched a movie. I have been maintaining a 4-5 hour pace with my pain medication. I have only been taking 1 pill per time. I am thankful my pain has not been that bad. It hurts if I sit still for too long. I have been propping my legs up on the ottoman and that has felt nice. Almost like laying down which is what I was told to do. I went a little long last night without pain meds and when I woke up, the pain was much more evident. We are having some family over this afternoon for a little get together. I am looking forward to that. Its always nice when they are around. Very fun to hang out with. Anyhow, I hope everyone is well today and please pass the word about my blog to people in my situation or may find it useful. I am going to stat experimenting with pictures and video on here soon so it will have a much more interactive feel. Until later, Peace, love and much happiness.....

Recovery

The next thing I remember, I was in the post-op recovery room and my head was swirling. I was trying to gain focus on something. There was a nurse sitting next to me and I read her ID badge and said her name. She said "That's Me" and smiled. I then asked to see my wife and daughter and she said she would get them after I came out of anaesthesia fully. I then started looking around and reading signs. It was 6:15 PM. About an hour and half after they put me under. There was no one else in the recovery room that I could see. I started wondering if I made it though surgery. I asked the nurse if there were any complications and she said no. My first sigh of relief. I kept looking around and saw the other nurses. I felt invisible to everyone else there. One lady was talking on the phone, another was looking for her book. Guess it wasn't very busy for them. I slowly became more aware of my surroundings and being able to focus completely on things. I then started feeling the effects of my surgery. I have a big bandage across the right side of my pelvis. The doctors cut me open at my pubic area and removed my testicle through there. I had some pain from the effects. Obviously they pumped me full of drugs but still could feel the effects. A few minutes later, I saw the most beautiful thing in the world. I saw my wife walking towards me. I was so happy. I looked at her face to see if she had any bad news. She looked relieved. Another sigh of relief. The doctor had already talked to her and the surgery went well. By this time, I was pretty well recovered and was able to get dressed. It was around 7:00 by this time so I had been awake for about 45 minutes. I was able to stand on my own and get dressed with no issues. My doctor came and talked to me and said that everything went well and he didn't see anything while in there that was alarming. Another sign of relief. He said that we would meet after getting the pathology reports to see where we go from here. Treatments could include a short, localized radiation therapy, or a longer round of radiation or chemotherapy. This is assuming that the tumor was cancerous and that treatment would be needed. Then they brought a wheelchair for me and I was on my way out. It was warm and humid outside and I immediately thought to myself, Yep.... definitely Houston. My nurse was whipping me around the sidewalk and took a corner that I thought I was going to eat it in. She said something about me being worried but I didn't fully comprehend. One notable side effect of the medication is being able to focus on one thing at a time. Cant multi-task on that stuff. We got to my truck and I thought to myself, it would be a lot easier to sit down into a car rather than try and crawl up into a truck. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to stand up and maneuver to get in. The ride home felt like the bumpiest, longest ride home. I kept waiting for my staples to fall out from the rid home. My "designated driver" did good getting me home ASAP. I was really hungry at this point of the day and was ready for dinner. We got home and my wife went to the pharmacy to get my pain meds. Doctors prescribed me something called Hydrocodone which is a combination of a narcotic and acetaminophen to reduce moderate to severe pain. My post op meal consisted of Chic-Fil-A chicken nuggets, waffle fries and lemonade. We were afraid of nausea caused my the medication but I felt great, except for the pain. We finished dinner and did a little racing on Mario Kart for the Wii. My wife beat me badly. I blame the drugs !!! After, we finished the night with Everybody Loves Raymond. my daughter fell asleep on the couch and all went to bed around 10:30 PM. Good conclusion to an otherwise tough, stressful day.

Longest 2 Hours of My Life

So I hope everyone has found this blog informational and you have gotten a good idea about what I have been going through and the process of it all. So at this point, I am in the Pre-Op waiting room with a bed, a chair, a stool, TV and a bunch of machines that I am clueless about. That was the order in which I saw and was able to identify things. Take comfort in what you know. The RN came in and told me to remove all of my clothing and put the gown on. She gave me some privacy and I, for the first time in my life, was wearing a hospital gown. And a little blue hat for my hair. I felt like I was working in a cafeteria somewhere. The RN came back in and went over some questions with me about why I was there. She then put in my IV line into my hand. It was a little painful, at least more so than I thought it would be. Again, never had anything like that in my veins before. I have donated blood before but its a little different and from your arm, not your hand. I didn't feel any particular sensation immediately. Just the pain from the needle. She left me and came back a few minutes later and let me know that the anaesthesiologist would be meeting with me before the doctor came in. She went and got my wife out of the waiting room and brought her back to see me along with my grandmother. I was starting to get emotional at this point. Tears started running for fear of the unknown, fear of complications, fear of leaving my wife a widow to raise our daughter alone. I felt afraid and alone and then something happened. I realized that I had the support of my family and friends and that I was going to be OK. My wife started showing me posts that people were leaving on Facebook and different text messages and it really made me feel better. I have a lot of great friends, a very loving family and my wife's family has accepted me as one of their own. I guess I just realized it for the first time. My wife's parents were on their way to the hospital with my daughter to be with my wife while I was in surgery. My wife was able to bring my daughter back to see me. She was a little scared at first to see her Daddy with IVs going into his hand and laying there in bed with a hospital robe and hat. She eventually gave me a big hug and kiss which made me very happy. The next hour or so consisted of watching some episodes of "Friends" which we really like. That took my mind off of things until the anaesthesiologist came in and gave me some medicine to make sure my stomach didn't get upset. Not sure how it could, I had no food or liquid in it !! My grandmother took my daughter out to the waiting room with the rest of the family and my wife stayed with me until they came in and took me to the operating room. My doctor came in and talked to us for a few minutes about the surgery and let my wife know what would happen after everything was done. It was time for me to go. My wife gave me a big hug and I felt at peace. The nurses drove me out to the OR and started prepping me. The last thing I remember is looking for the "box seats" where they observe you like you see on TV and I was out. I don't even think they told me they were putting me under. I was just gone.

Surgery Day

So Thursday night was a quiet one as expected. I had to be up before 8:00 AM on Friday so I could have a small breakfast. No food or drink 8 hours prior to surgery which was schedule for 4:00 PM. I woke up just before Melissa and my daughter left the house. I hugged my daughter for what I hoped was not the last time and started to cry. It was a very helpless feeling. I had a lot of these feelings today. After finishing breakfast, I mowed the yard. I didn't know when I would be able to do it again due to the pain or exercise restrictions. After doing the yard, I took my first shower of the day. I was given 2 anti-septic packages that doctors use to scrub with before their surgery. I had to shower twice with those and only those. No other soaps or sprays. After my shower, I just hung out and watched some TV. Just tried to do other things besides thinking about what I was in store for that afternoon. I laid down around 12:00 PM and tried to take a short nap. Check in at the hospital was at 2:00 PM. Melissa was meeting me at the house to ride out there with me. She was my "responsible party" to drive me home after the surgery. I don't think I ever feel asleep before having to wake up and take my 2nd shower with the anti-septic soap. I dressed in some gym shorts, TShirt and sandals so I wouldn't have any problems getting dressed. And if someone else had to dress me, I didn't want it to be tougher than need. Loose fit clothing is the way to go !!! We got to the hospital and checked in for surgery. The waiting room was empty which was good for us because I heard there was a small party in there while I was in surgery. Lots of loved ones showed up to support me and my wife during the surgery. My name was called and I was taken back to the pre-op waiting room. The time was coming and it was looming over my head like a thunderous storm cloud. I was at a point where things now were out of my hands and being left into someone elses.

Pre-Op Testing

I managed to work on Thursday. Sandwiched between the news of my surgery and the surgery itself. Needless to say, I was just occupying space and time. No real thought about work itself. But I did get sales so that is always good !! Anyhow, I had to return to the hospital to get blood work done for my upcoming surgery. They tested for HcG ( The stuff Brian Cushing got popped for !! ), and other levels in my blood to make sure I would be OK for surgery. The guy who did my registration kinda had me worried about the process of being put under for surgery. Up to this point in my life, I have never seen an operating room. I have only been to the hospital once for some stitches. I had no idea about anesthesia or being put to sleep. I think that was the part of this whole thing that I was worried most about. Being put out and them not being able to revive me. Or there being some terrible complication during surgery and I not making it out. Anyhow, that is another chapter of my blog. So my pre-op testing consisted of drawing blood and a chest X Ray.