*NOTE: The occurrences I have been writing about are things that happened a few years back, and are not current! Please forgive me if there’s been any confusion.
Yep I was a mess. The anesthesiologist from my thyroid surgery evidently didn’t really think I needed a good anti-nausea med for my surgery, and because of that I ended up being overnight in the hospital.
As I wrote in my last post Let’s Get This Last Surgery Over With, Gary left me to go home and get some rest as the nursing staff at the hospital said they were going to give me some meds to make sure I got to sleep.
I’ve always had a high tolerance for any type of medication. For example, my husband Gary can take the recommended dose of NyQuil and be out cold for the entire night. Me? I take the dose, snooze a bit and then wake up after 3-4 hours.
So the nursing staff gave me some sleeping meds, but then BOOM! After a couple hours I woke up in my hospital bed. I was afraid to move but I really needed to roll over as I was getting sore from sleeping on my one side.
So I attempted to turn, but got so nauseous again that I started with the dry heaves.
And yes, I started to cry.
I didn’t want to bother the nurses, but eventually I ended up using the call button.
The nurse who arrived was surprised that I had come out of the sleeping dose so quickly, but gave me another one, and told me to not worry if I needed to call again.
So I did – every couple of hours or so…
Finally it was morning and I knew I needed to try and get something into my stomach. I got down as much as I could and it seemed to help – at least a bit. Then I was told I should be able to go home, and Gary came a short while later to pick me up.
By that time I was actually starting to feel like I might make it after all. At least I could move a bit without having to throw-up. Gary got me out to the car, and tucked me into bed once we got home.
The next day was my post-op appointment with the surgeon. But there was a problem: I was still very nauseous! Why was this still bothering me?
Gary drove me to the doctor’s office as I struggled to maintain my equilibrium.
When the doctor finally came into our room, he was very surprised at how sick I still was, but stated I should be better soon. He then told me that the surgery went very well, and that they were surprised that the lump they took out of my neck was the size of a racquetball!!! How was I able to swallow? How had I not felt it as I was eating? He even went onto say that it was kind of lying on my larynx and voice box – how had I even able to talk?
I had no clue, but I was thankful…
As we left his office he stated that he would be getting back to me as soon as he could about what the pathologist’s findings were on the racquetball lump. And, he stated he was sending orders to my primary physician to keep an eye on the other half of my thyroid, as there was a possibility I may need to be on thyroid medication in the future.
Gary and I headed home. We only had a few days before we needed to move Jeffrey to Arizona. Was I going to be strong enough?
As the days passed, I still couldn’t seem to get totally rid of the nausea. I even ended up calling my nurse friend who was with me in the operating room and asked her about it. She thought it strange, but said to hang in there, and she’d be praying for me.
And – wouldn’t you know that the day before we were set to leave on our long drive, I awoke feeling totally normal! It certainly reminded me that the Lord is not on my own personal timetable (2 Peter 3:8).
There was also HUGE blessing that happened the day right before we left. I received a call from my doctor stating: NO CANCER!!!
Okay, it was time for Jeffrey’s big move to college…
The God Of All Comfort 