Hello, Helen and all,

I have been home since late Saturday night. That was a long day. My husband was SO protective of me and people were asking us to switch seats so they could be together with their children. I had to work to help him stay calm, rather than the other way. We both slept a lot the next day before getting up and walking around. My abdomen was pretty swollen that day. I had to learn how to use a catheter to pee and that has been a bit stressful but not impossible. I think things are going well enough, but have no idea, really. I'm not used to sitting around! I'm also not used to being parked while others go about their day. I've had to explain that my needs include eye contact, caring touch and being listened to for a just a little while. I wonder how I will know when I don't need to take pain meds (staggered tylenol and ibuprofen every three hours) any longer, so have skipped one dose this evening to see how it goes. I'm drinking Senna tea each evening and and watered down prune juice through the day to support bowels. Gases moving through are quite painful and some positions in bed, such as lying on my right side, are just too painful yet. I just keep telling myself that all of this is temporary.
We go back to Mayo on 4/16 for post-op assessments. I'm looking forward to going back to that place of safety and kindness.