Surgery date

Expect the unexpected.....

I had prepared myself mentally, emotionally, physically and organised my home and work life so I could heal with ease after surgery. I had pushed for laparascopic (keyhole) surgery as this seemed the less invasive and took less time to heal from. I was optimistic and had managed to reduce my anxiety by reciting some mantras and reassuring myself I had good support networks in place when I was discharged from hospital.

But the best laid plans as they say.......

I awoke in a morphine haze to find myself in a lovely room of my own in hospital with an ensuite wet room (nice you might say), however my surgeon was telling me there had been a few problems and unfortunately my right ureter had been cut, but it was ok as the urologist had been called in and repaired it so it shouldn't cause any long term problems! I'm not sure how much I was taking in at this point as the room seemed a bit transient through my drug induced state.

As you can imagine this was not a gift I had wished for or even imagined, a cut ureter, a large abdominal incision, a drain coming out of my left side to take away blood into a bag, a canula attached to some morphine, a fluid drip into another part of my arm and a catheter draining into a bag on my right. Not to mention bruises and a rorschach teddy bear in sepia staining into my hospital gown where my poor body was leaking!

The nurses were wonderful, checking on me throughout the night, taking my blood pressure and temperature and being kind and gentle.

Drugs were very much needed so I stayed immobile like a stranded seal on its back waiting for my family to turn up and survey the damage.