What happened yesterday?

After getting up at 5.30am, busting my balls to get to St Marks for the crack of dawn, being put in a gown, surgical stockings and net knickers by 8.30am I found out that I was in the afternoon list.

This meant lots of waiting around. I read my Good Housekeeping magazine cover to cover, played Plants versus Zombies, checked emails, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and played 'Heads Up' with Dan (highly recommend you download this app. Good for kids and adults alike)

At 2pm I was called down to theatre so quickly text my parents, posted on FB and said goodbye to Hubby. Until this point I had been fine but now I started to cry. There's always a fear with any operation that you might not wake up and I was hoping this wasn't the last time I would kiss hubby. 

The Theatre Admissions Unit (TAU) is literally around the corner from the main theatres so I walked there with a nurse and went into the anaesthetic room of theatre 5. 

In there I chatted to the 2 nurses who were trying- and failing- to cannulate me.The anaesthetist came and declared that my veins were 'crap'. He was a very funny chap and immediately put me at ease. 

There were two 1st year medical students on their first hospital placement who were going to be in theatre and I was asked to describe to them what living with colitis was like as they only read about the medical side in textbooks. They were amazed when I told them that at its worst I was going to the toilet up to 50 times a day. 

Even the anethatist struggled to get a cannula in me and said that once I was asleep he would probably put a line in my neck as that looked like the only decent vein I had left! He managed to get a tiny one in which was enough for him to get me to sleep. 

Before he knocked me out he let me have a little look in the theatre as I had to him that is had loads of ops but never seen the inside of one as you're always asleep by that point. I was surprised by how big it was- much bigger than when you see them on TV. I was told that there would be 12 people in there for my op: Surgeon Aand 3 other surgeons

1 scrub nurse who hands the surgeons all the sterile equipment 

2 nurses that fetch non sterile equipment

1 anethatist and 2 nurses assisting him

2 medical students 

I get my monies worth out of the NHS!

They put the gas mask over my nose and mouth and as I started to drift off I prayed to God that I would wake up again.   

I did and it was about 5pm when I did come round. I was in a lot of pain and felt very, very sick. I was given anti sickness and morphine but needed another type of anti sickness medication as well. They also gave me IV paracetamol which is so much better than the tablets. 

I also experienced the most awful spasms in my bowel. It was like having 10 babies inside kicking me or having a twitchy eye x 1000! These settled down after about an hour but they were terrible while they lasted. What did help was the heated sheets they give you. They have this huge machine that they out sheets and blankets into and it makes them really hot. They're amazing and after my op last July I couldn't get enough of them. 

The consultant came to see me and said that the 'Fanny Assessment' hadn't showed any problems so they had removed my Stoma. Everything had gone well and there were no complications. He then went to see hubby who was on TAU waiting to be allowed into recovery. 

He was allowed in about 7pm and I was drifting in and out of sleep. I was so pleased to see him and as soon as he held my hand I felt safe. 

I was supposed to go onto Frederick Salmon ward after the op but apparently they had no beds so they have put me on Eliot ward. This is a Northwick Park general surgical ward so there isn't the same level of specialism with the staff and things like the menu is very different. I'm assured that I'm first in the queue for a bed on Fred salmon when one is empty. 

I am moved onto the ward about 8.30 and I call my parents to let them know this operation was not as major as the last one and that they shouldn't worry. They tell me that they will always worry. That is their job because I am their big baby! 'Well you can worry less tonight' I tell them. 

I have a line in my neck and I'm getting fluids into it. Compound sodium lactate (Hartmanns solution) to be exact! This is because I've not eaten or drank in nearly 24 hours. 

But I don't have a catheter in or PCA (the morphine drip you control yourself by pressing a button) so they're aiming for me to get out of bed pretty soon. 

Before hubby left at 10 I asked him to get my heat pad out of the car. This is basically an electric hot water bottle and I don't go anywhere without it. I put it on my back as I'm always aching after being on the theatre table and pulled about. Who knows what they do to you when they've got you knocked out!!

By 11pm the urge to wee became stronger than the pain do I buzzed the nurse to help me to the loo. Luckily my bed is the closest to the bathroom so I only had to take a handful of steps but those first steps are a bit wobbly- like Bambi!

I sat on the loo for about 20 minutes waiting for the wee to come but it didn't. The general anaesthetic sends your bladder to sleep and it takes a bit of time to wake up. There was a little bit of fresh blood coming from the back passage but I thought that was probably normal after everything that had happened down there. 

I go back to bed but within 10 minutes I feel the need to go again. This time a tiny dribble comes out but a huge amount of blood and clots. Panicking I pull the red cord and show it to the nurse. She tells me that it's ok and I shouldn't worry. But I still make a mental note to ask the doctor about it in the morning. 

I get back in bed and put my eye mask on to block out the light ( my bay is right by the nurses station so the lights will be on all night) and ear plugs in to block out the noise of the woman snoring in the bed next to me. She's worse than my husband and that is saying something!

The night continues in this pattern- feel like I need a wee, sit for 20 mins, do a dribble, go back to bed. Up again in half an hour. Good job I'm wearing my trusty totes slipper socks so that I don't have to keep bending to put slippers on. 

So there we are. I'm tired, in pain and Stoma- less. I'm not sure what the next few days will hold but so far things look positive.