Saturday, February 07, 2009

The Wonders of Super Glue

Do you remember that man in The Graduate who extolled the virtues of "Plastics" to Dustin Hoffman?

Well, here I am doing the same thing for Super Glue.

My surgery started on time at 10:30 Tuesday morning. The first thing I remember after that was waking at 3:00 PM in my fourth floor hospital room with my surgeon standing by. She explained that the surgery took twice as long as expected because the tumor (and my uterus) had spread to every available space in what was supposed to be my abdominal CAVITY. All my other organs had been squished by the "Fibroid That Ate Maya." The two surgeons had to cut both the tumor and uterus out in pieces. She said, "You are going to feel soooo much better."

And she was right. Even with an incision across my body, I feel better today than I did before the surgery.

I have no bandages at all. All the sutures were internal and my external wound (a bikini cut) was sealed with something called DermaBond. It's Super Glue for the skin and simply wonderful! I can climb into the shower and bathe without worrying about getting my incision wet (as long as I pat it dry afterward). I'm seriously considering buying Johnson & Johnson stock again.

I was on a morphine drip that first night, but it made me so dopey, I asked them to remove it, the oxygen tube and the catheter the following morning.

I was in the woman's wing of Presbyterian Hospital. It was more like a luxury hotel than a hospital. My private room looked out on a wide atrium. The nurses told me that nine times around the atrium was one mile. On Tuesday night, I managed to make two laps around. I was incentivized. Walking was less painful than the anesthesiologist's gas that still filled my abdomen. On Wednesday and Thursday, I made my nine laps each day. The gas is gone, but coughing (or laughing) still hurts.

By yesterday morning, I'm sure I resembled a demented Dorothy in a muumuu and sock slippers, demanding to be returned to Kansas. "I want to go home" I told anyone who would listen.

I took my last pain pill at 5:30 yesterday morning, opting for two Motrin every four hours instead. By noon, I was sitting, surrounded by my luggage and all my plants, looking like I was on Platform 9 3/4 waiting for the Hogwarts Express to come and carry me off.

Didn't actually get home until 4:00 PM yesterday, Friday. Bob the Cat's greeting was heartfelt. We released him into the backyard while I ran for the bathroom. He circled the house, figured out which room I was in and jumped up on the window, screaming to be admitted. I let him in, and he sat in front of me, complaining of his treatment over the past three days.

We climbed into bed together and fell into an exhausted asleep for two hours.

It's now almost 7:30 on Saturday morning. I slept a solid six and a half hours, waking for about five seconds at 4:30. That's the longest block of time I've slept in six months.

I'm so grateful to the Lord for guiding me safely through this time.

My plan for the next few days is to sleep and walk and get my strength back. I'll report in again next week.

Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes. I appreciate you more than I can say.

Lots of love,

Maya

11 comments:

poetica in silentium said...

Welcome back Sweetie. Glad to hear things went well and you're feeling better.

Laura Vivanco said...

"My plan for the next few days is to sleep and walk and get my strength back."

That sounds like a great plan. I'm glad the surgery went so well.

Stephen Parrish said...

Welcome back. Your incentivization incentivizes me too.

Unknown said...

I am so glad your surgery was a success Maya! I hope you have a speedy recovery :-)

Gina Black said...

Wow. Just wow. I bet you lost pounds when they took that thing out.

Wish they'd had the dermabond when I had my c-sections. I got stapled and taking a shower was a real challenge.

BTW--for laughs and caughs, hold a pillow tight to your belly. Really helps.

Peter L. Winkler said...

Outstanding!

Liane Spicer said...

So glad you're back and healing fast. Amazing how these things are done now. Best wishes!

Sharon said...

This is the best possible news. May your speedy recovery continue.

BriteLady said...

Here's to a speedy recovery! And I second that glue comment.

I had c-sections with both my children. For the first (2004), the OB used staples on the incision. Birth/surgery on Tuesday, the staples came out the following Monday. In the mean time, I had the deflated-balloon tummy hanging over the incision, with already-irritated and healing skin being prickled by two dozen spiky pieces of metal every time I shifted position.

2nd C-section (in 2007, different OB delivering), I got the glue. What a huge, enormous massively relieving difference that was!

And if your recovery is anything like giving birth by c-section (which I suspect it is, minus the super-thick maxis and newborn baby), then I recommend that you keep up that walking within your comfort level. Keep on top of the pain while it lasts, but the more you move, the better you will feel. Also a big difference in my recovery between the 2 surgeries (the first I sat around a lot more and was much more sore for longer...the second I was forced to walk and drive soon after to visit baby in the NICU, and recovered much faster).

Heather Moore said...

I so glad you're on the road to recovery!

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