The Appendectomy: Part II

By the time I was settled in a room, it was well after midnight. James decided he and Shelby would stay the night so she could breastfeed on demand, especially since he wouldn't be able to drive and we didn't know when they would take me for surgery in the morning. Poor Shelby just wanted to snuggle and sleep next to me like she does at home, but I had the IV on the left side and the pain on the right side, and the hospital bed was too narrow, anyway. James spent a lot of time walking around the hallways with Shelby in the stroller.

I wasn't able to sleep at all. I spent the night posting on Facebook and watching bad infomercials while Shelby tried to sleep in her stroller and James tried to sleep in a recliner.

The surgeon came in a little after six in the morning. He pressed on my belly and made me cry, then fielded all my questions about medications and breastfeeding safety. He explained that the symptoms had been going on for so long, there was a good chance my appendix had leaked nastiness into the abdominal cavity, in which case I would be in the hospital for at least a week. If there was no leak, I would be able to go home that same day. I was to be the second surgery of the day, scheduled for 9 a.m.

I offered Shelby a chance to eat every hour. She actually ate a ton right before they came to take me; it was like she knew what was going on. She and James got to accompany me to the pre-operation area and stay with me until I was wheeled into surgery.

I don't remember much from right before surgery. I talked to the people, took out my contacts, took a few deep breaths, and took a nice nap. When I woke up, I remember it took some effort to get words out. As soon as I could manage, I asked, "Did it leak?" The recovery nurse didn't know what I was talking about, but the surgical nurse was still there and he told me there was no leak, and the surgeon would be coming to talk to me soon.

The surgeon said there was no rupture, though my appendix was very gangrenous. He said I could leave that day or stay overnight; he put orders in both ways so I could decide. He said it would be perfectly safe for me to breastfeed as soon as I felt up to it. I couldn't wait to get back to my room, hug James and snuggle with Shelby. The tremendous amount of pressure in my abdomen was gone. There was pain from the surgery, but it felt completely different; this was pain that would go away, pain that would heal. This was pain I could deal with.

I went home that night. I still can't lift more than 10 pounds, which breaks my heart on a daily basis because Shelby is more than 16 pounds. Now, five days after the surgery, I can finally pick things up off the floor and get into and out of bed by myself, so I feel a little more useful than I did earlier this week. It's really hard to watch James try to get absolutely everything done by himself. I know exactly what that's like, only I was healthy when I had to do it. He's still not well.