I’ve taken it upon myself to change into real clothes for the remainder of my stay here. Get my “pee tube” out today, so from now on I get to be a big girl and go to the potty all by myself. Once they take that thing out, goal 1 is a full shower. Go team! Reducing tubes hooked into my body one by one.

Pain is doing pretty well with Motrin every 8 hours. And I can get Tylenol hopped up with some narcotic as needed upon request. Only had that last night at 10. I really don’t like when they pump cold water into my feeding tube around the medicine because it makes all of me cold and is a bit uncomfortable.

I continue clear liquids today, but slowly increasing amounts. Just trying to keep up with my walking and sleep. The good thing about major surgery is that your body is so tired that you now have a lot of good excuses to nap and feel fine using all those chances to snooze. Did 3 walks so far today and am now tired again. Sleep zone/veg in front of horrible daytime programming.

Lots going on today. Got my second IV tube removed and we removed the epidural this afternoon. Definitely need some extra pain meds now that my midsection isn’t being constantly numbed.

The morning did start with my mom and I leaning my head over the shower drain and washing my hair. So, score one for team Marne….hair and makeup. Also attended j-tube (feeding tune) 101. Hubbie and mom attended also. Pretty simple stuff.

The kids came up this afternoon and cheered up the entire hospital. They’re allowed to push my IV stand. It was quite possibly the longest walk I’ve gone on, so long the nurse mentioned they wondered where we had gone. We visited “the park” and then went up to the top floor observation deck. I took a short snooze and then was happy to see my friends Janet and Robert who were in town from Australia!!

So, just working on how to control my pain now through the feeding tube instead of the IV. And I get to sip clear liquids now, a max of 60 mL per hour. Yes, that’s tiny.

That’s all for now. Goodnight.

So, I’ve done pretty well walking 4-5 times a day. I’ve found that with my intermittent naps, I can only fall back to sleep again after getting up and walking to tire myself out. My next goal is to not push the button for additional pain meds above and beyond the base amount I continuously get through my epidural.

Why the title, you ask? So, I asked the nurse today if I am allowed to take a shower. The disappointing answer was no, not with my epidural still in. So, we’ll see how much my deodorant and body splash will cover.

They increased my tube feedings yesterday, and I’m able to tolerate it. Hopefully they’ll be able to increase it later tonight or tomorrow.

They also like taking my blood around here everyday. That gets a bit old, but apparently my potassium levels were too high yesterday, so they fixed it. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling better too.

Also, last night, Grandma C and I scoped out the kid park downstairs. The kids seemed pretty stoked to check that. So that’ll be fun.

So, in good spirits today. Did walks at midnight and 5. Going to keep up with it!

So last night had one more “freak out” episode. I was trying to sit up in bed for someone, I believe to check the epidural in my back. Turned into a 15 min pain debacle, so they shot me up with some good narcotics to get me back in control. I really feel like that was the last one.

I was able to see the kids this afternoon. Put on some make-up, called my hair done and hung out for a while. Trying my best not to scare my kids because I think my current tube& IV count is 5. H was somewhat aware beforehand, but I think it must be a bit of a shock. My hubbie’s family had prepared S too. She was super sweet and cuddly! So glad she didn’t try to jump on me or anything.

A little humor for the day….
Why is a gastrectomy like a c-sections?
1. You get epidurals
2. There’s a baby to take care of afterwards, except this time it’s me
3. Hydrocodone
5. Formula – the stuff going into my feeding tube is definitely formula!
6. The slow, required hallway walks to rebuild your strength

Was feeling way worse than I am now. I think my strength is building now. It helps I’m getting some nutrition.

Now I’m exhausted and off to sleep.

As of last night, I no longer have a stomach. Still kind of crazy sounding. But apparently my great runner-generated health kept me in awesome shape during the surgery.i am truly blessed.

My epidural for pain management seems to be working well. I got my yucky nose tube out this afternoon.

Ironically the two most painful things right now are:
1. My throat, and
2. My right shoulder.

I was told that at the end of surgery, my doc does an endoscopy to ensure everything looks good. But the kicker is that you already have an intubation tube in, so they must shove both in. And can I say ouch!

I was trying to adjust my position in bed last night and all of a sudden got extraordinary pain on my top right shoulder muscle! It was hurting so bad that then I had trouble breathing which further hurt my gut. Then you get scared because your oxygen levels plummets and you’re chattering from the pain. Doc thinks I pulled a muscle. Guess you could call that our first night scare. Glad that’s over.

All in all, I think I’m on some pretty good drugs and able to keep my pain under control. Was able to do one small lap early this morning and walked a double at lunchtime.

They have this thing they call an “Incentive Spirometer.” I’ve used them before after my c-sections, and you’re just trying to keep up your lung capacity. I’ve been trying to keep up with them, but at first it just didn’t work. Turns out, you’re supposed to suck air in, not blow air out. Go me! That thing makes a lot more sense now.

At the end of the day, I can feel the power of prayer wash over me. There have been so many people praying for me and can’t explain how I feel it, but I just do. Hopefully I can remain calm and positive and show my appreciation to the nurses here.