My Single Mom Life

Week 2 was horrid. It was the second surgery which wasn't that bad. I mean, I hurt but not too badly. It hurt to get up and down which they made me do daily. Like walking the next day, no choice about it.

I just had some really shitty nurses and people who couldn't follow directions and an allergic reaction to the morphine.

The reaction was horrible. I was literally scratching my skin off my forehead, my face, my arms, I had pulled out hair on the back of my head and also scratched my head till it bled.
No one could figure out where all the scratches were coming from until they actually caught me scratching myself raw while I slept.
They then switched me to dilaudid which was much, much better. No itchies at all!

I had a couple really bad nurses again. One who never checked on me at all no matter how many times I hit the nurse button so my fave nurse Jolie, would see my room light/nurse call button on, and come in and take care of me.
I had one who tried to tape my brace together because she couldn't figure out the Velcro closures. This one also never helped me wipe after she would take me to the bathroom causing me to get a UTI. I had a catheter this whole time and filthy pee and poop (sorry squeamish people) would stay around my urethral opening and the catheter and this caused a horrid, horrid UTI which made the docs put me on the anti-biotic keflex, which made me horridly sick to my stomach all the time.
Food smelled like dead animals. All I could eat was jello and drink water for days. I never ate a solid food until my last day and I ate 3 bites of an omelet before throwing that up.

Then there was the miscommunication about chest x-rays.
Doc Moreno ordered one, 1, chest x-ry. I did that one and it hurt like a mother fucker. Oh my god. They would yank my body up and slide the x-ray panel behind my back and then shove me back down on it and take the x-ray. You have no idea how badly this hurt. I had titanium rods on both sides of my spine and to have this hard thing only half way down my back caused a lump, a bend if you will, in my spine. This fucking hurt!
So anyway, I did the one x-ray, it hurt, I cried all the way back to my room clutching my baby blanket and stuffed tiger the boys had given me like it was my mommas bosom.
Then, a few hours later, some orderly comes to get me for what? Another chest x-ray. You have got to be fucking kidding me!
So I cry all the way down to x-ray, I screamed when they did it, I cried all the way back to my room and cried myself to sleep.
Then the next day, some orderly comes to get me again for what?! Another fucking x-ray!!
This x-ray shit happened 9 times in 4 days.
I was screaming no every time an orderly came in my room and tried to wheel me out. I refused to go at one point screaming I wanted my doctor before I'd do anything else.
I was in so much pain from those bend me in half chest x-rays you have no idea. It was like a repeating nightmare.

Finally, Doc Moreno comes to see me on the 4th day in the afternoon. He had been doing surgeries all week and finally got a chance to see me.
He took my hand and looked me dead in the eyes as I was lying there crying from yet another chest x-ray, and says to me "I'm sorry. I don't know why they kept doing them. I only ordered one. I am so sorry. It will not happen again. I put a huge note on the front of your chart stating that the next person who takes you for a chest x-ray will be fired."
I cried. I sobbed. I wept like a 2 year old. He was so sincere and so compassionate. He was genuinely sorry.
I was so happy to see him.

I got better slowly. I was able to sit up by myself and let them put the brace on me and walk down the hall with the walker farther and farther each day. Sometimes they had me walking twice a day which felt good.
I hated the hospital. All I wanted was to go home and get in my bed with my cats and hug my sons.
I had a room mate who had neck surgery and she had a ginormous appetite. All day, all night, she ate. The smell of food was like dead things to me so this was bad.
I vomited every time she ate...lol
Her food came in, I threw up. I don't know how she could stand me. Wretch, wretch, gag, puke, ring for the nurse to come clean up the bucket...lol
No matter how much I puked though, she would just keep on eating. Maybe she couldn't hear very well.
I know that hearing someone vomit is enough to make me vomit so yeah, I was a great roomie...lmao

On Sunday the 25th, one of Doc Morenos assisting docs said if I could walk the entire hallway, he'd let me go home.
I got up, put my brace on myself and grabbed the walker. I practically ran the hallway...lol
I called my sis to tell her I could leave, come get me!!! They boys and sis picked me up and the nurses gave them a bag of med supplies just to play with, masks, gowns, gloves. It was funny that night but I'll tell you that later on.
The ride home was ok. It was difficult to get comfortable in the brace in the car but I survived. I walked into the house and sat in my recliner. They took my shoes off and hugged me and my cats came and loved up on me purring and mewoing and rubbing like crazy. I missed them so much I started crying while hugging my Kali. She just kept licking and licking me. I did miss her terrible.

Ok, I have to run but I will tell you about my first night at home later on. It was cute and funny and just a great memory with my boys.

Later days.