Day 2 Post Op

I was scared to have the epidural taken out because I was scared of the pain getting out of control again. I told the anesthesiologist this and he said he would get my nurse to bring my meds in right away, 1/2 hour earlier than scheduled. I should have made them get the meds first!!! He took it out and said it should have lasting effects for about 1/2 hour. I paged my nurse. The CNA came in and I told her what was going on and that I needed my meds early. Nobody came. I paged the nurse again. The CNA came in again and I asked if a different nurse or the charge nurse could bring it to me. Nobody came. 1/2 hour goes by. I am starting to freak out because now my epidural will be wearing off and the new pain meds will take a while to kick in. When my new nurse finally came in I lost it. I was crying and giving her the rundown on how I needed better pain control and that 1/2 hour wasn't good enough. I was really upset from the night before. Looking back I feel sorry for her, she walked into a loaded gun. So she was understanding and sorry and told me she will be right on top of it. If I need her and she was helping another patient, she would page the charge nurse. So, I felt like we were off to a good start. At least we understood one another and she ended up being great for the rest of her shift. PT came in that day and we stood with the walker and even managed to take a couple of steps.

Darren washed my hair today. What a sweetheart. I got the regular spa treatment. They have these shower caps with shampoo in them. I have never heard of them before, what an invention. The nurse put it in the microwave, then Darren put the cap on my head and rubbed in the shampoo. It's a no rinse shampoo so when you're done you just take it off and comb through it. I was amazed at how well it worked. No snarls or anything! I felt like a new woman!

That night I had the best nurse. Her name was Maria and she had a strong accent. She was a real sweetheart. After meeting her and the CNA came in to help me, I asked the CNA where Maria was from. She was from Poland. Poland?! Darren and I couldn't believe it. He spent 2 years in Poland when he was age 19-21 serving a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).
So he was able having a lot of fun talking to her in Polish (as best as he could) and talking all about Poland. One funny thing that happened with her was they were talking about how pain meds can give you constipation. Darren said, I think she needs another prune juice don't you? Maria didn't really think I needed it and said, "You don't want too much to have loose stools" (I wish you could hear her accent...so cute) Darren said, I think she should have anothe prune juice. Maria, who had been out in the hall when Darren went off on the other nurse the night before, looked at me and said, "He is very matter of fact man". I was laughing so hard. It was the funniest, cutest thing. I have been calling him my matter of fact man ever since. And she would tell me, "You will be okay. You are very vivacious young woman". So Darren likes to call me his vivacious woman. She helped us to have a good time there at the hospital: )