Adventures with a hospital bag....

Last Friday, I went to Indy w/ the bff while she had surgery on her neck.

Oh, you need more than that?

Ok-so Shauna had a disc in her neck that has been bulging & putting pressure on her spinal cord.  This has caused her much pain, headaches & even tingling sensations down both her arms.  It's quite the mess as you can imagine.  It was also very serious.  Like, that's your spine, people - all kinds of funky stuff can be affected by your spine.  This has been progressing & she has been procrastinating for a couple of years, but it was finally time to get it DONE.  

I offered to do anything B-rad & I could to help them w/ the process & she had asked us to watch Laila (that's the dog...) while they were gone.  That's a no brainer - B-rad loves Laila more than he loves me.

The plan was for Brian & her to go up for the surgery & stay the night.  It is an out-patient procedure, but because we are 2 hours from Indy the doctor wanted her to stay to make sure there were no complications.  We would watch the dog, check on the guinea pigs & cats while they were gone & the grandparents would watch the kids.  

Yea, I'd rather watch the pets than the kids so it was a win-win.

Shauna will be out of work at least at month & Brian's work is on the point system & if he took off 2 nights (he works 3rd shift) he would be dangerously close to his point limit & if anything else happened it would be bad.  He would also not get paid.  

They talked it over & decided to ask if I would mind going with her to Indy so he could stay home, work, take care of the pets & the kiddos.  

And if you're wondering about what this meant for me - I have some vacation days left at work so I got paid to be off.  My employer is a family owned business so they are super understanding about stuff like this (even for the bff.)  And I have a CAT, people.  That's why I love me some cats.  They can essentially be left alone for days & not even care that you're not around.  B-rad had no problem w/ me going at all & I made sure I had food in the house to fix himself for supper. 

He WAS a little upset that this meant Laila wouldn't be coming over.  TOLD YOU. 

(This is also reason # 431 I don't have kids - come & go as I please.)

  

We went up last Thursday night & stayed in a hotel because we had to be at the hospital at an un-Godly hour of 6:30AM.   They explained how long the surgery & recovery would take & told me all the things I needed to know as the person waiting.  They took her back to what I referred to as the 'staging' area around 8:00am & I was able to go back a bit later & sit w/ her.  All kinds of people came in to ask questions (like she had to tell them her name & birthday 9 million times), etc & the surgeons assistant came in to go over the procedure w/ her (again).  He did some tests where she had to hold out her arms & he pushed against them to test her arm strength.  Of course that was painful for her & she winced the whole time.  They going to cut her in the front which seemed weird to me since her spine was the area they were working on, but hey - they're the doctors...

  He wrote the word 'yes' on her right side so they knew where to cut.  I told her it looked like a prison tattoo...

Around 8:30 am they kicked me out of the staging area.  I gave her a hug, a kiss on the cheek & told her I loved her.  She said, "Don't be nervous."  I said, "I'm not worried about you at all!" 

I think one of the reasons Shauna wanted me to go w/ her is because I'm pretty good about keeping my cool.  I'm NOT a worrier.  I'm just not.  I think worrying really steals your joy.  I mean, if you spend your life worrying about everything that might go wrong or could go wrong - you will never EVER be happy.  And I really think a positive attitude is super important for the healing process. If I had been crying & scared before - that wouldn't have helped matters at all.  

 I had also been praying for her like crazy the days leading up to the surgery & for the doctors & nurses so I knew there was Someone way more powerful in charge of the situation...

They gave me a hospital bag w/ Shauna's clothes in it that I carried around ALL day.  I broke out the giant Coach bag because I thought there might be some things of hers that I would need to carry around.  (Think wallet, iPad, iPhone, chap-stick & ear-buds...all the necessities...)

The bag & I sat in the waiting room about 3 hours.  Everyone else that had been there at 6:30AM when we got there had gotten their conversation w/ the doctor & had left....

We went to the bathroom together...

We waited for the doctor to come tell us how the surgery went in this little room...You know w/ all the HIPAA laws & stuff now a days they just couldn't tell me out in the open w/ the other waiters...

The surgeon told me everything went perfect & he was very pleased w/ the surgery.  He also told me about some things she would need to do when she got home.

We went back out & waited for her to go over to recovery...

And we waited...like an hour. (But we still didn't worry...)  Everyone there was so, SO nice.  The receptionist saw me sitting there for a long while & she went back to check on Shauna for me.  She said that her pain level was very high (10 out of 10) & they were trying to get her comfortable before they let me go back. 

 

 We finally got back to see her in recovery.  She was very swollen & a bit groggy but she knew I was there & was able to talk to me.  

After we got her up to let her go to the bathroom, they put her in a recliner rather than the bed.  She got to eat Jello & pudding.  And the bag & I were right there...

Most of the pain & soreness she felt after was all from what they did to her during the procedure but we couldn't figure out WHY some things hurt.  She had a LOT of pain in her throat which we figured was from the tube they put down her throat to help her breath.  After talking to the surgeons assistant we learned that it was also because once they made the incision - they moved everything in her throat (including but not limited to her esophagus) out of the way to get to the spine.  Yikes.  

Her shoulder & back pain were because when they were done they shoved her shoulders down to get a good x-ray view of her neck & the artificial disc.  Double yikes.  

 Bright & early Saturday morning, the Doctors associate came in & checked her over.  He did all the same arm tests he had done less than 24 hours ago.  And while she was sore from everything else, she did not wince like she did the day before.  That was an awesome sight. 

 Everything looked good & she got discharged.  We were on the road for home around 7:00AM.  

 I know most my blog stalkers are Believers, so please say a quick prayer for a speedy recovery for my friend.  She is doing great so far, but please pray for pain relief & healing of the neck & from all the crazy stuff they did to her while they were fixing it! 

Thank you... :)