Picture Album!

I finally got around to uploading the hospital pictures from my phone and the pictures my mom had taken using her camera onto my computer, and thought I would use this post as a little photo album!  Here we go!

Leo and Cindy waiting in the pre-op room bright and early!

Mom waiting in the pre-op room too!

The time to go has come!!  Off to surgery!!

  

Luckily, Leo and Mom got to wait right in my assigned hospital room instead of in a waiting area...here's Leo testing out the couch he slept on later that evening!

Finally done with surgery, and apparently feeling great ("peace!!")!  Keeping Dad and Leo entertained, at least!

Another peace sign!  The tube down my nose was for depressing my stomach, making it easier to work in my abdominal cavity and to reach my back...it also helped GREATLY with reducing nausea!!

Tuesday morning...getting some rest!

Tuesday afternoon...trying to get comfortable (another peace sign?!  The tube down my throat made my throat pretty raw, even after it had been removed, so apparently I switched to using the peace sign as "I'm doing okay"!)-

An AMAZING Edible Arrangment I received from Leo's brother Mike, his girlfriend Amy, and their families!  What a great (and delicious!!) surprise!!

This balloon was also attached to the edible bouquet (I couldn't get the picture to turn, but I think you can still read it!)-

HAHA!!!  Worst pictures EVER (thanks, Mom!)...but, finally eating oatmeal Thursday morning instead of just clear liquids for breakfast!

Another GREAT picture!!  SO glad to have a cup of coffee (even though I spilled the sugar across the entire breakfast tray!)!!

Beautiful flower garden on the window sill!

Pretty daisies from Mom and Dad-

Beautiful bouquet from the Thom Family-

Amazing vase and tulips from Leo-

Beautiful pink hydrangeas from Leo's sister Rose and her family!

Great Jade Plant from my brother Brian, sister-in-law Carrie, and niece Addison!

A beautiful bouquet from our fabulous neighbors Emily and Shawn!

Returning back to my room from a hallway walk...made it to the nurse's desk this time!

Taking a much needed rest after that "long walk"!

Friday, dressed and just about ready to go home!!

Made it home, and went straight to bed (who knew a car ride could be so exhausting?!)

Mom was SO excited that she could see Mayo One leave and return just above my hospital room window...here's a couple of the pictures she captured (you should have seen her move to grab the camera once she heard the helicopter running!)-

Here's a cool one of Mayo One backed by the sun (or what sort of sun there was behind that fog!)-

Only a week after some serious surgery, and I'm up and about!  Initially, I was dependent upon the walker for walking, but now I am up and about without any aids (except for the cane when I go outside due to the not-so-flat terrain)!

Whoa, those are some serious drugs!  One of my regular afternoon naps!  Haha...looks like I'm even sleeping on the ceiling!

Taking a walk outside with Mom enjoying the MOST beautiful seventy-some degree weather these last couple of days!  The first couple of days I could make it just to the end of the block and back (hardly a full block in length), but today Mom and I walked all the way around the block (a solid half hour of walking!)!  That warrented a good nap once we got home, but what an improvement!!!

Alright, so the next couple pictures include some pretty gruesome images, including some serious bruises from the IV's, and also include images of the incisions...please be warned!!  They look great as far as fresh incisions go, but that doesn't mean they are pretty!!  Take a look if you dare! :)

Here's my right elbow...I wasn't drinking much the first couple of days after surgery and my IV drip was running pretty slowly, so the nurses were having trouble placing IV's.  This is one of the bruises remaining from one of the first IV's placed when I entered the OR.  It did pretty well until the fluid started accumulating in the flesh where the IV tube end was in my arm (where the bruise on the bottom is).

This is the nasty bruise on my right arm.  The bruises around my wrist were from the first IV that was placed while I was waiting in the pre-op area.  It lasted quite a few days before it blew, but served its purpose well!  The bruise in the center of my arm was another attempt at an IV after they removed the one in my wrist, but that one blew as soon as they flushed it...but they finally found a good spot in my elbow that lasted until they pulled all my IV's!

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to turn these images, so you'll just have to turn your head!!  This is my back incision (with the bottom facing to the left in this image)...it starts a couple of inches above my butt crack, and extends about three inches total.  The stitches are all internal, and the steri-strips are holding things together from the outside.  I have started showering without covering up the incisions with saran wrap, so hopefully the steri-strips will fall off in no time!  I have an appointment next week (two weeks post-op...I can't believe how time has flown!!) to make sure things are looking great!

And here is the anterior incision!  I'm clearly not super thin, but I did crop off some of the incision on the left side so my lady hairs wouldn't be posted for all to see!! :)  So, the incision starts above my belly button (on the right side), circles around the left side of the belly button, and continues vertically down.  Clearly, a straight incision wasn't part of the deal, but I suppose as long as she's all closed up, I shouldn't complain!  Because they cut right through my ab muscles (believe me, there are some under there, I can definitely feel them now!), I have to wear an abdominal binder for a total of a month.  The anterior incision is a total of six inches in length.

Okay, I think that this post has gone over board once again!!  Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!!  I have definitely found that people saying hello, sending cards, calling, and stopping by have lifted my spirits so much!!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by while I was in the hospital (even if I might not have been the best entertainer!), everyone who has stopped by since I've been home (especially to Heather, Emily, and Allie who made my Tuesday AMAZING!!), and especially to my mom who has been here every week day since I've been home just after 7am to make sure I'm taking my meds and getting me increasingly independent with my modified methods of doing things!!  I couldn't do this without you!!!