Josh flew to Philadelphia June 23rd as previously planned and I was able to spend some great time with him, his family that lives near Philadelphia and John. Over the weekend, we stayed at John’s house and on Sunday Josh, John and I drove back to Louisville so that John could return to his house and so I could have my surgery on Monday.
Monday, June 28th came around the corner and I had my overnight bag packed for the hospital. People kept asking if I was nervous, and I honestly was but I think I tried not to let it show too much (but I don't think it really worked). I'm not really sure which part made me nervous, whether it was the actual surgery, recovery, or any sort of complications that might arise.
I am grateful for the nurse I had who took me back to get prepped for surgery. She was very kind and asked me who had come to the hospital with me. I informed her my mom, dad and Josh were there. She then asked me if I wanted mom to come on back and sit in the room with me. I was taken off guard, because usually they do not allow your family members back until after you are prepped. But she assured me that if her daughter was being prepped, she would like to be with her too. So with her permission, I told her to bring mom on back. So mom came back during the prep work and then dad and Josh were allowed back a little bit later.
The next thing I know, I’m being taken back to the operating room and saying bye to everyone. I chatted with the nurses and then it was time for the oxygen mask (which only means one thing: anesthesia time). All goes black…and then…I hear a guys voice, talking about my increased heart rate, my increased temperature and talking to me asking me questions. I open my eyes and see a fairly open room with one other bed in the room. Then nurses are walking past me, saying good night to the guy that is with me. I realize I am in recovery, but overall I feel ok. I feel very tired, very tight around my neck, and just overall wiped out. Apparently I was in recovery longer than initially expected (about 2.5 hours instead of 1-1.5 hours), more so because of my increased heart rate and fever that developed. I remember looking up at the clock and realizing the time was rather late. After some time, the guy that was with me started talking about the room I was being transported to, and the tv and how the rooms are really nice. I just went along with it all, and I cannot even remember if I was engaging in the conversation with him.
Before I know it, I am being rolled into my nice room with dark wood cabinets and mom, dad and Josh waiting for me (with Family Guy on the tv, of course). Apparently the initial site of me was slightly concerning with my washcloth over my forehead, ice pack on my neck, nasal canula tube for oxygen, IV tubes, blood pressure cuff on my arm and a look like I just went through an obvious traumatic event – I mean, why would you think I would look concerning??
That night, mom and Josh stayed with me throughout the long and eventful night. I received pain medication and antiemetic (anti-nausea) medications. I didn’t really seem tired throughout the night and maybe its because there were so many things going on. My night nurse was checking up on me every hour to assess my vitals since I was still fresh out of recovery and could have had a compromised airway along the way. So the night continued and the nurse would ask me along the way if I was ever having tingling in my lips or hands. I was uncertain as to the reason, but Josh kept reassuring me that if I started to feel such sensations that we needed to inform them.
So around 4am, I started to develop tingling in my fingertips and lips, so I informed Josh and he went to my nurse. So instead of having my blood levels checked at 5:30am, the phlebotomist came in a little after 4am to assess my calcium levels. The next large event was the morning when dad came in to check on his way in to work and then my surgeon came to visit. I informed him of the new tingling but they informed me that my calcium levels were at 7.8 and normal values are 8.5-10.1, so they assumed that my levels were not entirely below normal to be producing such levels. At this time, I was getting very uncomfortable; I was itching as a result of the pain medication, my legs were starting to tingle, I had intermittent compression boots on that were driving me nuts amongst all the nerve sensations and I felt like my skin was crawling. So once they switched my pain meds, I started to feel a little less itchy, but still tingly. My voice was starting to gain strength and showing no signs of damage to my vocal cords – Yay.
So dad and Josh left and then it was mom and I left in the hospital. Even though I didn’t receive much sleep overnight, I was not extremely tired, but decided I should still sleep. Throughout the day, I continued to be tingly and my day nurse seemed to be baffled by my continued tingling that was now in my neck, to my lips, down my fingers, and down my feet. People kept telling me it was because of the superficial nerves that were involved with the surgery – but I know my anatomy and I KNOW there is not one nerve that travels to each and all of those areas, so I am not crazy. I started to develop a very large hacking cough as a result of being intubated. When I would cough (or I should say attempt to cough), the tingling got worse and was driving me insane. It started to get so bad, that I started crying and it was at this time that I think my nurse realized that I was not making things up (hello!!!). So my blood levels were taken again and I was told I would hear from my surgeon and endocrinologist later that day.
I had a nursing assistant that came into my room and told me she would help me with my “bath.” This was an overall experience. So I was in bed, she brought over the soap, washcloths and tub of water. She said that we were going to do this together – she washed my back while I washed my face, she washed my legs while I washed my arms. Then I mentioned I needed to use the restroom. So she helped me in, and while I was in there she made mention that now was a good time to wash my “purse.” Mom looked at me with a little confusion – but I returned the look and told her that I thought I understood what the nursing assistant meant. She meant for me to wash my private areas but referred to calling them my “purse.” So needless to say, mom and I got a big kick out of this and tended to tell a large majority of people the joke.
On my first day, I had my first “real” visitor where Tessa came by after she got off work around noon. She stayed with me for a few hours and we chatted about things. It was nice having her there and seeing her company.
Before I knew it, my surgeon was coming by and assessing my calcium levels that have since dropped from 7.8 – 7.5 –7.2 throughout the day. My surgeon informed me that sometimes the parathyroid's that are attached to the thyroid, but remain in place upon the removal of the thyroid, can get stunned. He believed that all 4 parathyroid's remained after surgery. The function of the parathyroid's are to control calcium levels (amongst other things too). So since he assumed these must have been stunned and I should probably start some calcium overnight and test my levels in the morning to see if my body is able to maintain the levels themselves. My surgeon also mentioned that in the morning I should be able to go off my liquid diet to a soft food diet (yay, no more clear liquid soup).
Following his visit, my endocrinologist stopped by and performed an interesting nerve test that involved me parting my mouth, and he tapped right at my mandible and masseter muscle which produced a twitch at my eye and mouth. He indicated that this is a sign of low calcium levels and again mentioned the need for calcium supplements.
So there I was, needing to stay in the hospital for night #2, but with hopes that I would start to have reduced tingling. To make time go by, mom hopped into my bed and we started watching “August Rush” on my laptop. Dad visited us in the middle of the movie and brought mom dinner and me some easy Mac! It was nice to visit and we had a good dinner together. Dad had to return home to take care of the dogs and mom and I were left to finish the movie (and me have my two doses of Calcium) before bedtime.
The nice thing about night #2, I did not require continual checking in every hour and was able to sleep all the way through (that is until my blood was taken for my calcium levels at 5am).
(Day 2: To Be Continued…)
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