The day after Surgery

The picture is me when they got me up in the chair in ICU day after surgery.

So I didn't get that much sleep the night before in ICU. But was some what anxious to get up and moving out of ICU. They had told me before that the quicker that I got up the better I would start feeling. I was still on the "water sponge" diet. I did get the tube out of my nose this morning, which was a huge relief. I was hoping that meant I could start drinking, but it just meant I could have ice chips now, which was some what of a plus. I could at least keep my throat from being extra dry. I also got one of the IV's taken out of my left arm. Then after that they got me out of bed and sitting up in a chair. The pain just trying to get up out of bed was pretty bad but I made it. I sat in the chair for about an hour and then asked if I could get put back into bed. I was exhausted at that point but did feel a tad bit better. Mom and sis were there when I was in the chair, I told them to go grab lunch and let me take a nap. I was then able to lay on my side a little bit and man did I fall asleep fast. My surgeon came in and woke me up about an hour after I feel asleep and told me I was doing really well and she wanted to get me up to the transplant floor and out of ICU. I was glad cause I knew this was a step in the right direction. I asked her how Eddie (my recipient) was doing. She told me that he was doing good, so that was a big relief to me as well. I feel back asleep for a few more minutes and then Justin, Amie, and Terri surprised me with a visit which was nice. We caught up for awhile on what has been going on and I told them that I had sat up in the chair and what not, they were all so happy to the progress that was being made. I had multiple Surgeons and teams come in and check on me to see how I was doing. It was kind of weird hearing them all talk about my case in the hallway and then being surrounded by people in my room. They wouldn't stay long which was nice, but like a said still a little creepy. I got moved up to the transplant floor in the Rhodes building that night which was where I would stay until I was discharged to go home. Knowing this was the last step was awesome, but I knew that there was still a lot of hurdles to get over. I had a working TV in my room that night which was nice to have a little entertainment as an option. They gave me this little plastic thing that they wanted me to start breathing into to make sure I was taking deep breaths and expanding my lungs all the way since I was not quite up and moving around yet. It was another long day but managed to get through it and was ready to get some rest and be ready for the first full day on the transplant floor. I never realized how much moving you around made you so tired.