@samjdp Thank you! The first surgery was a breeze; this one, not so much.

Long rant below LOL, more about me just needing to vent, so please feel free not to read! < 3

I ended up getting a staph infection in the neck wound immediately after surgery. They lanced it open (while I was awake, so that was a joy) and drained it, but the infection was bad enough that I had to go in for surgery #3 on 11/25 to reopen everything, clean it out, and install a drain.

I was in the hospital for 4 days after that on heavy antibiotics. The nurses were literally terrible. I kept asking for water and never got it, and I couldn't go get my own because I was hooked up to a 3 line IV and couldn't leave my room. I have hypoglycemia, and they kept missing meal time, resulting in me having blood sugar issues. They woke me up every 45 minutes for vitals, and I went 48 full hours with no sleep. I legit thought I was going to have a mental breakdown from sleep deprivation!

They told me on Friday 11/28 that my kidneys were having a hard time, I told them yeah because no one will get me water to drink! So they hooked me up to a fluid line along with all the antibiotics. They wanted to keep me longer, and I asked "ok can you forego the vitals every hour so I can sleep?" They said that was hospital policy and they couldn't. I told them I was checking myself out then, and they needed to advise me on home care.

They finally caved and sent me home Friday night with lots of antibiotics to take and a flush/drain regimen for the neck wound that I do 3 times a day. And today I finally feel like I'm going to make it! 😀

If you made it to the end, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk! lololol