Well, I am back. It has been several months since I last posted and I am not sure how much I will go back and tell you about. I will have to check out my last post to see what I was talking about so I can start from there.I meant to create this post right after the operation but never got around to it. I am not sure I can do it justice now, but I will give it a shot.
I don't know who reads this and maybe it will just serve as a warning to Maeghan and William when they are old enough to read this. I want to talk about the operation and some of the things that I went through and what can be expected from an operation like this. It is not really about Maeghan and William, but I will get back to them soon enough. I just want to make sure I get the message across. Whether anyone reads this and takes any notice, I cannot tell, but just in case, here it is.
DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO AVOID THIS OPERATION. Whatever you need to do, lose weight, stop smoking, execise more, eat better, do it now and try to reverse anything that will lead to you having this operation.
I know Daddy went through it and thousands of people go through it everyday, but I am not sure the extent of what this operation does is made clear. I found it is quite different to hear about someone else going through it and having it done to yourself. I have said before, it is really different to hear what they are going to do to someone else and then hearing that they are going to do these things to you. You tend to pay more attention and hear more of the details when they are telling you about taking your heart out and holding it in their hands while they cut into it. I am not sure I needed that kind of detail but they didn't ask if I wanted to know and just told me about the procedure as if it was something that they do everyday. Which they do, but not to me.
Anyway, the classes I went to and the information they gave me was really helpfull. It didn't really help at the time, but when I was actually going through it, it was helpfull to know what was going on and what to expect. As you probably know, my biggest fear was the tube down the throat and not being able to breath or swallow and just to let you know, it is as bad as you think it will be but not as bad as it could be. I suppose it is all the medicine you are on at the time, but you do know it is there and it does cause discomfort but you don't really care at the time and it does not last long, or actually, it doesn't last long enough for you to really remember it.
Day one, the day of the surgery, is not something you really remember and there is not any pain during that day. I remember bits and pieces but I have no idea when any of it took place or really where I was when anything happened. I remember some doctor telling me we were going to go into the theater soon and I remember entering the doors, but I have no idea what happened after that. I remember the nurse asking me some questions after the operation but I have no idea when that happened nor what she asked. I am told Juanita was in the recovery room for a while and held my hand but I have no recollection of that. She says I did not look good and I didn't really look like I was alive. I tell you that so that you can be prepared for it if you ever have someone close to you go through the operation. While it is fairly difficult to go through it yourself, it is also very hard on those around you as they do not know what is going on or what to expect and the only thing they can do is wait. That is very hard to do and is not as appreciated as much as it should be. The doctors and nurses try to help but this is something they go through everyday and don't always remember that it is something most of us very rarely do. I think, as I remember it when we were kids, that we had a good way of dealing with it in that we would always go out to eat during the operation. Not that we did it often and we have always joked about it but it seems like a good idea for those who are waiting and helps take the mind off the wait time. Not that Juanita and her parents did that, I have no idea what they did during the operation, but the nurses and doctors recommend that you go home or leave the hospital during that time and let them call you when something changes. I am pretty sure I would not want to be called on the phone if something happened but it is probably a good idea to get away for a little bit during that time.
Anyway, the part I want to talk about is the first few days after the operation. It is a miserable time. I would never want to go through something like that again. It is not so much the pain as you are doped up very well but your whole body hurts and any movement makes it worse, to the point that you will lay in very uncomfortable positions just to avoid having to move. And, even now six weeks after the operation, it is not so much the pain that you have, it is the threat of pain that you could have. Any little movement or gesture could cause you pain and you have to think about it constantly. Not that the pain is bad, don't misunderstand, it is the memory of what the pain can be like and the threat of that happening again that keeps you wondering what will set it off next. The only real pain I have now, and have had for several weeks, is the pain you get when you cough. You can partially control that and keep it to a minimum but the real problem occurs when you have to sneeze. That, even today, is the worse thing that can happen. It just plain hurts and makes you feel like your chest has imploded. And, it lasts for several minutes afterwards so it is not just a pain while you sneeze but it is ongoing for a little while afterwards. I sneeze at least two or three times a day and it is agony each time and does not seem to be getting better.
However, aside from the coughing and sneezing problems, I am feeling much, much better. I started physio yesterday and will continue that for twice a week for six weeks. Since I had already been riding my excerise bike for a month, the physio they put you through is very easy but it did help me to know what types of excerises I need to be doing. I ride the bike for ten minutes everyday and I have started using weights at the same time, holding them in my hands and raising my arms a few times. Overall, I think I am doing pretty good. I can ride the ten minutes with no problems and will up it to fifteen minutes next week. I don't get any pain when I lift things and can pick up Maeghan and William now with no problems.
That was and has been one of the main problems in that I have not been allowed to pick up the kids. I did it occasionally but it would cause some pain sometimes, so I did not do it often. The only really setback I have had was when I started driving again.
Juanita's brother came over for a few days last month. He was here with his girlfriend and they were looking for a bus, yes I said bus, to buy and take back to Tasmania so he could convert it to a mobile home. The bus they really wanted to look at was in Mudgee, which is about a five hour drive from here. Juanita and I said we would take them so I drove all the way there and back in one day. There wasn't any real problems doing it but for the next three days, I was in a lot of pain and I am guessing that it was all the driving that caused it. Everything I did after that was painful and I had to let Juanita drive for the following week. On the good side, they did end up buying the bus and had it shipped over to Tasmania on the boat. As a side note, we found out that it costs more to ship a car or bus over than it would actually cost to ride the boat over with the car or boat. If you take the boat across, with your car, it only costs $59 dollars for the car, and it is free during some parts of the year. If you just ship the car over and do not ride with it, it cost $800. Since it only costs about $200 per person to ride on the boat, it is cheaper to do that than ship it on its own. It was much more expensive to ship the bus but I do not know the axact price they paid for that. The flew over and met the bus when it arrived instead of riding with the bus as they were told there weren't any seats left.
But anyway, I have not really had any problems driving since then but if we drive any distance, I let Juanita drive home. I go back to work in a week and a half and I will have to drive back and forth from there during that time but hopefully, since there is a whole lot of time between trips, I will recover enough to drive back home after work. As I said, it is not really the driving that is the problem. I just makes me sore afterwards.
Well, I don't think I made the point I was trying to make with this post. That being avoiding this operation at all costs. Maybe someone will listen but I never did so I never changed anything to avoid it. I am now, and will continue to do so for the rest of my life but I wanted to give everyone else a warning about it and give them a reason to avoid it. I know I will do everything I can to make sure Maeghan and William never smoke but I also know I cannot really control that, I can only tell them I would appreciate it if they did not. They will never smoke in my presence but I cannot control what they do on their own and after they leave home. I just hope I can get the message across.
I think I have typed enough for now. I have a lot of stuff to cover since my last post, so I should be posting more often for a while. Most of it, I have already forgotten but for now, I will let everyone know that everyone here is ok and doing well. Maeghan is doing ok and the doctors do not see any problems with her. William is getting bigger and should be bigger than Maeghan before he turns one, or at least he is headed that way. Juanita still has pain from the pregnancy, but hopefully, it is getting better. Everyone else is doing fine and I will report on what they are up to later.
I want to tell everyone thank you for your help and thoughts during the operation. I want to thank Laura and Penny for coming over. I know they were not here for the operation and their visit was too short to spend as much time together as we would have liked but I really do appreciate the effort they made to come over and give me a chance to see some of my family before I had to go in. I miss everyone so much and it really helped to have them here.
I want to thank Daddy and Momma for their help in letting me know what to expect and understanding what it is like to go through this. As everyone kept telling me, if Daddy can go through it, then I shouldn't have any problems. Not that it made it any easier, but it did help to know that it does get better after a while.
I wanted to thank Juanita's parents and her sister for coming over and helping Juanita through this. I know how hard it was for her and having her family here to help and support her was meaningful not only for her but was very helpful for me knowing that she did not have to go through this by herself and she had someone to lean on when I was not available.
But most of all, I want to thank Juanita. She has been through a lot since I came over and we have lived through some very tough times together. We have two wonderful children and have gone through more than anyone should have to go through with each of them. With Maeghan's problems and the problems Juanita had during Williams pregnancy, it has been a very hard on each of us. Now, with my operation and her still having problems from the pregnancy, she had to go through most of this on her own. Of course, I was there to help but I really needed someone to lean on during that time to get through it myself and she has and always will be there for me.
I want to thank you, Juanita. Not just for Maeghan and William but for just being there for me. I hope I have been as big a help to you as you have been to me and I wanted everyone who reads to know how much I love you and appreciate what you mena to me and to thank you for just being the special person I have always known you to be. We will be married five years next month and I am sure that the next five years will see us begin to prosper from all the things we have had to deal with up to this time. It will get better from here and I will be feeling better and able to do more things so that we can enjoy even more our life together.
Thank you again, Juanita.
And thank you everone else and I look forward to telling you all about everything that has happened since Christmas and the last time I posted. I love you all and will speak to you soon.
Later
