My blog continues to be a secondary source of providing updates about my surgery and recovery. I’ve been updating Facebook, where I can air raw thoughts that may not be best as part of the public record. Even on there, I’ve been skipping lots of details about my frustration, as that requires a level of energy that I just haven’t had. Practically speaking, I have rarely felt comfortable enough to sit up with my laptop. I do, for the time being. I’m receiving dialysis on the 7th floor, and the above photo is from the present.

Wednesday, 1/19/11, 1:00pm – Surgery begins.

Roughly 5:00pm – Surgery ends.

5-10pm – A blur. I think I’m in my room by then.

11:30pm – I am supposed to receive a dialysis treatment because my potassium is very high. Someone will do this in my room.

Thursday, 1/20/11, 2-6am – Dialysis nightmare. A machine is brought into my room, and a tech sticks. She moves slowly and awkwardly. Her sticking is terrible, resulting in pain that is not typical with dialysis. Arm and chest pain are severe enough to trigger cardiac concerns and subsequent heart tests. I hate a nitro pill, and my BP hits 70/38 at one point. After the tech leaves, I explain the nurse everything that was awful about that experience. I doubt she writes up anything or shares it with anyone. I explain the whole story to a patient advocate later that day; I think that is ignored, too.

6am-8:30am – I desperately want sleep but get none.

8am – My remaining right kidney does not seem to be producing urine. Asshole intern says “at least you’re on dialysis.”

8:30am-12:30pm – They want me to sit up. I forget about wanting to sleep and migrate to the big chair in my room. I even get on my laptop, even though all of this is extremely painful.

12:30pm – They really want me to take a walk, so I do a lap around the floor.

1-10:30pm – Steady stream of visitors (some quite welcome, others not–interns, etc.) make getting rest a challenge while I deal with a steady stream of pain.

10:30pm-6am – Some mostly-uninterrupted sleep.

Friday, January 21, 8am – Optimistic I’ll be out by evening.

11:21am – Very annoyed by staff: Most of the attendings, technicicians, surgeons, and nurses who have checked in with me have had no clue what damage was done internally. And when I tell them, they ignore me. My surgeon is great..technically and personally. Everyone else should be embarrassed.

2pm – Finally, a “real” doctor visits, a guy who seems to have decades of experience with pain experience. He listens to me, understands what I’m dealing with, but I don’t remember his name or see him again. No one on the “team” seems to know if his involvement.

10:30pm-8am – More mostly-uninterrupted sleep.

Saturday, January 22, 9am – Still on liquids only, as I have not peed at all yet since Wednesday’s surgery.

9:15am – I have peed, and I get waffles.

11:45am – I haven’t had a bowel movement in three days, and this may prevent me from being able to leave.

1:00pm – Have my BM.

2:00pm – Get greenlight to go home.

2-6m – Delays and more delays. Contradictions over what meds I should take. Waiting on approvals from docs I had never met.

6:00pm – I leave

Present-time – My laptop battery is about to die, so I’ll stop there for now. Will continue the summary later. The bottom-line is that I’m back in the hospital and don’t know if I’ll get to leave today or not until tomorrow.

[ Part 2 | Part 3 ]