All went well, I guess...

So I can only guess that all went well during my surgery on Friday. I was told to dress in clothes appropriate for my surgery so I wore a short sleeve shirt. It didn't really matter as I had to remove all clothing (undergarments too!), even my socks and wear a hospital gown and the hospital socks (their socks have non-skid things on them). The doctor came in briefly while the nurses were doing my pre-op stuff and that is the only time I remember seeing him. I wasn't nervous at all about the surgery, until the nurses and everyone start going over the risks of the medications. You know, mild risks like headache, nausea and severe risks like stroke and major risks like death. Nice. I just kept telling myself that everything was going to go just fine. The anesthesiologist came in and explained her part to me. She said she would watch my breathing and if I started having any problems, she would put a mask on me. If I stopped breathing, she said she would be the one to put a tube down my throat.
Once I was wheeled into the OR, the nurses and assistants started prepping me and the tools. They attached some monitors for my heart and blood pressure and lungs. The anesthesiologist gave me the meds in my IV and said it would help me relax. They laid the bed back all the way and I remember listening to my heart rate on the monitor and that's it. The next thing I remember is lying in the bed as I am pushed down the hall to the second recovery room and being told to get dressed. A male nurse was going to help me get dressed, but a female nurse peeked in and asked if they could switch patients. I was really out of it still but I managed to get dressed. Now, this is when I finally noticed that I had an oxygen tube in my nose. It wasn't there before and they hadn't said it was going to be there unless I had problems. Does that mean I had problems?
In the recovery area, I was finally given my discharge instructions. The doctor had previously been fairly vague, only saying that I had to have supervision for 24 hours after surgery and to wear an ace bandage until the stitches come out and a brace at night after that. What he failed to tell me:
1) To rest and do nothing for 4 days
2) No driving for 10 days (WTF!)
3) Ace bandage can be rewrapped if too tight, but I am not to remove or change the bandage/dressing underneath. This will be removed when I have my stitches removed in 10-14 days. (Do you know how dirty this is going to get?) I have to wear a bag over my arm whenever I bathe or shower or doing anything involving water.
4) Swelling can be extreme and the hand could tingle for up to months after the surgery. I had the tingling and pain before the surgery. That's why I had the surgery. Now you're telling me I could not know for months afterwards if it worked or not?

Jay drove me home where my mom was watching the kids and my dad was working on the entryway floor. Except, my parents took the boys out to lunch and no one was there when we got there. They didn't leave any sort of note about where they were going so there was the moment of panic that something had happened to one of the boys.
They were home shortly after we were.
I was really tired and just wanted a nap. Jay started helping my dad and Sam does what he always does after being away from me. Climb all over me. He does fine being away from me, but once I am back, he can't leave me alone. As I am trying to sleep, my announces she is going to go have her nails done about the same time that Jay and my dad announce they are going to Home Depot. Ummmm, that's not going to work. Mom stayed here. She did her own nails while Sammy watched. Mom was going with a fellow teacher to a gala in Baltimore on Friday night so she wanted to look good. I finally went to my room and crashed. While I was sleeping, Tammy Sames brought me flowers, chocolate and a card. She is such a sweetie. I woke up just after Joe got back from school.
I helped pack up Jay and the big boys things for the weekend. It is the weekend of the cub scout pack's family campout. Jay, Joe and Tom went. While I was packing, my mom was doing her hair and makeup and was showing Sammy how to do everything. She left the bathroom for about 1 minute to say something to my dad. Jay happened to walk past the bathroom as Sam was dumping the nailpolish remover on the floor. He was trying to put it on the same cotton things my mom did when she did her nails. Thankfully, Sam didn't get any in his eyes or mouth, but he got it all over his clothes and the rug.
Jay and the big boys left and my mom left. Dad, Sam and I ate dinner and then Dad and I watched season 1, disc 1 of NCIS while we waited for mom to get back. I went to bed at 10:30 and mom still wasn't back yet. She finally showed up after 11:30 or so. It was a long drive for them to get home to Cambridge after I left, but they did make it safely.
I was fairly out of it when I got ready for bed last night due to the pain meds. I removed my bra and put on pjs and went to sleep. When mom showed up, I did wake up and move around a bit. That's when I noticed something poking me in my breast. It was one of the little monitor things. How did I wear it for 12 hours and not notice it?
When I woke up this morning, I was in a lot of pain since it had been about 8 hours since my last pain pill. It was really really hard to get the bottle open by myself, but I did manage it finally. When I got dressed this morning, I noticed a scratch on my thigh. It starts on the top on my thigh, mid way down and runs all the way around to the back of my thigh. It wasn't there Friday morning. I didn't see it in the dark Friday night but I don't think it happened it bed. I think it happened during my surgery. But how?
Without the Vicodin, I am in severe pain. With the Vicodin, I am really really sleepy and nauseous. The swelling is much much better today and the tingling is less. It took me very very long to type this since I am doing it one handed. If I wasn't bored, I wouldn't have done it I guess.