Gordon's Gallbladder Surgery

Who would have thought one of us would experience losing an organ in our lifetime....how scary is that...don't we need all those organs in our bodies?  Hmmmmm???  It all started on Thanksgiving Eve when Gordon started experiencing severe pain under the right ribcage....an emergency room visit determined the extent of his pain and the knowledge that he will need to have his gallbladder out.  A lot of reading on both sides of removal and non-removal of the organ was done by both of us; we were going to be very informed on the pros and cons Obviously, the pros outweighed the cons to having the organ removed.  

It was December 22 when we headed to the short stay unit around 5:45 a.m.  Everything moved quickly and smoothly while we were there....got him dressed in the surgery gown (they even had a vacuum which hooked up to the gown blowing warm air into the gown to keep him warm!!!).  Soon enough they wheeled him away and I was sent to the family waiting room along with a beeper. Luckily, I took one of Hannah's books, Twilight, which I tried reading once before, but this time I needed my mind on something other than Gordon laying there being cut open....I dove into the book and got hooked....it was great!  Before I new it, the beeper was buzzing telling me the surgery was over and the surgeon was coming out to talk to me.  Dr. Thompson said the surgery went well and then handed me a container which contained one of his stones.  He had five stones and the one in the bottle was the size of a marble....so interesting to look at and see what the body can actually produce.  I asked him more questions and he informed me about his recovery and whatnot....very nice guy.  I then sat back down and dove into the book some more while he was in the recovery room coming out of anesthesia.  About two hours later, the beeper buzzed again notifying me to return to the short stay unit.  I actually ended up walking right behind him while he was being taken back from surgery.  I recognized his body once I saw the gurney.  He was still groggy and in lots of pain.  I helped the nurses pull him over to the other bed in the short stay room.  He was so pale and in LOTS of pain.  The nurses tried to manage his pain and tried him on some morphine which did not phase him one bit.  The pain got so bad that he said it was worse than the attack itself....it was the gas that was blown into his abdomen to assist in the surgery that was pressing on his diaphram and pressing on all the nerves which was causing all the pain. He ended up back on Dilaudid to put him at ease.  The next attempt was to get up and go to the bathroom.  Once up, he threw up and burst one of the incisions open leaking blood all over the floor while he was trying not to pass out.  We made it to the bathroom with no success at going.  His body was not cooperating which is one of the side effects of surgery and anesthesia and drugs.  The idea of catheterizing freaked him out and he said, NO, I will keep trying.  That evening, he was finally able to go to the bathroom with lots of effort but they would not let him go home because he was still on mega pain killers and was still nauseated.   At the same time, I had the flu....I think I visited the bathroom more than he did....that was not fun :(.  I continued to read as he was in and out of sleeping/needing more pain meds.  He ended up being sent to the 5th floor to spend the night.  After we got him setup in there, I ended up heading home around 9 p.m. to relieve Mom and Dad from taking care of the kids all day. BOY did I sleep well!!! Gordon called me at 8 in the morning and told me to come and pick him up....he was ready to come home.  It was so nice to see color in his face and him up and walking around...even if it was gingerly.  The kids were told immediately not to "hug daddy" as his incisions and stomach were still distended and painful.  To bed he went and he slept most of the day drugged on Percocet and nausea medicine.  Each day he got better and better and we took care of him the best that we could.....dealing with the flu bug in the house as well as Christmas and vacation.  He lost around 10-11 pounds during this whole experience and I lost 7 worrying about him, having the flu, and trying to maintain some order in the house. Not exactly the ideal way of losing weight...but hey, I cannot complain.   It is not ideal either watching your spouse being wheeled away into surgery....all that can happen was wearing right on my sleeves....but there were so many prayers by family and friends and I could feel them all and was so comforted during this time.  It really could not have played out any better than it did except for the fact that Gordon did not recover as fast as expected...but that is ok too!  No major side effects from losing the gallbladder which is great too!!  As one would say, "It is what it is....."  and we all move on and enjoy the next day.