A bit of a blur

Came round from the anaesthetic coughing (which is not a good idea when your oseophagus has been replaced and your stomach stitched into place, along with five keyholes held together with dental floss - well, it looked like that :-)

Checked the clock, 10:50am

I did not feel sick! What a blessing, since I get nauseous easily, and fully expected to be retching after the GA. Yelped for pain relieft and got a morphine shot in my bum.

Vague about the next few hours, but I remember being told all had gone well, and the band was fitted and back to my bed I went. I was dying of thirst it felt like, and when I was told that I couldn't drink till 8am Saturday I just about cried

The nurse took pity on me and gave me a mouth sponge and half a glass of water. I have to admit to being naughty and drinking some of it; and when it ran out, I asked a diff nurse for more, and then another, so must have had about 150 mls of water all afternoon.

Was lying in bed, a bit dopey, but able to ring dh and say I was ok.

I was aware of the nurses checking my blood pressure often, and also the drain - a thick plastic tube from one of my wounds into a bottle about the size and a shape of a coke can which lay on the floor. I did wonder (as the bottle filled up quite fast) how come it didn't drag the drain out of my skin - only later did the nurse show me the wire (yes, definitely wire, barbed wire came to mind) holding it in. Glad I didn't know that then.

I got back to the ward about 12 noon, and watched the other patient eat her lunch. By about 2pm I was thinking this wasnt't too bad and that I'd be able to travel back to England on Saturday as planned

I watched the other patient have her supper about 5pm, while I was cadging more water out of anyone who'd listen, wondering if I'd live between pain and dehydration, but altho I was whining a bit I wasn't really in too bad a state.

I was on a saline drip, so I wasn't really dehydrated, just thirsty. I started practically halluciating (think of people lost in the desert) about mirages with a huge glass of diet coke with ice. Oh no. I'm going to make a rotten bandster if my immediate post op thought is for huge mouthfuls of fizzy drink! (which will never be a good idea, far less 2 hrs after the operation)