So Far, So Good

Thanks, everyone, for your support! I can tell that several of you have been in a similar situation and understand the frustration and mindless anger I've experienced this week.

As I was getting ready for work this morning, the surgery center called Hubby to say, "Don't eat or drink anything; we might move your surgery up. We'll call you." Hubby assured me that if they moved up the surgery, he'd get someone to give him a ride and would call me at work to let me know. Around 11:30 a.m., when I hadn't heard anything, I called him; he'd just gotten off the phone with someone who told him they were leaving him scheduled for 5 p.m. That meant he had a half hour window in which he could have clear liquids before his pre-surgery fast. ARGH!

So, guess what I did. I spent my lunch hour getting a pedicure! Seriously, being massaged and pampered while reading a good book for an hour or so is the best stress reliever around in my book--and I ended up with cute red toenails too, just in time for the holidays!

After work, I headed to the surgery center and was told Hubby wasn't out of surgery yet but would be soon. Sure enough, before a half hour passed, Hubby's surgeon came out to tell me what they'd done and to assure me the surgery had gone well. Another half hour passed and they let me go back to the postop recovery area to sit with Hubby until he was released to come home around 8:30 p.m.

Hubby's left hand looks like a big mitten--or, as he describes it, a Q-tip with a thumb. His hand will remain wrapped for ten days until he sees his surgeon for a postop check. So far--about five hours postop--he's not in too much pain, although the hand is still fairly numb. We'll see how the night progresses, but he has some good, strong pain medication to help get him through.

One of the first things Hubby asked about when I was with him in postop was food and whether I was going to cook or if we'd stop and get fast food on the way home. Sadly, his postop instructions dictated otherwise--clear liquids and bland, easy to digest foods, at least for tonight. So now he's eaten--if you can call it that--and called all of our friends and family to let them all know things had gone well. Maybe life can start getting back to normal now--or at least as normal as life ever gets.