Yes!
They let me come home today!
My calcium levels stayed where they should, and showed no sign of going all crazy on us. And all in all, my surgeon was very happy with everything.
My chest drain came out yesterday...which was on the one hand, a total relief, from the increasing pain & discomfort it was causing me, but also a truly unpleasant experience at the same time. It works as a vacuum, and even though the nurse was as gentle as she could be when she was removing it, you could still feel the pipe desperately trying to suck you inside out as it was pulled through the hole in my chest.
It was also touch-and-go as to whether they would remove it at all. Apparently my surgeon doesn't like it removed until the previous 24-hrs have yielded a specified minimum amount of blood & goo, and the nurses had already informed me that when they'd emptied & measured that morning I was still producing too much blood & goo. But he also doesn't like to leave them in longer than 48 hours if he can help it...and so I pleaded with him, and he gave the nod to the accompanying nurse on his rounds that morning! Woo!
So I was left with a sore hole in my chest, covered by a nice white dressing...that continues to absorb all the goo that continues to ooze out, and swells up to bursting point - really very clever. A normal plaster just can't compare!
And I don't care, because I no longer have a rigid fire hose sticking out of my chest, causing huge pain whenever it moves by even the merest minuscule amount...and I no longer had to march around the hospital with a transparent tub of blood & goo clipped fashionably onto the lapel of my dressing gown - happy days!
And now I'm home. I'm wrecked, I'm wobbly, I spent most of the afternoon back in bed, and I feel (and look) like I've been hit by a truck....but I don't care, I can do all that in the comfort of my own home...without nurses telling me to eat more, to walk more, to generally do more of everything that I didn't want to do, and all that other nursey-stuff.
I have to say, on behalf of my poor, drained right arm, I'm home just in time...those poor veins have had a real hammering since Monday (4+ blood draws each day), and the Junior Doctor who came to do my last set of bloods last night did a truly amazing job of drawing blood from the side of my wrist, after we both scratched our heads for a while, watching all the conventional blood-draw veins wave their own little white flags of defeat and proceeded to bury themselves deeper, one after another, no matter what he tried.
But all that is behind me now...I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!!
And now I start my new life, without the help (or should that be hindrance?) of my thyroid gland!
They let me come home today!
My calcium levels stayed where they should, and showed no sign of going all crazy on us. And all in all, my surgeon was very happy with everything.
My chest drain came out yesterday...which was on the one hand, a total relief, from the increasing pain & discomfort it was causing me, but also a truly unpleasant experience at the same time. It works as a vacuum, and even though the nurse was as gentle as she could be when she was removing it, you could still feel the pipe desperately trying to suck you inside out as it was pulled through the hole in my chest.
It was also touch-and-go as to whether they would remove it at all. Apparently my surgeon doesn't like it removed until the previous 24-hrs have yielded a specified minimum amount of blood & goo, and the nurses had already informed me that when they'd emptied & measured that morning I was still producing too much blood & goo. But he also doesn't like to leave them in longer than 48 hours if he can help it...and so I pleaded with him, and he gave the nod to the accompanying nurse on his rounds that morning! Woo!
So I was left with a sore hole in my chest, covered by a nice white dressing...that continues to absorb all the goo that continues to ooze out, and swells up to bursting point - really very clever. A normal plaster just can't compare!
And I don't care, because I no longer have a rigid fire hose sticking out of my chest, causing huge pain whenever it moves by even the merest minuscule amount...and I no longer had to march around the hospital with a transparent tub of blood & goo clipped fashionably onto the lapel of my dressing gown - happy days!
And now I'm home. I'm wrecked, I'm wobbly, I spent most of the afternoon back in bed, and I feel (and look) like I've been hit by a truck....but I don't care, I can do all that in the comfort of my own home...without nurses telling me to eat more, to walk more, to generally do more of everything that I didn't want to do, and all that other nursey-stuff.
I have to say, on behalf of my poor, drained right arm, I'm home just in time...those poor veins have had a real hammering since Monday (4+ blood draws each day), and the Junior Doctor who came to do my last set of bloods last night did a truly amazing job of drawing blood from the side of my wrist, after we both scratched our heads for a while, watching all the conventional blood-draw veins wave their own little white flags of defeat and proceeded to bury themselves deeper, one after another, no matter what he tried.
But all that is behind me now...I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!!
And now I start my new life, without the help (or should that be hindrance?) of my thyroid gland!
well done! Thanks for sharing your journey from hyper to hospital and home again. And Good luck in your new life without the hindrance of the feckin gland.
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