It’s time for another installment of my Weekly Menu.
So how was your week last week? Mine was rough both emotionally and physically. Mr. Fantabulous had surgery last week that could have been outpatient surgery or at the most an overnight stay. However once the surgery began what was originally thought to be a simple surgery led to something more complex. Mr. Fantabulous had to have a double umbilical hernia repair. Part of the surgery was to fix a botched job the last surgeon did on him. Mr. Fantabulous had been in pain ever since that surgery in mid 2003; it never felt right.
Well with age and the fact that he lifts a bajillion pounds he ended up developing another hernia there. So he went to a new surgeon for help. Surgery was scheduled in less than a week from his visit. Initially the surgery was to take a little over an hour. Well almost 2.5 hours later the surgeon came out saying that he was OK but that he would be in quite a bit of pain. Apparently however the last surgeon did the surgery he left what’s called a ‘plug’ in the area which I’ve come to find out is wrong and dangerous. Furthermore his surgery was more complex than anticipated as the mesh the last surgeon used was wrapped around his intestines which were in essence strangling them. Again I’m paraphrasing what this surgeon said and by no means am a doctor. All I know is that my baby was worse off than they thought AND he was going to be in pain; a lot of pain.
Now Mr. Fantabulous and I are a lot a like when it comes to pain medications. We’re allergic to most of them; he not as bad as me but I think he’s catching up. They had him on a Dilaudid drip that when the button was pressed gave out stuff every 6 minutes. If you’ve never had this stuff, dear LORD it’s wicked! I mean you’re pretty much incoherent. Oh yeah it definitely takes the pain away however it really really messes with your state of reality. You can have hallucinations, shortness of breath and hives plus a slew of other stuff. For me the stuff works wonders post-op as that’s pretty much the only stuff I can take. However 2 days post op with him on this medicine we found out that he CANNOT take it. I wouldn’t call it an allergy to it but rather he had some of the most extreme side effects from it.
At first we laughed at his little hallucinations as he would be lying there talking about anything and even using hand motions while ‘out’. He would talk about eating and then bite down on an apple… in his sleep. He’d giggle, tell me to finish painting the barn (um, we don’t have a barn btw) but then things took a turn for the worse. The reactions got extreme and he went downhill fast. Now during this time I ended up having one of pieces of hospital equipment (it’s a compression pump that has these wraps that go around your calves to help prevent blood clots) fall on my foot/big toe. The machine weighs about 8-10 pounds I would estimate. Well this thing fell on my foot and in about 8 hours it went from “Ouch that hurts” to my limping severely with my big toe, side of my foot turning a very lovely shade of black and red. I wasn’t going to say anything but Mr. Fantabulous asked the nurse to look at it. Me being stubborn refused but the nurse wouldn’t take no for an answer. Well the look on her face was enough. Plus the fact that she said “Get down to the ER now and get that x-rayed now” made it more ‘real’.
It ended up being a slight fracture or what they call a Crush Wound and multiple contusions. Thankfully no surgery is required nor a cast. Just no running for a few weeks and if it gets worse I’m to use crutches. But honestly I went numb because I was so worried about Mr. Fantabulous. I finally got back up to the room a few hours later only to be up for another night (3-nights without sleep) to keep an eye on him. Yes I know that’s what the nurses are for (and they are awesome at this hospital) but he’s all I have and I had to stay up to make sure he was still breathing or his condition didn’t get worse.
Finally after them taking him off the drip, 12 hours later he turned the corner and my baby was back. The surgeon came in and agreed to let him come home. He gave him different pain medication and after 24 hours of being home (and hopefully that Dilaudid out of this system), he’s definitely on the mend. He’s still in quite a bit of pain but I have my baby back. He’s eating though it pales in comparison to his regular diet. It’s actually kinda nice not having to have 3 gallons of milk on hand at once or cook 6-8 meals a day.
For those that followed this on Facebook, thank you again for all of your love, prayers and well wishes. They were definitely needed and truly appreciated!
Now back to the weekly menu *wink*. It’ll be weird just cooking a single dinner nightly but it’ll give me a chance to see how ‘normal’ people live and cook. LOL
♥ Monday – Spaghetti Squash in a Vegetable Mornay
♥ Tuesday – Garlic Chili Prawns
♥ Wednesday – Jumbo Lump Crab & Cheesy Spinach Stuffed Roasted Tomatoes
♥ Thursday – Pressure Cooker Pork Ragu
♥ Friday – Mom’s Comfort Beans & Weenies Tater Bake
♥ Saturday – Chunky Portabella Parmesan Veggie Burgers
♥ Sunday – Sunday Brunch Breakfast Pizzas
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