Surgery

My husband had surgery performed yesterday. He had two procedures: work done to his nose and throat.

I walked behind my husband as he was wheeled down to surgery. The doctors noticed I was dressed in all black. My husband's surgeon said I looked like a burglar. I laughed and said I was going for a run while he was in surgery. They said I looked like a runner. I held his hand, rubbed his arm and talked to him until it was time for him to go into surgery.

I was told the procedure would take maybe an hour or more. I took off on my preplanned course that I mapped out days before. I ran on the sidewalks and the streets. I ran with no music. I listened to dogs barking at me and the few cars that passed me. While running, hardly anyone was out driving. It wasn't until I ran on a main road when I was passed by a bunch of vehicles. I kept check of the time with my GPS. Time was running out on me, so I sprinted the last .2 miles back to the hospital parking lot. I ran a 5.2 mile loop in 53 minutes.

I ran to my car and opened my trunk. I changed out of my wet running shirts and jacket. I took off my shirts in the parking lot and was standing in my sports bra. Usually I don't do that, but no one was around. I had on a fresh shirt, jacket, hat and deodorant. I walked back into the hospital and headed for my husband's room.

I saw my husband's nurse in the hallway, she said he was still in surgery. I went into his room and sat in a recliner. My phone kept me busy until the surgeon came in to talk to me. The surgeon said that the surgery went well and he would be in the recovery room for another 20 minutes. He then would be brought back down to his room.

He was very groggy when he was wheeled back into the room. The nurses checked his vitals and got him more water to drink and a Popsicle to help his throat. I asked him how he felt and he said his throat hurt, which is understandable. The nurses told me that he would have to stay in the room for two hours since he had surgery. That I wasn't expecting. The surgeon told me he would have to stay maybe a half hour.

By that time it was past 1 p.m. I haven't eaten lunch, so I headed down to the cafeteria. The worker must of thought I was a hog because I had a lot of food on my tray. I ate salad, pasta salad, pudding, green beans and fried potatoes for lunch. On the way back to my husband's room, I ate three restaurant packets (for soups - only two crackers in the packet) of crackers. I was still hungry.

When I came back to my husband's room, he was drifting in and out of sleep. The nurses said they would be in the room every 15 minutes to check on his vitals, and they were right on about that. I decided to sit in the reclining chair after lunch and take a nap. Every time I would get to sleep, the nurses would come into the room and start talking with my husband. I was sad that I didn't get much of a nap. I decided then not to not go out for a second run. I was curled up in the recliner chair wearing my winter coat as a blanket. I was so cold. Going back out wasn't going to make me any warmer. The other reason I didn't go back out is I just wanted to stay by my husband's side.

When the two hours were up, my husband got a ride in a wheelchair and I picked him up at the emergency room exit. He was helped into my car by the nurse and we headed for home. Once he was situated on the couch, I went to the store to pick up his prescriptions and a tub of sherbet. Days prior we picked up two tubs of ice cream. The nurse said that eating ice cream was OK, but sherbet was better for his throat.

Before we left, the nurse went over some do's and dont's. My husband can't eat warm or spicy food. He also can't exercise or lift anything heavy. For the next couple of days, I will be at his go-fer. I will bring him food, water and help him in any way I can. When I had my wisdom teeth removed he did the same for me.

He should be back to normal in about two weeks. I'm just so thankful the surgery went well and my husband is on his way to recovery.