<p>If the drain s not anchored it will flop around. There are many ways to anchor them, . but one way is to take some cloth tape and make a tab around the long thin tube part of the drain. just a couple inches or so. then put a safety pin through the tab and pin it to your shirt or night gown. there are things on you tube about care of JP drans perhaps it shows this better than I can describe.</p>
<p>^exactly. Anchor the drain with some medical tape so it doesn’t flop or get tugged. </p>
<p>Hospitals don’t really give a lot of info during discharge. Usually, the nurse comes to your room with discharge papers which she quickly goes over with the patient. The nurse will answer any questions you have at this time, but the patient needs to ask them.</p>
<p>Also, hospitals don’t really give out blood work results to the patient. They usually require you to get that info directly from the doctor via his office. Heck, I needed to fill out a form to request the hospital to send the entire set of records regarding my gall bladder hospital stay (ER stay), tests, and procedures to my primary care physician. Good thing I asked about it because I naively thought they automatically sent this kind of stuff to your primary care physician.</p>
<p>This has been quite the learning experience for you. Unfortunately, you now understand that it’s up to the patient to ask questions and be persistent in getting answers to them.</p>
<p>Try not to get frustrated. It takes time to heal. It takes time to get your strength back.
Be patient with your body while it’s healing.</p>
<p>^^^Romani, back in the day before laparoscopic cholycystectomy, you would also have had several days of a nasogastric tube before discharge (tube which goes into your nose, down your throat, into your stomach), in addition to the drains, and one nasty incision and scar. </p>
<p>NOT fun. </p>
<p>I’m so sorry you weren’t able to have the normal day surgery experience with the no big deal surgery. 
But the important thing is that the damn thing is out of your body, so no more attacks.</p>
<p>Get well.</p>
<p>Thanks :). </p>
<p>I was just grumpy because I was so nauseous and I have been sleeping poorly. It’s no big deal- I’ll get it out in 2 days. </p>
<p>I’m happy that it’s fixed. I’m happy that I can eat pizza now without paying dearly. I’m happy that it’s been done now rather than in the middle of the semester. </p>
<p>I went out and ate a real people meal tonight. It was wonderful! </p>
<p>Everything else is just details :)</p>
<p>^^^Isn’t it interesting how having a nice meal feels so good? I work with patients every day who have had to fast for their procedures. They acknowledge that’s not the end of the world, but they are soooooo ready to have a good meal again. I guess we like to live in our heads and hearts, but the fact of the matter is that our stomachs and intestines and other organs exert quite an influence on our thoughts and general state of well being.</p>
<p>Hubby and I had a long day with some unanticipated challenges. We ended up going out to eat instead of eating at home. DH finished his dinner, leaned back in his chair, and said “Ahhhhh…that was really nice.” And I agreed. :)</p>
<p>romani, DIL’s pain lasted a little over 2 weeks, but kept getting better. That was the key. If it suddenly got worse they wanted her to go back in. But as long as it was progressing they said just to stay on the recovery plan. They were poking around in your body and doing much more cutting than the simple procedures had. It also caused a lot of bruising. It takes longer to heal all of that. Hang in there, it does get better.</p>
<p>Also besides prodding and poking they were PULLING…imagine getting an inflamed gallbladder (regular size is about kiwi size) out a hole the diameter of a quarter.</p>
<p>I was pretty sore for a while, I think because I single large stone . But then again my H complained of the belly button one hurting the most too. I also felt I was sore from them doing such manipulation with the cautery when I was bleeding. I suspect it will take you a bit longer, than the average to get well. You can be a grumpy as you want, its been a rough road. We are glad you are doing better.</p>
<p>Tempe, lol. They actually gave me pictures that they took during the process of the removal. It was gross but interesting lol. </p>
<p>So I’m glad I called this morning to confirm my appointment. They did not have me on the schedule! (Imagine my surprise given how helpful they’ve been thus far.)</p>
<p>They did have an opening today. Luckily. Or I was going to explode lol. I’m sitting here still. The appointment was at 1245. Yippie</p>
<p>Update? I hope you’re not still sitting there!!</p>
<p>Actually…hope you are at home…or on your way to that vacation!</p>
<p>Hahahaha! No I’m out 
</p>
<p>Everything went well. The drain is out (I am SOOO happy!). I’m healing nicely. They took off all the bandaging so I got to see all the scars underneath and it actually looked worse than I thought it would. Oh well- the scars will fade eventually :). </p>
<p>The woman in the office was either new or very, very incompetent. My doctor had to explain to the woman THREE times how to properly use the biohazard bag. I felt bad for both of them. The doctor was very, very nice though and we talked through all the concerns I had. I felt much better afterwards :). </p>
<p>The pain is virtually gone now that the drain is out. Just tender where the cuts are. </p>
<p>I am eating normally now and nothing is hurting. I have eaten cheese with NO issues and I’m going to slowly work back in to milk and ice cream to see if I’m OK with those too.</p>
<p>Great report! Take it easy…and enjoy your vacation!</p>
<p>Excellent news. So glad this happened before vacation and between school semesters.</p>
<p>Actually, the “vacation” was last week (was supposed to be last Thursday until today but ended up being Sunday to yesterday). That’s OK though. I got to at least enjoy a more pleasant scene from my couch perch :). The road trip on the way up was a bit rough but no issue on the way down. We’re going back up their during the upcoming long weekend so I’ll be able to enjoy it then :)</p>
<p>Tomorrow I have an interview so that’ll be a real test. I have to walk a block or so to get to the building and then up a flight of stairs. Then next week I start orientation :). Our student support person (I have no idea what her title actually is but she helps us with everything and is wonderful lol) already knows about my surgery and said that they can make any accommodations necessary. As I don’t know what, if any, those will be she said they can be very flexible. Luckily, we’re going to be pretty stationary for 2 out of the 3 orientation days.</p>
<p>Just an update to those of you interested (because you all were fantastic in helping me get through this unfortunate incident lol): </p>
<p>I’m now about 3 weeks past my surgery and healing up fine. There is still an open wound where my drain was but it’s <em>ALMOST</em> gone :D. Probably 2-3 more days and I’ll finally be bandage free. </p>
<p>I did end up having to miss an entire day of orientation because I had exerted myself too much the day before. My energy level is still pretty low but I think that’s to be expected. At least I’m not sleeping 12+ hours a day anymore like I was through the first few weeks. </p>
<p>I can finally start doing light exercises! Oh, and my dairy allergy is all but gone. I still think I’m a bit sensitive to dairy products (which might just be a result of not eating them for so long) but I was recently able to eat ice cream for the first time in YEARS and it was DELICIOUS. Other than that, I’ve noticed no reactions to any foods that used to trigger symptoms. </p>
<p>School starts this week and I’m nervous and excited and terrified. I’ve missed out on a lot of the bonding events because I was just too pooped but I think it’ll work itself out :). </p>
<p>Thank you all again so much for helping me through this :)</p>
<p>romani, thank you for the update! I saw your posts in other threads and I figured that you were doing better. Still keeping my fingers crossed for you, but they are a bit less tightly crossed :)</p>
<p>Re: diary. Great news! If you want to add some healthy dairy to your diet, I recommend trying low fat kefir. It has much less lactose than milk and is full of probiotics.</p>
<p>Good luck with school!</p>
<p>Congrats, Romani! Glad you have improved tolerance to dairy–funny side benefit :). Guess my BILs experience isn’t unique. Can’t think that others with lactose intolerance would want to have surgery just for that benefit, but you take any benefit you can get! ;)</p>
<p>Hurray hurray!</p>
<p>You were probably reacting to the fat in the dairy vs. the lactose. The gallbladder squeezes out the bile in the presence of fat, and if it’s blocked, ouch.</p>
<p>I’m glad you are doing so well.</p>