OK folks... we are here. It's day 3 and Diane is not yet 72 hour post-op. It's about 3:30 pm here in Straubing and Diane is taking a nap. We checked out of the hospital this morning.... got the full treatment. Control x-ray looks good... incision looks good... Diane is feeling good. Peter Hoch drove us from Bogen to Straubing. He's such a great guy, it's always a pleasure to see him.
I'm always worried about the get out of the hospital day, because just the process of packing up and moving is 1,000 times the activity level the patient has experienced since the surgery. We don't know if her pain levels are artificially reduced because she's been mostly in bed for several days, or if the higher than usual pain meds (which are being decreased) are keeping things at bay. But she's still doing great... It may be tough keeping her down as she loves to be outside and really enjoys everything about Straubing. I may have to handcuff her to the bed!
For those of you who had trouble re-mobilizing your bowels after abdominal surgery, or if you are a little squeamish... you might not want to read this. Yesterday morning, 1.5 days out, it was clear that all systems were OK, so last night when the hospital dinner was delivered, we decided that it was OK to substitute our own food. I went to Giovanni's and got some pasta, bread and salad. (Remember... we are cleared to eat... don't do this without clearance from the docs... ileus is serious.)
Today, after I got Diane settled in the room, I went out hunting and gathering. Fresh strawberries... pears... bread... several types of cheese... smoked salmon. Diane didn't touch the sausage and sauerkraut.
It would be a beautiful day here even if we were in a blizzard. This is all so wonderful. I was hoping to be able to post something like this... and I'm so pleased that Diane is doing so well.
All sunshine and smiles from Straubing.
Love to all,
Mark
PS... I know that less than 1/2 of us have such an easy time with the surgical experience. This is great, but it's not what matters... this is all about long-term success... and not all of us will achieve that either. While this is great, we are still only cautiously optimistic. I wish we could bottle this and give it away... nobody deserves to suffer the way so many of us do.