to the other side..

I made it bloggy peeps!! Thanks for all your support yesterday .. it means so much to me that I have a kick butt group of you guys there for kind words and encouragement.

So here's my story..

Yesterday morning we did some errands and I picked up the loratab ..walked around Toy's R Us to buy our little dude a swingset for his birthday. We stopped back at home real quick and then headed out to the hospital.

I knew I was getting nervous because of how silent I was in the car.. my husband was trying so hard to keep the mood light and make me laugh..

I checked in and changed into my b-e-autiful gown.. it was an XL and purple so I looked like a purple oompaloopa .. it was great fun! :0)

I got my vitals checked and then my IV put in and a shot of heparin (ouchie!) .. and then we waited.. and waited.. surgery was supposed to be at 1:30 ..but I didn't get down to the Pre-Op area until 2:30pm ..that's where I met up with the surgical team and my anesthesia dude..

3pm came and that's when I smooched my hubby good bye and they wheeled me into the OR..

That's when I was getting even more nervous.. I asked if it was almost time for that 'happy juice' ..and that did that for me..and that was the last thing I remember..

The next thing I was waking up in recovery.. I was sore and wanted to wake up and talk ..but my mouth/throat felt stuffed with cotton .. the nurse hooked me up with some more pain meds and I was able to suck on a sponge-on-a-stick.. it was just enough to wet my mouth and get my voice back.

I made it up to my room around 6:30pm ..my hubby stayed a little bit ..and then I sent him home so he could pick up our dude from our inlaws house. He set up my bedside table with my chapstick/brush/magazines.. and made sure I was all set before he left.. I didn't even want to read them or watch tv.. I just kinda spaced out and looked out the window and tried to close my eyes..

I got up and walked around about 8:30 and then tried to get some pee out ..and I couldn't .. so I walked around some more and tried again .. it's almost 9:30 by this point and I haven't pee'd since 11:30am .. and you know what that means..catheter time! :( boooo!!! I had one of these when I had my son ..and they are the opposite of fun. The going in part isn't terrible..it's just the constant feeling of having to pee..even though your bladder is empty ..drives me nuts..

I was crying at that point ..I was spent from the whole day and disappointed because up until that point ..everything had seemed so easy..

My sweet nurse gave me some more pain meds and benadryl to help me rest and go to sleep..I slept from 11pm-4am ..and that point they removed my catheter and I did some more laps around the floor.

I ended up going pee on my own around 8am ..and that was the best feeling in the world..

Then I had to go down to xray and take a few sips of that yum-o barium and got to watch it pass through my top pouch to my bottom part of my stomach ..which was pretty cool.. he said it looked beautiful and that I could start drinking now.

I've never been so happy to sip crystal light ..and some hot chicken broth.. mm mmm good!

Then my surgeon met up with me when I was in my room and he told me how easy my surgery went and how great my liver was (all that hard work on my pre-op was worth it) ..and that he'll see me in two weeks for a check up..

My little incisions are not painful ..just my abs kind of hurt.. (like to many sit up ..) no gas pain (yet) ..and I'm super happy to be home in my own house..on my own couch..

Thanks again for the support and I'll catch up you all soon..