Well, I’m back… from a five day stay at the hospital.
Was that the plan?
Of course not.
Everything was perfectly set: I was to go in the hospital Monday morning at 5:30, my surgery was to begin at 7:30, and I was going to go home later that day.
BUT THEN…
Rewind to Saturday night, a fun evening with friends (wow… this sounds familiar from my last post, doesn’t it?) at a restaurant. I ordered a salad with grilled chicken (and some fried mozzarella sticks) and around 11pm that night: pain.
INTENSE ABDOMINAL PAIN.
Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
Long story short, I threw up for the first time in five years and WANTED to go to the ER. I called my surgeon, and he thought that sounded like a good idea.
This was the longest drive of my entire life. The hospital at which my surgery was going to happen, is 45-50mins away. Oh, and for all of you who “block out pain with meditation:” go to hell. There is no possible way to describe the absolutely excruciating pain of a gallbladder attack. It takes your breath away, and almost made me pass out.
I was admitted to the hospital Sunday afternoon. There they found that I had acute pancreatitis, because a gallstone was stuck in some important duct, causing my pancreas to flip out.
Surgery needed to be postponed, and I was no allowed to eat, or drink ANYTHING for two days.
My hospital room was nice though; it had a big window, a nice bathroom, and a tv!
This is one of the best parts of this story: the BF stayed with me, THE WHOLE TIME. He slept in a recliner that was in the room, and didn’t go home once. I’m so lucky to have someone in my life who is so committed and caring. I can’t even describe how much I love him. 
Long story short: My surgery happened on Wednesday. My pancreas enzymes finally settled down, the time seemed right. A few hours before surgery, I was crying..and crying..and crying. I was certain I was going to die. I had even written out my will and goodbye letters. Yikes.
And then they gave me something to “calm me down.” Oh my. It was lovely. Apparently I asked for a boob job shortly after. Yeah… I hope I didn’t say anything else embarrassing.
The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery, and forcing myself to really wake up. My nurse was so funny… she kept telling me to just relax and sleep off the anesthesia, but I didn’t want to, I wanted my brain to wake up. I ended up dozing off for 5-10 mins at a time throughout the night.
They told me in order to be able to go home the next day, I needed to be peeing, walking around, and keeping down fluids. So that’s exactly what I did.
My incisions are teeny tiny, 4 of them, with tape (steri-strips?) over them now.
I am in a lot of pain. I decided against taking Vicodin, because… well, I don’t even take aspirin when I have a headache; and to be honest, the idea of taking a narcotic scares me.
Don’t be jealous. 
The BF has been so incredible. I can’t bend over, or lift anything, or cook… He’s been cooking, cleaning, getting me water in the middle of the night, or if I wake up and have to pee, he wakes up with me and asks if I need help getting up. There needs to be a bigger, better word for “wonderful” because he’s it!
OH AND THE BEST PART ABOUT THIS WHOLE THING (sarcasm heavy):
I was supposed to graduate in 2 weeks.
So the whole time I was in the hospital, I was sending emails to my profs, asking them for some kind of compassion and understanding, and in response, I was getting a whole bunch of their bullshit and grief. Don’t even get me started… I think everything should be ok now.. but y’never know.
I’m so glad to be home.
I can’t wait to get back to Savory Notes, I know you guys miss me. Shut up. I know you do. I miss you too. It’ll be just a little while until I can start blogging again… probably at least 10 days.
Thanks for all the love, emails, and tweets. You guys really helped brighten my days, and I’m so glad to be a part of this community.
admin says: Thank you I’m glad I got it done before Christmas, so I could relax and enjoy the holidays.
OMG, Cathy, I’m just catching up with your goings on. How awful!! (And no wonder you weren’t so excited about hot cocoa!) What a horrific experience, I’m so sorry to hear all you’ve been through, but hurray for such a gem of a man to take care of you. Hope you’re back in the kitchen soon!
admin says: I’m dyyying to get back to cooking/baking! My boyfriend wont even let me help in the kitchen. Just one more week and I’ll be good as new!
Hope you’re feeling MUCH better – what a terrible experience – bless your heart!
What an experience! I’m sorry it happened like that, but I’m glad that your surgery is over. Your boyfriend sounds amazing…wish your professors could take a lesson in compassion from him. Hope your holiday season gets nothing but better from here. XO