A New Me

Well, everything went well yesterday. We arrived about 1/2 hour before the appointment time and of course the doctor was running behind schedule (already) so around 11 am I finally got called back, and right around noon I went into surgery. I was very sleepy yesterday and had trouble getting comfortable. My main problem was my upper back hurting between my shoulder blades. Was nauseous a few times but never got sick. It was really good to be able to eat and drink something after 16 hours of no food or water! Today is much better, I slept well last night, only got up once and didn't have to take any pain meds during the night. This morning I only took Tylenol, we'll see how long that lasts! I'd like to be coherent for a while before I zone out from more pain medicine. The nurse is coming by my house later this morning to help me get my dressings changed and show me what I need to do. My mom stayed with Alli and I last night and was a big help as I was pretty out of it.

My dear friend and college roomie, Melissa, has been a great support through my deliberation and decision to do this for myself, as she went through it about a year and a half ago. She's been very encouraging- Thanks a bunch!

I'm participating in a pain study as part of my post surgery recovery. It's actually making me more aware of my progress as I have to chart my meds and pain at particular intervals over the first 4 days of recovery. I don't know if I received the trial drug or the standard drug during surgery, but the trial drug is supposed to extend the effectiveness of the standard pain medicine used during the surgery, from an original 4-6 hours to about 4 days. I'm feeling pretty good, so I'm hoping that I received the trial drug and its working well. Either that or I have one heck of a tolerance for pain!

Well I'd better go rest now, will update again when I can.