Saturday morning

I had been hoping to get the 7pm train home on Saturday evening, being discharged at 1pm, but having had two lots of surgery and four units of blood, I wasn't sure I'd make it.

CBD had also told me he'd done an "abdominal lavage" - which I guess means washing out my insides, and that he'd removed a lot of blood clots along with the 900mls blood)

(Blood going in one end. . . .)

and out the other . .

(this is my hand holding the drainage tubes which were carrying blood and "stuff" from my insides to the collection cannisters under the bed)

CDB came round about 12 and asked how I felt. I said I was in a lot of pain and worse, very weak. He asked if I could walk across the room; I said no, at that point I could not stand. So he said no discharge. He did say - quite cute the language differences "I cannot stop you from leaving, but I cannot let you leave".

It would be bad medicine, he said, to pump me full of painkillers so I could catch the train that evening. He could not make me stay, but he would not allow me to go to travel on my own (nor I suspect with company -if you can't walk there is no point in having someone with you, unless they have a wheelchair :-)

I consulted with dh and he said I could remain in hospital till Sunday and travel home then. Like someone on the list said, "religion has its exceptions". I was relieved to be able to sit still and start getting better.

Hadn't eaten anything except water. At 12 I'd been offered fish soup (which I wouldn't have eaten unless I was dying of starvation :-) and some round funny sort of Dutch toast. Couldn't touch any of it; tho I really enjoyed the coffee.

I had a bed bath, and got my dressing removed and replaced: scroll time for the sensitive :-)

These show the drains which were continuing to drain blood and other fluids (presumably the saline that had been used for my "abdominal lavage")

More pics of my post op tummy on Saturday lunchtime which was approximately 12 hrs after my second operation, and more than 24 since my first.

And with new dresssings on:

The small dressing to my right is where the leak was found, and where he stitched the muscles to each other (or something) and it was by far the sorest part for the next couple of days - that and the site where the port is placed. So I am stuck, I can't sleep on my left side cos of the port, nor on my right cos of the bruising from the stitching.

The bruising and pain got worse over the next couple of days, but I guess that is inevitable, since the pain relief wears off and real life kicks in a bit.