WHO KNEW?

This started as a blog for my writing, and has devolved into an account of my medical woes.  Thus far I have been very calm and have taken this health snafu as just that.  Today, after my surgical consult and speaking with the head nurse about the details I am forced to deal with the reality of my procedure, and what major surgery really is. These are the specifics:

1.  I will be in the hospital for 4 days at least.

2.  The recovery period is 4-5 weeks. OMG.  I was not expecting that, at all!  Although I think b/c I am young and because I am oddly strong and heal freakishly fast, I hope to only need 3-4 weeks.

3.  Apparently abdominal surgery is a rather painful procedure due to the muscles that are involved or something like that and it is known to cause great discomfort while healing.  Fantastic, can’t wait.

4.  I will be needing several tests and the goal is to be admitted next Wednesday and operated on on Thursday. 

There you have it.  I am not afraid believe it or not.  I just want, need to have this fixed because I am very tired of feeling ill and being in a haze of pain killers.  I hate not being able to write.  I really hate to be fussed over and unfortunately I will need just that for much longer than I had imagined.  My mother on the other hand has been stressing me out to the point where I had to tell her she was driving me crazy.  I made her promise to relax and stay strong because I will lose my mind if she doesn’t get it together.  Thankfully, she realized her actions and called me a little while ago, promising to stop freaking out, which I appreciated and found very comforting. 

I will be checking in here and on Stumbleupon as much as I can, in order to maintain my sanity and not go through the dreaded Web 2.0 withdrawal (which I hear is worse than my surgery). 

Thank you for all your kind words of support, they all make me feel warm and fuzzy and that is a natural high I can use right now.  It is really a testament to the bond you can feel for “online friends” that is at times dismissed unfairly.  The people I have met online are so kind and have really made me smile, with their supportive and humorous messages.   

I will be posting here whenever I can and going on SU.  Come visit, OK?

Thank you for caring,

Veronica Romm

April 28th 2008:

This morning I wrote the post below thinking I was having Laproscopic surgery, easy in out, done.  Unfortunately, I am now having as my surgeon said “Major surgery that has a high success rate.”  I also must wait yet another week because I will be needing a series of pre-op tests this week to prepare for the main event.  These include procedures that require local anesthetic and are “generally very uncomfortable.”  Once those are done I am expected to be in the hospital for FOUR days at the very least. 

For those who don’t know and actually care.  I have been sick for the last 2 + weeks and I was supposed to have had (abdominal) surgery this week, but unfortunately I won’t be feeling much better until next week.  The healthcare system loves it’s red tape and other people’s money. 

I am doing fine under the circumstances and with the help of some pretty powerful drugs, am not in much pain.  I am however pretty limited in my movement.  Worst of all I can’t really focus on the computer screen and miss writing and doing my online thing with my online friends. 

I am pretty calm about the surgery part.  Never been much of a hypochondriac, and find it hard to worry about something I have little control over.  I know I have a belly problem and  with laproscopic surgery I should be feeling better than I have in a long time.   My mom is quite a different story and I find myself consoling her, telling her that I will be fine.  LOL

So there you have it.  I will be checking in of course, so feel free to drop me a message (hint,hint), send an email, telegram, smoke signal, shout out, prayer or what have you.  Have a good weekend, Veronica