Step one

[cjsmith]

My diagnostic laparoscopy is one week from today.

Comments

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Good luck - I hope it leads to a resolution.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! At the very least it will give us some information.

I wish humans could be run in the debugger. Just put me in gdb for a while, halt a few places and look at some variables, and figure the thing out. I guess exploratory surgery is like "halt and look at some variables". :-)

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Much luck to you. I hope it helps resolve some, if not all, of this for you.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I have my fingers crossed...

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I'll be standing by, watching for word, hoping for the best.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I guess we're all doing that right now... here's one more thing to watch and hope.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

wow! that was quick! i'm glad *something* is being done!

Now, have you started making arrangements for a ride there and back, and someone to stay with you til you feel better, to make sure you eat and that the kitties are taken care of?

(not that a laparoscopy should leave you incapacatated for a long time ~ i just know that you'll feel lousy for at least a full day afterwards, and you shouldn't have to worry about things like cooking when you feel lousy)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

wow! that was quick! i'm glad *something* is being done!

Meeeeeeee toooooooooo!

Now, have you started making arrangements for a ride there and back, and someone to stay with you til you feel better, to make sure you eat and that the kitties are taken care of?

Driving: yes. Rob's kept his schedule clear that day. We don't know the exact timing of everything; I hope Rob doesn't have to sit in the surgical center all day!

Stay with me: no, my social circle is very not into that. When I had my wisdom teeth removed I was completely by myself for the following couple of days. I've been alone in conditions that would probably shock some people. Fortunately I appear to be tough and resourceful. (Yeah, go ahead, say it: and a little stupid.)

Kitties: good thought, I'll feed them in the morning before I go. By the next day I ought to be able to fill a water bowl.

Maybe I'm being a little too naive, but I just can't imagine this recovery to be any worse than what I just went through on Monday and Tuesday. I've had general anaesthesia before, so I know darn well I won't drive myself home, and I know not to go mud-wrestling with fresh stitches, but really, none of that is all that bad. The incision will be small (leaving major muscles functional). Of course, there will be some pain. Heh. Pain I can cope with. I have years of experience.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

nah, you're not being naive, i'm just overly cautious and, after everything we went through with mom, learning to be prepared for ANYTHING.

I imagine you'll come home with 2 or 3 bandaids covering the holes that will count as your "incisions" ~ my lapracopic gallbladder surgery used four holes in my belly, the largest being one inch wide. the side-effects of the gas they used to inflate your belly is much worse! have a heating pad ready, and be prepared to lay absolutely flat for about 12 hours.

if there was any way possible, i'd come and cook for you ahead of time, so you'd have a freezer full of healthy, tasty meals that only needed to be thawed and heated. then i'd stick around for a day or so to keep you company and make sure you didn't over-do it, and play with your kitties and keep them from trying to jump on your tummy while you're ouchy.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured the trapped gas would be the worst. Does it feel like an oversize version of gas pains?

Oh damn! I may need a bona fide heating pad, because I bet I won't be allowed to get in the hot tub! Boo Hoo.

Why flat? On your back only, or can you roll on a side?

Hee! I wish you could come pamper me, just 'cause it would be real fun to play queen for a day like that. :-) Plus I bet we'd be laughing so hard...! :-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

from what i recall, if you don't lay flat post-op, the gas will rise and pool in your shoulders. feels something like having clamps on your shoulders that won't let go (i insisted on having my head elevated slightly, as i was really nauseaus). i'm sure you can lay on your side, just as long as you keep your body level. it's only for the first 12 hours or so after you come to, so it's not like it'll be a huge inconvenience. (like a gaping stem-to-stern belly incision would be)


The heating pad helps break up the gas quicker. i doubt you'll be allowed to hot-tub for a several days; i don't remember the guidelines on baths, but showers were ok almost immediately.

if you have to have another operation, i'm so there! hell, why do we need to wait for you to get cut on? we should just get together while we're both feeling good! i'm supposed to come to a wedding in Riverside over july 4th ...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

the gas will rise and pool in your shoulders

Oh how annoying. This bit could use some improvement.

it's only for the first 12 hours or so after you come to

...with bathroom breaks, I hope? :-J

i doubt you'll be allowed to hot-tub for a several days

Probably. I'm sure it has something to do with the unhealed incision. With the piercings, I wasn't allowed to hot-tub for six whole months!

i'm supposed to come to a wedding in Riverside over july 4th ...

Darn, I'm in Germany then. No, wait, early July is the IAGSDC convention, which means... google... I'm in San Diego. Hey, that's closer than if I were home! Only a hundred miles, instead of four hundred!

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

I'll be thinking of you. Please let us know how it goes?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I sure will, soon's I'm allowed to sit up and type. :-)

You and Tim are, of course, still held close in my thoughts and prayers.

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

I had no idea a laproscopy was that painful. At least you'll probably get good painkillers. I had morphine after my c-section with Alan (and that's a bigger deal). Hope you find some answers as to what causes you such pain.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, C-section's a much bigger deal. I'm really not too worried about this, except of course the generic nervousness I get with anything medical! The only thing I don't know how to guesstimate is the effects of the trapped gases. Maybe there won't be much (crossing fingers).

[joedecker.livejournal.com]

Yay! (For getting the process started.) And *hugs* for how painful and uncertain all this is.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Although in a sense I'm very lucky: I get BREAKS in my "chronic" (?) pain. Today my pain level is so low that I honestly don't think it will affect anything that I choose to do. By next week it would normally be gone completely. Some people don't get those breaks... no vacation, no rest, not a single hour of blessed relief. I'd be doing much worse if I were in that situation, even if my worst pain level were halved.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Cool! I'm so glad you're doing this -- I'm anxious to see what the results are.

I understand your anxiety, of course. I was freaked out nervous before my laproscopy. Everything went well, though, and I was home that afternoon.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I won't sleep the previous night. I didn't sleep the night before I got my wisdom teeth out. That was a fine thing, because it meant I napped that afternoon. (Now if only I'd thought to put an old reddish-brown towel over my pillowcase.) :-)

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

Akien had laproscopic surgery for his gallstones. I don't recall it being too big a deal. OTOH, it was before we lived here, so I don't know what the limitations on hot tub sitting are. Probaby a while, as you wouldn't want to get that water inside your body--yuck! Best of wishes in this--I hope they come up with something useful.

*hugs*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope that's exactly it: "not too big a deal." I admit to a little hubris. I tend to recover from things quickly, and I've had lots of practice managing to get things done when my gut hurts badly. Hopefully this confidence won't be totally misplaced. :-)