June 02, 2004
Post-surgery update
The first day post-surgery sucked. My abdomen hurt a lot and I often needed Dale's help to get up from a seat or bed. The leaking stopped around early evening on Sunday, so I was able to stop taping maxipads to my belly.
Monday morning my sister and mother arrived. Dale left me to sleep and picked them up. I spent most of the day feeling vaguely queasy but learned that eating a bit would help the nausea. As long as my stomach wasn't empty, I was ok. That was good since Mom promptly had Dale take her to the Korean market so she could spend the week cooking. That evening, my mother made seaweed soup, something I hadn't learned from her and missed often. For dinner, she made a big Korean meal and I pigged out, stuffing myself before everyone else was even half done. Everything was so delicious!
I woke up several times during the night needing to pee, and for some reason, I'd think of the seaweed soup, and each time I did, my stomach would give a heave.
Early Tuesday morning, Dale drove me to the lab to get my blood checked. I spent most of the day in bed feeling nauseous and worried about my lab results. By 3:30 we hadn't heard from the clinic, so Dale called them. He was told that Dr. Vaughn wanted to discuss things with us and was busy and would call at 4pm. By 6:30 we still hadn't been called, so Dale paged Dr. Vaughn. He called back around 7pm. We learned that my HCG level was higher than Saturday's results. Normally that would be a good thing, but in my case, it was possible my HCG had gone up even higher after Saturday's test, and then dropped to the current level. He also hadn't gotten the lab results yet for the tissue that had been removed from my fallopian tube. Basically, we learned nothing. I was scheduled for more lab work on Thursday and an ultrasound in the afternoon. Dale and I are so very frustrated with never knowing what's happening with me.
Nausea lasted all day but was still controllable by eating. I even ventured out with my family to a nearby Mexican restaurant where I practically OD'd on their chips and salsa. I ate so much of that and the appetizer that I only ate a few bites of my entree.
Today, I haven't felt particularly queasy, but I've have a general feeling of unwellness. When I showered, a bit of fresh-looking blood was discharged, but I haven't had any spotting since then. Right after my surgery, it seemed that I'd gained about 4lbs overnight and my abdomen felt very firm. My weight is now back to what it was pre-surgery and my belly had shrunk a bit and softened up, but today it feels very bloated. There's a very mild constant ache that seems to have a focal point to the left of my navel. Nausea has come and gone, but eating hasn't really seemed to help like it did the past two days.
Today is also Phaedra's birthday. We all went out shopping in the afternoon. Mom had requested a Slurpee, so we stopped at 7-11. I went in and was heading to the ATM when I got a nosebleed. I stumbled around with my head back following Phaedra as she searched for napkins. We found some, then I went to the ladies' room. I had to let Mom in, who was clutching a handful of ice. She insisted on staying with me until the nosebleed ended, alternately pressing the ice to my forehead, nose, and back of my skull. I am nosebleed-prone, but they're usually minor and clear up within a minute or two. This one lasted about 10 minutes and was a decent flow. By the time it was over, some poor woman had spent about five minutes dancing outside the restroom. The rest of the trip was uneventful. I kept getting tired and going to sit down in places, but we picked up some DVDs as presents for Phaedra (birthday) and my Dad (Father's Day).
For her birthday dinner, Phaedra requested a 'nicer' Mexican restaurant than the one we went to the other night (Jardin Corona), so about 9pm we met up with Aaron at Pappasito's. I started pigging out on the chips and salsa, then had to make myself stop so I would have room for dinner. I still didn't feel well, and nausea kept dancing around in the background, but I ignored it. Dale and I split an order of chicken/beef fajitas. The meat plate arrived with a small container of garlic butter. I had to ask Dale to move it to the other side of him because the smell was making me ill. I put together and ate one chicken fajita, then I just couldn't bring myself to eat more. The noise, smells, and sight of the food really started bothering me, so Dale and I went and sat outside a few minutes. We came back in, and I detoured to the bathroom to pee.
After emptying my bladder, I felt very ill and ended up throwing up. While I was still in the stall, my mother entered the restroom. While I was washing my hands, she asked if I'd thrown up. I just nodded, embarrassed, because there were other people in the bathroom.
Mom and I rejoined the group at the table and everyone finished dinner. After the waitress cleared the table. she showed up with about half the wait staff. A guy holding a sombrero asked who the birthday girl was, and Phaedra and I pointed at each other. I won, though, because Dale and Aaron were also pointing at Phaedra. They made her put on the sombrero and announced to the restaurant that she was turning 26, then they sand a silly song. Phaedra was left with a couple of brownies under a scoop of ice cream and wishing hot death for the rest of us. Everyone shared the dessert and I even had some. Didn't care for the brownie but I actually felt better after having a bit of the ice cream.
Hopefully, tomorrow's tests will be more conclusive.