I suck at this blogging stuff. I'm just as bad at this as I am in keeping up on correspondence with friends. I admit it. But I'm not giving up. I am going to try harder to keep this updated. I'll start with some cut and pastes of things I wrote to others in the days/weeks following my surgery. Here goes:
July 8, 2007
Things went well. It's a rocky first week for sure comfort-wise. If I could offer one non-surgical piece of advice before getting here, it's to learn as many of the essential Brazilian Portugese phrases as you can. It will REALLY be worth it. Not so much terms you'll need in the hospital (because Dr. M will give you a list of phrases that you can point to to the nurses) but for just everyday getting around. Durval does NOT speak English very well. In fact, most of the time I am not even sure he understands what I've said. You'll find that Gilberto and Ana (who drive patients around and pick them up from airport) are much more helpful for translation purposes. Frankly, so far I don't see much of Durval at all. He swoops in, and swoops out - with very few words. It leaves me wondering what his purpose really is. The first night, I was told he would stay with me, but he stayed a short while after my parents left, watched some TV, and left at 10 p.m. To be fair, I'm only on my second day out of the hospital, so maybe his participation level will increase. With regard to advice regarding the actual surgical experience, I will wait until I have more of that under my belt to reflect. So far, though, Dr. M is awesome, as is everyone else here. Very friendly and their concern for all of us downright sincere. It is obvious that Dr. M knows his stuff. He is very intuitive - and I like that. His English is perfect, so don't worry about communicating with him. Oh... and it's true what everyone says - that after those first few days in the hospital, each day gets better and better. Okay... more later!
July 9 – RECLINER
It has been VERY difficult to maneuver around after this surgery. I am also relatively young (37), not as large as many of Dr. M's patients (imagine that), and no major health problems. I frankly need help - when I drop things, getting the recliner legs up, etc. So my parents have been invaluable for that. Oh, and the recliner is another story. That's another thing I would be REAL insistent about before you get here - both with Dr. M AND the hotel. We were asking for it from day one, and got nothing but the run around from the hotel. They didn’t come up with one on my first day back from the hospital and that night was pure hell. I went down that night and spoke to the front desk personally and expressed how important it was, and that their response of only having two recliners that worked in the entire hotel, knowing they had surgical patients for which the recliners would be necessary, was not a reasonable solution. The girl at the front desk was VERY kind and understanding and said she'd call the hotel chief and manager and see what solution they could come up with. I suggested they rent one if need be. I got a call back that evening and she said someone would show up first thing in the morning (Sunday) to repair the one they had and bring it to me. Indeed, early the next morning, two gentlemen showed up with a very nice brown leather recliner. Not only was it comfortable, but it is a massage recliner like they have at Sharper Image. So, I'm not really sure if this was one that was repaired, or whether they rented it for me. But last night was the best night's sleep I have had since I've been here.
BRAZILIANS
The thing I think is great about the people here is that they truly want to understand you and are actually apologetic when they don't speak English at all or very well! This is the polar opposite from the typical American attitude in the service industries towards foreigners/tourists in general - that if people come here, they should darn well speak the language. So I try to always praise what English they do know and point out that it is ME that is sorry for not knowing Portuguese. I LOVE the people here!
Mohammed – Anesthesiologist… NOT Terrorist!
You will LOVE Dr. M, his staff, the hospital staff, his colleague Dr. Georgio (Yowza!! I don't think I've ever seen a more physically beautiful human being in my life), and his daughter Dr. Simone Marchesini. I am especially fond of Simone since she came to visit with me once after being admitted and while waiting in my room to be carted to the OR and twice post-op. She is so wonderful and speaks perfect English also. Dr. M's son assisted Dr. M with my surgery and Dr. M brought him to meet me post-op as well. He didn’t speak much, but I'm not sure if that was a language thing or he is just more reserved. What a great family. Oh! and Vera, his nurse. Vera frankly performed more the role of a private nurse than anyone else. She showed up each time with Dr M (twice a day) and took vitals, etc. She was also very comforting to me as I was getting prepped for surgery with tears just streaming down my face. Man, that was a surreal experience and I could not stop crying. Oh, and then there was Mohammed, the anesthesiologist. He speaks English also and was a hoot. I remember as I was fading out he kept saying to me "Cheryl, remember my name. Mohammed, the anesthesiologist, NOT terrorist! Please listen for my voice when you wake up; I will be telling you to breathe." He was funny and great about telling me ahead of time everything he was doing. (I had an epidural also) wow, I must be feeling better - I am so chatty! I would say that, so far, today (day 6) is my best day. Yesterday I walked to and around the the Japanese Gardens with my mom. We sat on a bench for a while and watched the kids and dogs playing. that was my first big outing. Today, I think I will endeavor to take a "real" shower by myself and even do my hair. :)
PAIN CONTROL (Dr. Georgio, take me- I mean it [the pain!] – away…)
Oh, and about the pain control. Whatever they drip from the IVs at the hospital didn't do much for me - maybe just took the sharpest edge off. However, the shots made me feel like getting up and walking around more. Dr. M and Dr. Georgio think differently about the shots. Dr. M thinks they are too strong and Dr. Georgio believes in giving them to you if you want. But when I would call the nurse and ask for pain relief, I never quite knew whether they would come in with a shot or just replenish the IV bag. So, Dr. Georgio told me to specifically as for "Nubain" which is the shot they administer under your skin. Everyone tolerates pain and meds differently, but for me I really believe this was instrumental in getting me up and around more. So, add to the list of your phrases in the pamphlet Dr. M gives you... "Nubain por (for) Dor (pain)" and they will give you that. It took a bit of time sometimes for them to come back with that and I think that may be because they have to call and get permission each time before givng you that shot. My tolerance for pain meds may have been high due to the fact that for the last year or so I have been taking Vicodin for gall bladder attacks. Who knows...
ANA
Anyway... had an awesome day today! My mom and I were out shopping with Ana, Halcy, and Perry for over five hours - my biggest outing so far. How WONDERFUL Ana is!!!!!!!!!! She is simply a joy and oh so hilarious. Gilberto is also wonderful (haven't met Luis). We went with Ana because Halcy and Perry both had experience with her and called her to come pick us up. Gilberto was taking the Green family out for a bit. But I learned that Ana is a lot cheaper than Gilberto and speaks fluent English. Both are very trustworthy and will look out for you. Unbeknownst to us, Ana negotiated cash 10% deals for us when we went to pay for certain things. I had no idea what she was doing, until I questioned why I received more change than I should have. Lot of walking today; a little incision discomfort, but nothing terrible.
July 10, 2007
It’s Like Pulling Off A Bandaid… You Just Gotta Do It
Oh man, this is exactly how I feel each time I have to pull the dressing off my incision and take care of it each day. I am NOT a person who does well with blood, wounds, etc. I've been doing it religiously, though, since out of the hospital. I have never had a surgical incision, but (knock on wood), I think it is healing pretty darn well (not that that makes it any easier for me to look at - ugh). There is some drainage in a couple of small spots, but I understand that is a good thing (true, veterans???). No inflammation and not too much pain - though I am VERY mindful of it at all times and keep my binder nice and tight, which seems to help. How long does the draining typically last? And how long before it is healed to the point of getting rid of those maxi pads which I swear were sized for horses? Last night was not so great. I had an uncomfortableness that I couldn’t really pinpoint and didn't sleep well. I then started getting REALLY acidy (burping up a little acid). I switched from Grape Gatorade yesterday to Pear flavored "C-Light". I have a feeling that Pear stuff was very acidic. I switched from the Gatorade because it is so full of sodium and my feet swelling (from all the saline at the hospital) was not going down. Anyway... after getting up this morning, a horrible wave of nausea came over me and I started throwing up / heaving (NOT fun! but wasn't as bad as you would think - just hold a pillow over your tummy as tightly as you can without hurting yourself). It only lasted a few times, then I called Dr. M for some nausea medicine. Durval came right over and gave me a shot. I have been fine since. I also wonder if I just over did it a little yesterday and perhaps didn’t get hydrated enough. I really didn’t eat anything but jello and some yogurt yesterday either. So, I will be more careful in the days to come.
