Home from surgery - no cancer!

You know how sometimes anticipation is worse than the reality? Well it almost was! I've been a nervous wreck the last couple weeks, but my surgery and hospital experience couldn't have been any better.

We arrived Thursday morning at 5:15am, and happened to meet my prep nurse, Erica, in the elevator. She kept calling me "chica" and was just a little odd. Nice though! She got me to change into the beautiful hospital gown (got to keep my undies on, yay), gave me some goofy slipper socks that were a couple sizes too big (they kept twisting around the whole time I was there lol), and then made me put on these horrid white TED hose that were really tight (kept blood circulating) and two massage thingys around my calves (didn't know how nice those were until they were turned on later - can I have some for home?). She started my IV - my first one ever. It wasn't so bad. I talked to my surgeon and my anesthesiologist and got to hang out with Rob until time to go.

I got wheeled away, and don't remember anything until someone was saying I did really good and it's over. I wasn't even the least bit nauseous and didn't really hurt, so I was confused thinking they weren't talking to me! Then I spent a few minutes wondering if I still had my shower cap thingy on, until I finally reached my hand up to find out it wasn't there lol. I was in and out, and eventually got taken to my room. I got really good news - no cancer! They have to do final testing on it, but there's very little chance it'll be malignant. I'm so relieved! Rob came up with Jill, who had come to the hospital to keep Rob company (thanks for everything Jill!)

I never did feel nauseous (big YAY), pain has been only at about 3-4 out of 10 and that's mostly sore throat. My lip hurts because the breathing tube brushed against it - it's swollen and I look funny lol. I had IV fluids for awhile, but that stopped and I got to put my own jammies on. I had to pee in a "hat" which is really a bowl they set in the toilet - I swear they need to use those for pee tests, so much easier than the little cup! I didn't realize how much IV fluids I got until I peed lol - LOTS! Fortunately I only had to use the hat a few times.

I had "clear liquids" for lunch - jello and Italian ice. I did so well that I got real food later. Take a wild guess what I had for dinner... if you guessed mac & cheese, you're right lol! It was really good, and I enjoyed my chicken caesar salad and strawberry ice cream too. They even had sweet tea! Besides Jill and Rob of course, a couple friends who work at the hospital stopped by to see me - Jan and Cindy.

My nurses were so awesome, I had Elizabeth all day Thursday (Caren was my tech), Eva all night (Pearl was my tech), and then this morning Rhonda and Caren (again). I slept a whole bunch, except when Pearl came in every four hours to do my vitals lol. I had percoset each time, so I ate a lot of pudding throughout the night. Someone decided she needed to draw blood at 5am. My veins weren't even awake then! She had to do it in my right hand!

This morning I was up at 8, ordered breakfast (biscuits and gravy and Italian ice!), ate, had drugs, and went back to bed. Rob got to the hospital, and my sugeon came in, pulled the drain out (ouch) and the tape off (major ouch) and signed my release papers. My incision is UGLY! I'm out of work until late next week, after I get my staples out.

Rob took me home, and I washed my face - felt soooooo good! I have been sleeping off and on throughout the day, and will probably crash again soon. Puppies missed me and have been good about not jumping on me. I missed them last night!

I have some pics but Rob has to find the camera, so I'll post those later.

I want to brag about my wonderful husband - he's been super throughout my whole surgery and leading up to it. He's been there every step of the way, and has jumped anytime I needed anything, whether it's making sweet tea when we got home, helping get me and my IV pole to the bathroom, holding my hand, or just keeping me company. I love you Rob!

Ready as I'll ever be

I've done laundry, packed my bag, eaten a piece of strawberry pie and drank a glass of sweet tea, put fresh sheets on the bed, and taken all my jewelry off (except my wedding ring, which I need to work on - it won't come off!). I'm as ready as I can be for my surgery tomorrow. Oh yeah, I remembered to set the alarm. Did you know alarm clocks can be set as early as 4:30am?!? Who knew?

I took a pic of my neck as it is now - it'll never be the same again. (I was in front of the mirror with the lens facing my neck, and could see the screen in the mirror, cool, huh lol?)

I'll blog again this weekend once I'm home and feeling up to it. Wish me luck!
Jenn

33 Hours and Counting...

About 33 hours from now I should be getting my throat sliced open. I'll have already been at the hospital for a couple hours, waiting to be knocked out.

I've spent the past few days trying not to be nauseous. I took Tylenol PM on Sunday night, but forgot last night - what a difference those two little pills made! I took it again tonight, so I should crash in about an hour. I made the mistake of looking up info about my surgery online. BIG MISTAKE. I really am one of those people for whom ignorance is bliss. I'd rather not know, then the reality is usually not too bad. I haven't packed my bag yet, but the stuffed doggie is gonna be the first thing in there, since I don't think I'd be comfortable with Rob curled up beside me in a hospital bed.

Speaking of Rob, he actually complained to me that I was "setting [him] up for a really boring day on Thursday". Huh? Does he think I'll be laughing and having a grand ol' time? I'd rather sit there and entertain someone else rather than being cut open! Ding-dong! He really is a good guy, he just had a momentary bout of bad judgement :)

My niece, Lexi, is such a sweetheart - she offered to watch the puppies for me while I was in the hospital. My sister reassured her that her Uncle Rob was going to take care of them. She accepted that! She also agreed with her Uncle Rob that ice cream wasn't good for you - traitor! She did admit it tasted good though - and that it could be good for you if it has strawberries in it.

Please think healing thoughts for me - I'll need them!
Jenn

Google Search

I checked out what searches got people to my blog - only three, but they are funny!

TOO MUCH ENABLING - is Google trying to tell me something lol?

how to dress for wacky tacky day - Rob got a kick out of this one, since I do have a post with him all dressed up for the occasion!

shop hop in Tampa, Fl - I do have a post about that, too.

Should be interesting to see what brings people to me in the future!
Jenn

Violette's Stamp Club Projects

I belong to a club at my lss where for $35/year I get 20% off all stamps and a free class each month. We usually make 2 cards. It's been fun and I'm learning to use watercolor pencils (as you've seen in previous posts!). I splurged and bought the 48-pencil set of Prismacolors today :)
Here's this month's cards:

TFL,
Jenn

Pre-Op Done, Now I Wait

I had my pre-op done at our local hospital today. I had a very good experience, so hopefully that means surgery will go well too! Everyone was super-nice and very capable. TONS of paperwork, learned a few things (like you can break your teeth when given anesthesia if you bite down too hard lol!), got 4 vials of blood drawn, had an EKG (never did that before, the sticky things were COLD!), had to pee in a cup (geez is it hard to pee on command, especially when you're in an awkward position!), and had two chest x-rays. Not too bad.

Now just to survive until next Thursday... (the nurse asked if I had stomach problems - yeah, it's called NERVES!)
Jenn

Card Share - My First Bella!

I made this card for my coworker's birthday - she loves to shop even more than I do, if you can believe it! I'm not thrilled with my watercoloring work, but oh well, I still think it turned out cute!

Edit - some have asked about the other stamps - they are a "Fractured Funnies" set from Hambo. I just stamped the "SALE" one over and over for the background, and popped the Bellas and then double-popped the "Now that I have your attention...". BTW, the recipient loved the card :)

TFL,
Jenn

I am SUCH a geek!

I'm having fun today! I not only added a form that will allow you to subscribe to my blog, but if you want to contact me privately instead of leaving a comment for the world to see, you can now do that too! It's been fun trying to create these forms and manipulate the HTML to get it to do what I want. Woohoo!

Feel free to test out the new features!

Jenn (aka The Borderline Geek)

A Charming Place

When you need charms, be sure to visit A Charming Place. And if you would be so kind as to click through from this post, and five of you do so, I get a gift certificate from them :)

I have ordered from ACP before and been happy with their charms. SUPER selection and fun to use.

So see, I'm actually using the product that I'm advertising lol. Notice I haven't said a lot about my new pots...
Jenn

PS - I actually have used my new pots that I earned from my Pampered Chef party and LOVE them! :)

Just in case you can't get enough...

I am now offering e-mail updates of my blog! You can add me to your Google Reader, etc., subscribe to my Feedblitz feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/CreatingEnablingAndABitOfLife, or subscribe via e-mail in the right column. Now you'll never miss any of the exciting happenings in my life! :)

Jenn