Umbilical Hernia Repair

So yesterday was the day. I've officially had my first surgery, and I wish I hadn't had to go through with that. But I did need to get it taken care of. :(

The doctors and staff at Virginia Mason Hospital were nice and informative. They did do their best to make me as calm about it as possible, and they certainly kept me in the loop. They were even nice enough to do a local nerve block around the area that was going to be operated on that would last well after the surgery for about 12-24 hours so I'd be more comfortable right after. Believe me, as I've felt it wear off, it was effective, and I'm sad it doesn't last longer! Ugh.

They were even kind enough to do a topical numb for the IV they gave me. When I was in labor the nurses, while nice at Northwest (which IS one of the best hospitals in the area) weren't as kind for that. Heh.

Anyhow things went fairly smoothly except when they were in the process of knocking me out with general anesthesia. Before I was out every muscle in my body suddenly cramped up, I had the sensation that I couldn't breathe. I was breathing, as it turned out, I just couldn't tell, and I couldn't talk to tell them, all I could do was move my hands a tiny bit. Last thing I remember hearing was "I didn't think she'd react to the anesthesia like that!" Then I was out. I could be wrong, but I think my it was from my body fighting off the ansethesia. I guess the surgery took roughly 30minutes as I woke up about 4pm and they said I'd been in recovery for a couple of hours. It took me longer than anticipated to come out of medically induced sleep. Though I have been told I briefly woke up long enough to rip off the oxygen mask in recovery, then was right back out. I didn't even open my eyes. Sounds like something I'd do. It was likely during that period of time I had weird wacked out dreams. I won't be going into those.

They then gave me jello, water, and apple juice. Jello due to the gluten free diet, water cause it was what I wanted, and well, they wanted juice in me to help wake me up more, from the sugars in it. They then had me take two vicodin pills. I was nauseated, but at the time just attributed it to the whole just had surgery bit. I later realized it was the vicodin that made me feel ill. I wasn't told much about the operation, except that things went well. Which is good. When I see the doctor on the 11th I'll ask more details perhaps.

So I was sent home that evening, and got home after we went through a pharmacy drive-thru for my prescriptions, at about 6pm. I then promptly went to bed. Nathan brought me my laptop, so I could do a quick update to people and I had a small snack and dozed for awhile.

Now when I left the nurses suggested I eat before taking a vicodin. Most people get sick if they don't. Only everytime it was time for me to take them, and I ate, I'd throw up. I ended up throwing up three times, and was nauseated almost the entire night. Until I took a dose without food. I still feel a little queasy, but I'm not tossing my cookies either. It seems I'm a weirdo, and have to do the opposite of most people. Told the nurse this when they called today to check up on me, and she got a bit of a chuckle. Heh. And instead of taking two every four hours, I take one, every five. I'm not completely numbed, but I'd rather have a bit of discomfort than throwing up.

Biggest side effect I have now, aside from pain in the area that they operated on, is well my whole body aches. Likely from the anesthesia. Hopefully I feel less bleah tomorrow, as Nathan goes back to work and I'm on my own. At least the munchkin is with my sister. I don't have to worry on how I'll take care of him too. I miss him, but I'm not in any shape at the moment.

Tomorrow I hope I can manage to sit up on my own too. It's a bit tricky as I have to use my abdominal muscles as little as possible. Add in the pain, stiffness, and soreness. Meh. But tomorrow afternoon/evening I do get to take a shower finally, and to remove the main bandaging. I'll probably feel a bit more human then.

And I'll leave it at that I suppose. I'll keep details on how I feel as it goes along in case any of you need a surgery like that. :P Hopefully you won't though.

For all the bark and bluster on some companies and their monopolies (Microsoft anyone?), you'd think this would have gotten more attention by now. That's not even getting into the health and safety of eating genetically altered crops. Did you know that at least 70% of our food is transgenic? Monsanto with their GMO crops really don't want you to pay attention, they just want to own the food industry. For those who are like, big deal to engineered crops, remember that Monsanto was the creator of Agent Orange. You know the company that gave it's herbicide to the US Govt to use in the Vietnam war. Something that caused serious damage to not only Vietnamese, but to US soldiers. The effects of it can still be seen today over there. Nasty stuff.

They also are known for bullying farmers. Especially those who don't use their products, and even some that do. I could go on and on about this, and may at some point. But... I think that watching The World According to Monsanto is way more informative than I can put into words at the moment. Watch it, and let me know what you think. This is part one of ten. It's on youtube so, the other parts are on there.

I'm all for a movement against GMO's starting. Well some have, but really get going. Especially in the US, as other countries have gotten some off the ground to a point!

Watch it, seriously.

365 Days.... until I turn 30.

And since I have that many days, obviously today I turned 29. I of course have some people poking fun that next year they need to through a black and white party for me. To them I say ":P tthhhpppttt". Hehehe.

However today's been busy, but good all the same. It started off with me being all zombiefied in the morning (like usual), while getting the kid fed for the morning. Though he was sweet and made sure to wish me a happy birthday, all bright-eyed and bushied tailed. We then ran off to his swimming lessons.

Now he's in preschool 1, has been for.. believe it's his third week (I'm horrible at keeping accurate count of these things), and I wouldn't be surprised if he's in it again next week. He can do what they want him too, he just never seems to want to do it in class. I'm not entirely certain he's completely comfortable with the water as of yet. But he's gradually getting more used to it. Hopefully he's at least moved up to preschool 2 by the end of summer. :\ Especially since I know he'll be missing a couple of weeks of it, at least, soon. (I've got an impending surgery coming up.) He's also got a new friend that he's taken all of his classes with so far. Cute little 3 year old, who's name I shall not publish, as well she's not my kid. However he basically ordered me to give her mom my info so he could at some point play at a park, or some such with her. At first I was going to just give her my phone number, but he was very serious in his concern that it wasn't enough information, and promptly demanded I give her my e-mail address, and other forms of contact. What five year old asks these things?!?

Of course then again at the age of four he was asking me things like, "Mommy, did you remember your driver's license?" Hehe; quite the little ham.

After swimming lessons we stopped off at starbucks, where I got a coffee, as I hadn't had any yet. Well, that and I have their gold card, who sent me a birthday card coupon for a free birthday coffee. :) I don't care what anyone says about the "evils of a large company" they have seriously awesome customer service, and their coffee is not only quite tasty, but is one of the few that does NOT make me ill. Many places I go, and I don't know if it's an additive, or something starbucks does in their processing, but I get horrible stomach cramps, and well I shall not give further details, but needless to say it's not pleasent. And yes, when back east Dunkin Donuts didn't sit well with me either. I missed starbucks when I lived there. Badly.

We then came back, enjoyed our drinks (I got him a kid's hot chocolate, which he calls "My kids hot coffee!!"), then prepared to go out for lunch with my Grandmother. I've always gone out to lunch on my birthday with Grandma cept during the time I lived back east. She had been quite upset that year, the only year we did nothing. And the year I went to Japan. Though we went out the day before so.... yeah. But all other years we've had lunch. It's our thing. Anyhow normally when she wants to do so she picks the place. She has taken into account that I am gluten free, and tries to find a place that will have something I can eat, but it's always her choice. Except for my birthday. :) So I was able to finally make my way over to the Da Vinci Cafe and Bakery on Greenwood! Though they're about to change the name to Wheatless in Seattle. Probably so people going by will realize it's a gluten free spot, and those who can't (or don't) eat anything with gluten will stop in. The food was awesome. There's also a fair bit of vegan stuff, so if any vegans want a small place to go too for breakfast, or lunch, I highly suggest it. :). I do plan to go back again. I had considered to go to the Flying Apron Bakery, but their closest location is currently in Fremont, and I can't see my Grandmother enjoying going all the way to there. The only draw back was a small loaf of cinnamon bread (gluten free of course) was $9.95! I'll stick to making my own. :) Unless the owner makes sourdough (I heard she used too). I am a sucker for sourdough. We bought three fudge vegan cake slices for after dinner as my birthday cake. :P Next time I'm making my own I think, if the kid demands it again. Hehe.

After lunch, came back home, and relaxed until it was time for CJ to go to tae kwon do. He loves it there, and I think for him that'll be the hardest thing for him to miss for a week or two. I know for a week for sure. Hopefully I can find a way for someone to drive us up there a week after my surgery. I won't be fit to drive yet though, so we'll see. Still he had fun. :)

And after that we went back to starbucks, for something cold and hey I had this nifty treat reciept for quite the discount. In which my kid starts to tell EVERYONE it was my birthday.... I promptly told him not everyone needed to know. However the barista thought it amusing, and as she wasn't the morning one, she gave me my drink for free. :) And the kidlet wanted ice cold water, extra ice so that trip I paid nothing. Woo!

Then we got home, and I cooked dinner, which was simple tonight. Soup and rice... I cooked put rice in the bowl, and poured soup on top. Gluten free soup by pacific foods. For me it's a comfort food, and I'll do this with various flavors as well as mix flavors together. Tonight was tomato, butternut squash, a bit of milk, and a tid bit of salt mixed in. Simple and tasty. After we ate and let that settle, we decided to have the cake. Which beyond the first small bite I couldn't eat. It was far too sweet and rich. I am not a big fan of overly rich and sweet. Never have been. I am more of a fan of the savory. Ah well, the kid enjoyed it, as did my Grandma. When they called it a fudge cake... they meant fudge... vegan fudge. Heh. My roomie just got the rest of it, and he liked it well enough, so it didn't go to waste.

CJ and I then ran up to the park up the hill, at the library for their 7pm concert as sponsered by the Shoreline Arts Council. It was nice, and CJ had fun playing with the other kids there. :)

And then we came home, and he went to bed. :P I chilled for a bit, and now I'm here typing this up.

So on to other things. I realized I forgot to update about CJ's screening for aspergers. The doc said he didn't have it. He does have a social delay, yes. However he pointed out that in some kids the academic portion of the brain advances so quickly, that the parts to handle social lag. And feels that social direction, and help while he's still young (which he'll get at school) should help, and he'll catch up eventually. He also reccomended martial arts, hence him going to tae kwon do now. :)

As for surgery for me, well... I've got a hernia. An umbilical hernia. Doc told me that due to the placement she's pretty sure I was born with one. A LOT of people are. However that a combination of when I had CJ (the pregnancy was great, but the labor was long, and not without problems), and my weight that it grew. And it's now giving me problems. Painful problems. Which are getting slowly but progressively worse. So my appointment with a surgeon is on the 22nd. Meet, greet, and probably making sure I'm fit enough to have it. The doc did point out that if I continue to loose weight (which I have been, slowly) that I'll have less of a chance of it re-occuring. Which would suck beyond all telling. It should be done on an outpatient basis, though I'll be pretty much on bed-rest (save going to the bathroom, and getting something to eat) for five days, and the second five I'll still be in pain and unfit to drive. I'm not to lift much of anything for a month or so, and no more than 10lbs for the next several months.

Joy.

I'm scared of surgery, almost to the point of being phobic (though not quite). But... I shall do what I must.

Luckily my sister and brother in law agreed to watch CJ for 2-5 days the first week, depending on how he does.

But other than that life's going well... Oh and the Fourth of July was awesome. I may post more about that later.... or maybe not, who knows. :P

I wish my cats didn't bring me "presents"

As one dropped off a SLUG into my bedroom. I suppose I can be thankful he left it on the floor, but STILL. Eew. At least I think it was one of 'em. It could be the lack of weather stripping on my doors, however I'd have noticed it making it's way to my room, I think. And Mirror has a nasty habit of bringing me live critters. I know it's an honor from him, but still, bleah.

On a much lighter note, my muse came back. :D Muwahahahaha... I've dredged up an old story I began to write, and is re-writing, and adding onto it with gusto. I'll have plenty of time to work on it too, after my surgery. Won't have much else to do for ten days, in which I'm not to do very much at all. (Not even driving.)

And it's almost 2:30am. Off to bed I go!

:D

Almost the 4th so... Happy Pretty Sparklies go BOOM Day! to all fellow Americans on here. :D

Checking In...

Just a bit of an update during a bit of quiet time I've got at the moment.

Yesterday I ended up going to the doctor as I'd been in quite a bit of pain since the night before. I was actually worried it might have been my appendex, and while I wasn't sure, I figured I better be safe than sorry. Thankfully my appendex is just fine. Unthankfully however, I've got a hernia, at the naval. From what the doctor told me, I've likely had it since I gave birth to my muchkin five and a half years ago. When you're pregnant all your organs are smooshed around. When the baby comes out, the umbilical cord that detaches from the mother, as well as the rest of the placenta, and things make their way back into their proper places. However sometimes, something herniates, and well... it stays messed up. And apparently that's what happened to me. Lovely. I'm never having children again. Heh. Anyhow it's small so I don't need surgery, unless things get worse. It's suggested I do eventually get surgery to repair it, but after I'm done losing weight to be healthier.

I'm pretrified at the idea of surgery. I know it's to be a simple one, but it seriously scares me.

So yeah still in pain though it's less today. I'm just going to take it a bit easy till the flare-up passes.

Today was my son's last day of school for the year. He's excited for summer vacation, but he's also sad that school's ended. He loves school to bits, which is good. But he's also looking forward to swim lessons that begin next week. Tomorrow however we go to the doctor over concerns his teachers had. They reccomended that he be tested for aspergers or some such. The way I figure things, is, can't hurt to check, and if he has it then I'll have resources to help him out. I'll post more about it later depending on well, how things turn out.

As for other news, well I've been making more gluten free foods. Made this awesome spice cake from a recipe I found here. It's yummy and the next time I make it will probably be Christmas. Also have made tuna noodle casserole, and a few other things. :D

Perhaps I'll see about posting pics later, or something.

I've also got an interesting summer art project developing in my head. It involves environmental art, and no that doesn't mean just going out and taking pictures of the environment. Though there is that too. Perhaps once the first one is done, I'll share it with you all. :)

Sometimes I wish.....

That I was more eloquent when I talk and write. I also wish I could sometimes come across more clearly, without any verbal vomit attached. So far, this seems impossible, without quite a bit of thinking, and sorting through my brain to make sure I'm not sounding like a moron. And then I either confuse people, piss them off, or both.

I think I did the pissing off today. Not sure but I pretty well got the feeling that I did. And for that to the person, if I did, I am sorry. I was talking about soy itself, not vegetarianism/veganism. I have no problem with those who are vegetarians or vegans. (Unless someone tries forcing me to be, that is.) That last comment which did get sent to my e-mail that was made, before it was deleted kinda tipped me off that I pissed you off. And again, I'm really sorry that I did. That hadn't been my intention. The intention was perhaps to start a healthy debate. I do like those on occasion, with intelligent people, and I know you are one of those.

I'm not entirely sorry for talking about how soy isn't meant for the human digestive system, cause it's not. I just wasn't clear enough in why, I think. I should have mentioned WHY it's not, and what forms it's in, is better for people. To keep myself from jumbling things up, let me direct you to this site here. It sums it up better than I could, I think.

Fermented soy is alright, well as long as it's made from organic soy beans, and not the genetically altered hybrid crap from the US, other soy products? Not so much. I was one of many babies fed soy infant formula. BAD things happened. I won't go into the gory details, but things weren't pleasant. And now I've asthma, allergies, and I'm even gluten free now. Coincidence? Perhaps not. All I ask is read the article, look around, and make your own educated decision. Of course there's also a debate starting now if gluten is also bad for human digestion as well, and not perhaps, just for those who have celiacs, or whatnot.

I guess it's also a pet peeve of mine that everyone assumes that "Natural, Organic" automatically means "good" for you. Sure whole foods, that are natural and organic are better for you. Milk, dairy products, and meat, that are fed organically, and not pumped full of crap are better too. (And yes, just for the record, I do believe that meat is a health part of the human diet; within reason. We did evolve with the teeth and the stomach for it, though huge gobs everyday, not so much. And like I said, I understand meat is not for everyone, and that's just fine.) However there's a whole bunch of herbs and plants that are just as natural and organic out there, that are seriously bad for you, some can even kill you. Poisons back in the day were made out of plants, after all. One thing I've learned, especially after going gluten free, that you really have to look into everything, do the research, see what research has been done, and make the best decision you feel that you can make.

And I guess I'll leave it at that. Just had to get it off my chest cause it really bugs me when I inadvertently piss someone off; especially friends.

X-posted on Blogger, cause of the soy info.