Dennis' Donation Story
Post 4: The Day After
December 12, 2011
11:50 AM
It is hard to believe that less than 24 hours ago I was laying in the hotel bed across the street from the hospital, worried about how I would feel now.
[photo] caption: Cell phone picture of me after my procedure!
The procedure went by fairly quickly. After getting picked up at 6:30AM from the hotel lobby, we were ushered to a room where I changed into my hospital gown and filled out some forms. The nurses took a few vials of blood and we were introduced to the doctor, the anesthesiologist, and a couple other nurses. I felt bad for Melissa because it didn’t seem like there was any place for her to really be, but it was comforting having her there with me. The resident anesthesiologist was really excited to give me my ‘cocktail’ and slipped it into my IV. Within minutes I felt the room spinning and after being wheeled out of the room I knocked out.
When I woke up three hours later I didn’t move my body until after lunch at around 1PM. Melissa told me that she got a call that I had come out of surgery at around 10 or 10:30AM. After getting some food in my belly and drinking lots of liquids I felt more at ease with my body. I was uncharacteristically cold, had a sore throat (from the breathing tube), and due to the limited amount of movement I had while in bed I couldn’t tell if my lower back hurt or if it just felt sore. I eventually tried standing up for some blood pressure tests (after getting my two units of blood pumped back into me) around 5PM and I didn’t feel woozy or nauseated.
I’m not sure if it was the extra strength Tylenol or mentally preparing myself for some excruciating pain, but my discomfort wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. After getting information about how to deal with the bandage on my back (some of the strongest adhesive tape I’ve seen), cleaning the area around the punctures, getting some more meds for the road and antibiotic cream, and what things to look out for (‘angry’ looking puncture wounds, bad smelling pus, etc.) I was told I could go back to the hotel room.
Going through the whole procedure has definitely made me feel more confident that people should sign up for the registry. I’ll have to update this after a week or two to make sure that I don’t suddenly get hit with lots of pain, but so far, besides walking and moving a bit slower, the pain isn’t substantial. It is more a feeling of pressure being pushed on the two puncture sites when I walk and move. It definitely helps to get up and walk every once in awhile because it reduces me becoming stiff.
I can’t believe they can pull out life force from my body and all I end up with is two small holes (maybe 1.5mm) and some soreness. Amazing.