Home Sweet Home in Waukee

Dr. Bedia stopped by my room Monday around 9:30 a.m. and said he probably should let me go home. He said he hoped that I was still happy with my decision to have surgery. I assured him that I was. He told me one of the nurses would take out my staples and IV and then I'd be free to go.

The Monday morning nurses weren't nearly as nice and cheery as Stephanie, Lori, Sara and Kim had been during the weekend. I felt as if I was just a patient to the Monday nurses. I was definitely ready to go home.

My mom and I stopped on the way home to get my pain meds at Target. We dropped off the prescription. About five minutes later, we were paged to return to the pharmacy.

The conversation went something like, "WHERE did you get this precription and WHO gave it to you?" Never mind the fact the prescription had Iowa Methodist Medical Center printed on it.

When I explained that I had been in the hospital and got the prescription from my doctor, she then confessed that she couldn't read Dr. Bedia's handwriting. She asked me to spell his last name.

I have settled in at my temporary home, sweet home -- 1655 SE Holiday Crest Circle in Waukee. Even though my parents aren't fully settled, it's a very relaxing place to stay.

I'm feeling pretty good. Although I have some abdominal pain, I think the pain I had before my surgery was much worse than what I'm dealing with now. This is definitely managable for me. However, I do find I get tired very quickly. I'm taking quite a few naps throughout the day/evening.

Thanks for all the e-mails, notes, prayers and support! I appreciate everything!

Homeward Bound

If all goes as planned, I'll be homeward bound later today after Dr. Bedia stops by my room. For the next two weeks, I'll spend some quality time with my parents and our family's 16-year-old dog Allie at their new townhome in Waukee.

I haven't taken any pain meds since 11 p.m. last night. I don't feel any pain as long as I get out of bed on my side. I'm waiting for my french toast breakfast to arrive and then will take another dose.

At 11 p.m. last night I was really second-guessing my decision to stay in the hospital another night. I felt as if I was trying to sleep at O'Hare with all the traffic going in and out of the room next to me. I know the man is in a lot of pain, but he hasn't figured out how to use his inside voice at night. And he's a bit on the cranky side, so hearing his conversations isn't uplifting to anyone. Fortunately a nurse shut my door before I had a chance to get up and do it ... and I slept well the rest of the night.

Have you passed gas yet?

Have you passed gas yet?

This was the most frequently asked question yesterday by all nurses and nurses aids on Younkers 5th floor.

My night nurse Stephanie said we could have a party that coincided with the Des Moines Art Festival fireworks outside my hospital window if I could "get it done" by 10 p.m. last night. I said we could pop open a can of ginger ale -- as Stephanie is very pregnant and I'm on major pain meds. But unfortunately it didn't work out as planned. The fireworks went off without me.

At 2:30 a.m. I woke up and called Stephanie with the good news. She asked if I wanted her to break open the ginger ale. I said no. She came down to my room to tell me that I had graduated to the solid liquid foods menu -- and that I'd get to say good-bye to my IV when I woke up in the morning. I'd start taking pain pills instead.

Cream of wheat (with lots of brown sugar) has never tasted so good as it did this morning. And because I did so well with the solid liquid breakfast, I was able to order lunch off the regular diet menu!

Dr. Bedia stopped by this morning and asked if I wanted to go home today or tomorrow. Although I'm doing really well according to the nurses, I decided I wanted to stay here another day just to be safe. It also shows what great care I'm getting here at Methodist. I'm in no hurry to leave.

Dr. Bedia told me that I needed to spend some time outside in the hospital atrium and enjoy the beautiful weather. He took the bandage off my incision so I could take a shower. Tomorrow he'll remove the staples.

He asked how my right side felt -- and if I was still feeling pain there like I did before surgery. I said no. I really feel good. I think the growth really threw him for a loop, as he didn't expect to find it. And he continues to talk about it every time I see him.

He told me that during surgery the nurses asked, "what is THAT?" when they saw the growth. And he told them he didn't know what it was - but it wasn't easy to remove because it was spread all over. So that's why they sent it to pathology right away.

Mom brought me iced coffee from Starbucks today when she came to visit -- which tasted really good. I'm looking forward to getting back outside this afternoon.

Lori, my nurse today, asked if it would be OK if we walked down to the art festival -- but then said people might wonder about us if I'm wearing a hospital gown and she's in scrubs. :-)

Thanks for all the e-mails, well wishes and visitors! It has helped my recovery process tremendously to know I have so much support.

Toot. Toot.

Thanks to my friends and family who visited me today! The day went by fast and was as enjoyable as it can be when you're hooked up to an IV.

However, I'm still waiting for my life-changing moment to happen. It's one of those things you take for granted when you're well. In fact, you're embarrassed if you do it in public. Toot. Toot. Grandma Haag always tooted and then said, "oops."

But for me, toot toot is the bridge to a new horizon. Once I can do this, I graduate from the clear liquid diet menu (chicken broth, italian ice, jell-o, apple juice) that I've been eating the past two days. I've eaten more jell-o squares the past two days than I have all year combined.

What do I have to look forward to? The full liquid diet includes:

• Cream of Wheat/Rice
• Pudding and custards
• Ice cream and milk shakes
• Strained Soup of the Day

No worries. I can still order jell-0 and italian ice, if I feel the urge.

I finished my four Younkers fifth-floor laps by 8:30 p.m. with some help from my mom and the nurses. My favorite nurse Stephanie is back for another night. She says will have a big party when she hears toot, toot from Younkers Room 523. Might even break out the ginger ale!

And according to Dr. Bedia, tomorrow is shower day!

Saturday morning update

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers! I appreciate it all!

All things considered, I'm feeling pretty good. Dr. Bedia stopped by early this morning to check on me. The people at Methodist have been fantastic, especially my overnight nurse Stephanie.

He said the surgery was a challenge due to an external growth that was in tangled and pushing on my rectum. But other than that, everything went well. The preliminary report was the growth is a fibroid, but he said we'd get the official test results back Tuesday. It definitely explains why I had constant pain on my right side.

I think I had an allergic reaction to the constant morphine drip, so Dr. Bedia took me off that this morning. Now I have to push my pain button more often, but it beats all the constant itching feeling.

He also gave me the assignment to walk "the Younkers fifth-floor loop" in the hospital today. Looking forward to watching the Cubs-Sox game this afternoon.

Beth is now in her room, Younkers 523. She's awake, drowsy and in a bit of pain. My advice would be to make contact tomorrow or Sunday with her.
I'm leaving here soon so that she can continue to rest and recover.

12:45 - Beth is out of surgery and everything went as planned. They left the ovaries, but everything else is gone.
She had a growth on the outside of the uterus, which has been checked and is not cancerous. They dissected it and was probably the reason for her leg pain (right side).
She'll be at Methodist for three days, probably. She's in recovery right now and it will be another 1-2 hours before she is assigned a room.
Blessings all around!!

She's in

Beth just went in for surgery. They said that it will be an hour and a half.
She's in good spirits and looks great with her blue cap, by the way. :-)
I'll let you know new information as we receive it.

The waiting is the hardest part ...

I went to bed at 2 a.m. and got up at 5:40 a.m. in order to get iced coffee at Starbucks and back to Des Moines by 8:30 a.m.

I had my pre-op this morning with Dr. Bedia. I decided to go with the abdominal hysterectomy instead of the daVinci method. Although the daVinci has a shorter recovery, Dr. Bedia wasn't sure it would work for me. For those of you who watch Grey's Anatomy, the daVinci (robot) is what Dr. Bailey got in the most recent season finale.

He wished me luck with the enema tonight and said he thought they were on sale at Hy-Vee this week. Fun, fun. I asked when we'd find out what time the surgery was. He said we should know by noon. So I didn't take a nap and waited for the phone call.

At 1:48 p.m. someone from outpatient surgery called. I have to be at Iowa Methodist at 8 a.m. I didn't ask what time I'd go in for surgery ... or how long it would take. The sleep deprivation from last night has set in.

My good friend Karla will be a guest blogger tomorrow with surgery updates. She will be hanging out with my mom at the hospital and will have my cell phone during surgery.

Testing, one, two, three

Just wanted to see if this actually works.

Two more nights in Omaha

Texas won last night, which means I'll be in Omaha two more nights. Game 2 is always tough because you never know if it'll be the final game of the series or not. So tonight we know it'll be the last game and can prepare for the post-game festivities accordingly.

I'll be up at 5 a.m. tomorrow so I can be home by 8:30 a.m. for my pre-op appointment.

Kicking Off

I've taught two seminars at Iowa State about how to write blogs. But until today, I haven't written my own.

I'm in Omaha for the College World Series. If LSU wins tonight, I'm going back to Des Moines tomorrow. If Texas wins tonight, I'll be going home early Thursday morning. My pre-op with Dr. Bedia is Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

Surgery is scheduled for Friday at Iowa Methodist. I won't find out what time I need to be there until Thursday. I will be in the hospital 3-4 days.

We moved my parents into their Waukee townhome last weekend. My parents temporarily set up a bed and TV in my dad's first-floor office. That will be my home for the two weeks I won't be able to drive.

Will update when I find out what time surgery is.