I was able to take off of work today and took Sarah in to the hospital. She was in really good spirits this morning (you are optimistic when you think you will actually be able to eat a meal after 5 days of eating nothing). The surgeon came back after the surgery and let me know that it went well, but her gallbladder was even bigger than they thought. Apparently it was 3 times the size it should have been and was really inflamed. He also brought in the gallstones that were plugging the tube that leads to her stomach. There were 11 stones (that's a lot).
However, when she came out from under the anesthesia she was in a lot of pain immediately. Pain is to be expected. Even though they were able to perform a laparoscopic surgery and there were only 4 small incisions, it is still major surgery. Her pain, however, didn't lessen over the next few hours. She remained at about a pain level of 6 (she rated the pain of childbirth at a 10). Also she had a lot of nausea. This level of pain persisted despite the IV pain medication and oral pain meds. Nothing was taking it away.
At around 4 the nurses started talking about keeping her at the hospital for the night. They thought that they could monitor her pain and medications better there. Sarah and I agreed. She is there tonight. I had to come home to take over with the kids so that Dorothy could go home for the night. When I left, Sarah still rated the pain at a 5 or 6 when I left and she was still nauseous. Because of the pain she hasn't been able to sleep at all today. She really needs the rest after the surgery. I am hoping the pain subsides over night and she is able to come home in the morning.
Overall, not a great day. I can tell you that we were both hoping for a much easier day. Please pray for her. My mom was nice enough to take the day off tomorrow and she will watch the kids while I go and get Sarah (assuming she is released from the hospital).
