Hail to the Victors

Through this whole melanoma experience, the University of Michigan has proven to be the leaders and the best, at least when it has come to my care. Every single person we’ve interacted with – from the technicians to the reception staff to the nurses and doctors I’ve seen have all been amazing. I’m sure it helps that I’m a pretty easy-going patient – I listen, do what they tell me, ask questions and most importantly, let them do their jobs while keeping a sense of humor. I had two separate nurses tell me how nice it was to have a happy patient like me, and another wanted to sit and chat with me just because.

I made the lady that checked me in pre-operatively laugh so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath (she asked if English was my preferred / 1st language – I replied “Si”). The nurse that got my IV and everything set up pre-op dished it out as well as she took it and she ooohed and aahed over my pictures of my boys; Curtis, my post-op nurse, was snarky and funny. Then I got to OBS unit, where Cindy and Debi also insisted on seeing pictures of my boys, wanted to know about my iphone and all about my Kindle, and cut deals with me to get me off my IV so I didn’t have to go to the bathroom so much. Overnight, Diane took care of me with quiet laughs and silliness. All in all, I’m pretty sure I only could have been taken care of better by my mommy. (you know, if she were a nurse, too).

While there have been some confusing things (staying overnight vs. not, etc), I expect that with anything that involves 100 different people whose only interaction is paperwork. I feel extraordinarily lucky to be taken care of by the fine staff of U of M Hospital. They are professional, smart, funny and nice. Not to mention, it sure seems like they know what they are doing.

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We got checked in early yesterday and were ready to head into surgery by about 10:30 (scheduled for 11). I remember arriving in the operating room and then hours passed and suddenly I was in the recovery ward. The anesthesiologist made a lovely cocktail for me to make sure I wouldn’t get my usual nausea/puking afterward and it totally worked! I took my time waking up and then, once I was done repeating myself, they brought Mike in to visit. 🙂 After a little while, they sent him back to the waiting room, as they were going to be moving me soon to the observation unit, and I was dozing off on him. For the record, post-op ice is the best ice in the universe. And there, it is these little tubes that are just the perfect size. Mmmmm….ice….

I was taken to the Observation Unit where I was to spend the night. It was a tiny little room, with a tiny tv and curtains for the 4th wall. But it was fine! I was feeling fine, people were taking care of me, I had my iPhone and Kindle and good drugs. It was a long night, since I dozed off and felt like I had been sleeping for hours and it was only minutes, but I was doing ok. In the morning, they served me a lovely breakfast (hehe) and got me prepped to go home.

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Now, it’s Friday – 3 days post op – and I’ve still not published this post. I fell asleep writing it a number of times, lol.

I did really well on Wednesday, slept decent at home, took my meds regularly. By 9 am Thursday morning, I was sick as a dog. I couldn’t stop throwing up and Mike had to call the doctor to see what to do. They advised me to stop taking the Norco (which seemed odd, since I didn’t have any issues a couple months ago!). They prescribed a anti-vomiting/anti-nausea med that would help me out…sadly, it wasn’t to be taken orally, if you know what I mean. By then, I didn’t care as long as I could stop throwing up nothing!

After sleeping most of the day away, I was feeling a lot better, even good enough to take some more Norco (with food), and eat real food. I slept great last night, so that was good too.

I’m actually kind of surprised at how sleepy and out of it I’ve been since this surgery. It’s good – I obviously need the rest to get better, but I am still surprised.

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Since I was literally stinking up the place and I was given the ok, I was excited to be able to take a shower this afternoon. Once I used the bathroom, drained my tubey, and headed upstairs, I was done. A quick soap and water wipe down sitting outside the shower had to do and it did. Now I’m resting in my bed, but definitely planning to head back down to my couch later (waaay more comfy than the bed!). So I am less smelly, but still did not get to enjoy to the first post surgical shower.

Now, I must go, because Tyra is talking to a woman is who is married to the Eiffel Tower and well, you just can’t find much better tv than that for recovery time!

Tagged as: melanoma, recovery, surgery, UofM