I was woken up by one of the medical staff telling me that surgery was over and they successfully removed the tumour. I was so groggy that I couldn’t remember who it was exactly. I remember my throat was really sore, but I was warned beforehand because they did say they will insert a tube down there to help me breath while I was under. I was being transferred to the post op centre in the hospital and was finally put in place. One of the nurses came and introduced herself as she would be the main one looking after me. I was told that I needed to be evaluated here for a couple of hours before I got transferred to the “Halo” ward at the Hospital. That’s where all brain surgery outpatients stay for a night before getting transferred to my semi-private suite.
My mouth was so dry and I was so thirsty. I did ask for some water, but the nurse said I couldn’t just yet. I didn’t argue because I knew the protocol. I still had the IV needles in me and was told they need to remain there because they were still going to inject more things into me. Dr. Lee came by and told me that the surgery was a success. He asked how I was doing and because the drugs haven’t worn off yet, I said “Like a Million Bucks” lol. He told me that they sent the tumour to the pathologist to get tested. I asked when they would know the answer and he said it may take some time. He then said he’ll check and see if anyone of my family members were in the waiting room. He came back and said no one was there but he also knew that my place was walking distance from the house. He called my place and I overheard him say that the surgery was a success and will be ready to visit later that day. He told me that if I had any sign of any major headaches, to let the nurse know right away, then he headed off.
The nurse that was attending to me said that she was going to go on break and introduced to me the other nurse who would be taking care of me for the time being. The nursing staff there were awesome and treated everyone there well. The new nurse said that she needed to clean my mouth. She had a small stick with a sponge on the end, which kinda looked like a lollipop, and swabbed my mouth and teeth. She was awesome cuz she knew I was thirsty, she lightly dipped the sponge back into the cup and told me to press down on the sponge between the roof of my mouth and my tongue to get some water. Was that ever refreshing.
As the medication started to wear off and I was coming to, I started to feel pain on the top of my head. They stapled my scalp back together but I can’t really remember how many staples they used. I told the nurse that I started to feel some pain and she gave me some pills to take. I knew that some of the pills were Tylenol 3’s and I knew where those were gonna take me haha. The pain went away and I then started getting restless. My mind was back to a normal state and I didn’t like just laying there and doing nothing. The nurses switched and thanked the nurse that took care of me. I was still laying there and the other nurse finally said that they will be transferring me soon. I really wanted to see my family, especially my son.
After more waiting, I got the news that I was going to get transferred to the other ward. I was happy because it was one step closer to seeing my family. I got settled into the new ward and saw that there were 3 other patients with me. Again I was told it was protocol that I would need to stay here overnight to get evaluated, then get transferred to my Semi-Private room. I really wanted to stand up and walk, but I was told to remain in the bed for a little bit longer. I waited for another hour and finally visitors came! My Son & Sister walked into the room 1st. Was I ever happy to see them! I gave my son a big kiss on the cheek and he gave me a big hug back. My sister gave me a big hug
We started talking for a bit, then one of the nurses said in a stern voice “One visitor at a time please”. We agreed and I wanted to be with my son. My sister asked if it was ok if she could stay because there was a child here, but she was very diligent with one visitor at a time. So my sister left and I spent some time with my kid and told him all about what happened. I could tell he started to get restless, then my sister came in to check if he was ok. She said she was going to take him because my Mom wanted to come in. I saw My mom and we chatted for a bit, then she said that she’s going to get Dad because he was waiting. When he came, it looked like he was impressed because I looked pretty strong after brain surgery. Which I was, I felt like nothing really happened. Told him that if they released me today, I think I could manage.
Everyone cycled in and out to come stay with me until visiting hours were over. I asked the nurse if it was ok to keep my cell phone with me and they said it was ok. My sister gave me my phone and charger. Gave everyone a hug each before they left and said they would come see me tomorrow. When I turned on my phone, I got a bunch of messages from my friends. They were thinking about me and said they said a prayer. I started replying back and was chatting with them. I told them all that I was ok and no side effects from the surgery. I just felt as if nothing happened, except when the pain came in.
It was getting pretty late and started to get sleepy. I put my phone down and shut my eyes. I noticed that every hour the nurse would come in and check my vitals. Even during the late hours of the night I would be woken up to get my vitals checked. I didn’t really get good sleep that night and it wasn't the hospital staff. It was the other patients always in the ward yelling at the staff complaining about useless things. We weren’t staying at a 5 star hotel or anything and the nurses are there to aid us, not our servants. I got annoyed and I even gave more respect to the nurses. To all my family and friends who are nurses, my hats off to you and you all deserve more gratitude for what you do.