Free At Last!

Yesterday morning the doctors came in to do rounds and the main fellow to my surgeon said to me, "You look like you have the smile of someone who wants to go home!" and I assured him I really did. We went over some stuff and he told me I could be discharged. My output had come back down, I was managing small amounts of soft food without issue, and my IV had been cut back again without any problems. I was so excited! I got in touch with my husband and other family members, and then the waiting started.....

I am not writing this up to complain in any way, more just to give a heads up to people who might be going through this in the future. When they come in and tell you that you can go home, there is still a whole bunch of stuff that needs to happen first and it can take awhile. Be patient, but also be persistent in asking what is next and who will be doing it, when can you expect them, etc.

In my situation, the discharge papers were written up, my prescriptions were ready, but I still needed one more meeting with the stoma nurse so she could change my pouch and give me another lesson before going home. Apparently they were super busy all day because I never got to see her until about 3:00 p.m. This was after the doctors telling me at 8:00 a.m. that I could go home. So, yes...it was a little frustrating. Now I know, so I won't be so amped up next time. I finally got my lesson and she gave me my scrip for my ostomy supplies and I was free to go. We wanted to get something to eat in the cafeteria, so I walked to the elevator on my own. We ate a little food (I had macaroni and cheese) and then I was able to walk to the doors and wait while my husband went and got the car.

The car ride home was a little rough as the delay meant the last dose of pain meds I took had pretty much worn off by then. I made it though and man did it feel so good to walk through the door and into my own house! I am so happy to be back here with my husband and my boys. It felt so good to sleep in my own bed without all of the strange hospital noise waking me up all of the time. It also is nice to get whatever kind of food sounds good to me. I really think this is all going to improve the recovery experience greatly.

Today I need to call and arrange for my home health nurse. I also need to make a call and see if I can use the company I would like to for my ostomy supplies. Cleveland Clinic gave me a direct contact at Edgepark who will help with verifying my insurance coverage and placing my first order which is really helping to make it easier for me. Hopefully I can use them.