And they're gone!

Had surgery on Thursday (8/2) to remove the ovaries and all seemed to go well. I remember getting all groggy in the OR while they held a mask over my face to breathe in, and one of the anesthesiologists asking me if I was alright. I told her I was just getting all wonky-eyed and sleepy. In my mind's eye, I saw a casket sitting across the room with the sun shining on it. There was a body on top - it was my father's. Very weird.

The next moment I heard someone call my name and I opened my eyes. I was in my recovery room and the nurse was by my side. I said "Wow! You guys were fast!" She said it took a while to wake me. Also they pumped a lot of fluids in me - I gained at least 8 pounds! After a while they got Donn and he sat while I worked on waking up. I threw up a few times (before he came in) probably because there was blood in my stomach. They had scratched a few spots in my throat and mouth when intubating me, and I guess that causes nausea. My throat is still a little irritated and I have noticed some rough spots in my mouth.

My mouth was SO dry the crackers just sat there. The nurse got me some jello and it reminded me of the final heat in a mash potato eating contest in college. They ran out of mashed potatoes, so they gave us jello instead. I started spooning mine in and at some point noticed my fellow contestants had the bowl to their mouth and were slurping it in. I came in third, but I learned better race strategy for the next time.

Finally about noon, the nurse asked if I needed to pee, and said before I could leave I had to demonstrate I could walk to the toilet ( with her beside me) and also pee in it. She was a bit surprised (or may have just been humoring me) that I was able to stand and walk without hoding a pillow over my abdomen for support. I told her I had relatively good core muscles - finally - they came in really handy in something other than running or swimming! I passed the pee test and the next challenge was to get myself dressed. First I had to take a quick "power" nap. Then Donn handed me the garment bag and slowly I managed to get dressed. The nurse came in surprised (again) to see me dressed. She got a wheel chair and Donn took me for a (fast) ride to the car.

Back home and on the couch I slept most of Thursday. I noticed on Friday that I was really puffy all over. Legs, arms, face, belly, etc. I stepped on the scale and saw I had gained 8(!!) pounds from Thursday morning. If I were in an ultra, I would have been pulled from the race! I called my doc, and the nurse said it was probably all the IV fluids and I should expect to be peeing a lot, which I had been doing, but not a lot by my standards. So wait and see...

My friend Karyn came over with ice cream and Donn made us dinner. It was really nice and a good break for both of us - she's in the middle of a trial (she's a prosecutor) and has been going at it hard. I feel bad for her but it will be done soon! Anyway, later, I went to bed. About every two hours I had to get up to pee - and I mean pee! Not just a small trickle but like I hadn't gone in days! Sure enough, the 8 pounds I had gained were all (save one pound) gone this morning and my arms and legs and most of my face were back to normal. My lower abs still look weird - like I had been obese and had the underlying fat taken out, with no muscle tone. I'm sure that's because they had to blow up the abs and stretched a few muscles and also it's still swollen there. I'll worry if it's still that way in a month or so.

For now, just taking it easy and following the road to recovery!