RRB's Op Diary

[RRB]

Hi Guys

Im home now, and its all done.

Im gonna give a blow by blow detail of how it went, please realise before reading i wont be holding anything back and I am not intentionally trying to put people off.

Night before
Stayed at the Beechwood hotel, cost £39 and its nothing special but its less than 5 mins walk from the hospital.  I got there at 8pm and left at 7.30am.

In the hospital
Went up to  reception told lady i was in for surgery with Levick, she took my name then another woman took me into a small room to take cash and fill out a couple of forms.  Then i guy came and toook me to my room.

The Room
Nice room with en suite and biggish tv with about 6 different sky channels.  Some nurses come in give me a gown and slippers and tell me to get nekkid apart from the boxers.  Back of 9 Levick comes in saying he has got to give this little woman some t!ts first then he will be back.  I feel like saying she can have mine. A few nurses come in and say hi.  Now 10.30 and im totally bricking it by now. The send you to sleep guy comes in for a quick chat  can never spell that word right.

They are coming for me
Get walked to the go to sleep room, lie down and the go to sleep team are talking to me.  Now im shaking uncontrollably "its cold in there"  .  Really I dont care what anyone says but its damn scary by this point. Levick comes in and draws on me, tells me mine were almost ad big as his were.  The go to sleep main guy puts some stuff in my arm, says your going to go to sleep in 10 seconds.  For some reason you always try and fight it,  I feel an immense pain in my arm for about 2 seconds and the next thing i know im in the recovery room swearing like a trooper.

Recovery Room
The nurses here are spot on, im swearing cos its a bit sore "in all honesty though it isnt that bad at all i think you think its sore cos you just woke up and not sure whats happening".  They ask about the pain i say its mild/moderate,  i get some pills and pain goes quickly.  Head is pretty clear after about 15 minutes.  I stay there for about 30 minutes or so i think. Nurses are really spot on here asking if im ok and such.

Back in my room
They bring the bed from your room down and thats what you wake up on so there is no need to get up or anything, just get wheeled back to your room.  So im in the room, head pretty clear and hardly any pain at all.  I sit watching crap on telly.  Levick comes in later and says its all done and it went ok.  Nurses come in from time to time take bp and pulse etc.  I have drains in but im not bleeding at all.  Have Lunch and Dinner, now watching more crap on tv "im not a tv person really".  Get more pain killers about 11pm although i ask for mild ones as im not in much pain. 11pm is roughly when i first pee,  fill up 6 bottles through out the night Drinking water for Scotland.  Im awake nearly all night.

Morning
Levick comes in about 8.30, no bleeding, I was surprised i didnt bleed at all.  So he tells nurses to remove drains.  He tells me to keep bandages on till next Wed then call his wife to tell her progress, which she will relay to him. In all honesty for me the drains coming out was absolutely terrible, it was bloody sore for about 5 mins each drain.  I didnt want to ask how far in the drains were. The nurse pulls the first one out and its in about 4 inches, man it was mega sore "but only for about 2 minutes.  The second one she asks me to cough and pulls it out as i do.  I swear i could have killed her,  i was almost screaming, and i had a few spasms.  3 minutes later the pain subsides.

Anyway i left about 10am felt fine and now im home.  I will say however it would be best to have someone with you.  Going home alone to scotland was a chore for me today.

Ive probably missed things out but will re read later once ive settled down more.

Re-edit

Pros:  
No boobs  
Nice staff (especially the recovery room team)
Sky telly
Pain not as bad as expected
Decent food  

Cons:
Hard to pee for a good while
Lying in bed most of day and through to next morning gave me a sore back.
Boredom (worse without sky telly tho
Drain removal (jeez never again man)
Travelling home

Would like to thank all the guys that gave their version of events before i went for my surgery uk_bloke, Chorlton, it100 to name a few.

Anyone pre op feel free to ask me anything at all about the procedures and afterwards.

[uk_bloke]

rrb ,

welcome to the club matey, glad to hear it went ok .all sounds pretty much the same as mine ,apart from it taking me 18 hours to have a p*ss!
did he tell you how much he got out?

take it easy.


paul

[RRB]

Hi Paul

He never mentioned how much came out, and i never thought to ask, although when i phone up on wednesday ill ask Gail if she can find out for me.

Im getting weird feelings down the side of the bandages, maybe my paranoia.  It feels like im leaking and filling up at the side.  Like I said its probably my paranoia about bllod or fluid build up.  Levick says i shouldnt as i didnt bleed anything through the drains.

[RRB]

2 days after

Well last night when i got home i sat and pondered seriously about the Op.  I thought there is no way i would get that done again and if i could go back a few days i would cancel the Op.

The main reason for those thoughts is i went alone, I had no one to help me home and when i got home i was so knackered and mentally exhausted.  I got to the train station at 10.30 am,  full of fear for someone banging into me i was in full concentration mode.  My train was booked for 2pm.  I went to the info desk and asked about changing my ticket, I was told it would cost me an extra £48.50 as i had got cheap tickets due to booking early.  I went and sat for a bit and eventually returned and paid the extra money just to get home earlier.

Now ive had a reasonable nights sleep i feel so much better both physically and mentally and i am glad i did have the Op now.  I would recommend anyone travelling a decent distance for this op to take someone with them, I really cant stress that enough.

Overall today i feel a lot better, I took a leaf out of Chorltons book and made an incline of pillows in bed, i then put a cushion on each side of me and a pillow under my knees,  I had about 6 hours sleep waking up in the middle for a bit.

More later

[uk_bloke]

rrb,

i had the same feeeling under the bandages ,it felt to me like some  blood or fluid was sloshing about under there ,i mainly noticed it when i was getting out of bed or getting up off the setee , it stopped after 4-5 days so dont worry too much yet .


paul

[RRB]

Yea its a weird feeling.  Its like when you buy a new car, you hear the slightest noise when driving and think the car is broken.   Just paranoia

[Yorkshireman]

RRB....you've got me thinking now......Im also planning a solo mission, and I think it will have to remain like that...the way I see it, it is going to be a few trying days and then hopefully it will all be over and the gyne will be gone...

[RRB]

RRB....you've got me thinking now......Im also planning a solo mission, and I think it will have to remain like that...the way I see it, it is going to be a few trying days and then hopefully it will all be over and the gyne will be gone...

Dont know how long it takes you to get to birmingham from where you live.  For me I left hospital at 10am and arrived home at 6.15 which is a long day.

I wasnt in pain too much but the train is not the most comfortable mode of transport in this condition.  It obviously is doable but i highly recommend someone with you or at the very least stay another day in birmingham.  Mentally it wasnt to bad going home, but physically its a nightmare.  Looking back now I would definately have someone with me.

[Yorkshireman]

Cheers for the acvise RRB....Im thinking of staying in Birmingham for at least 2 nights ina b+b ...I guess it'll be a lonely couple of days but Im hoping that the struggle will be well worth the effort...My minds on summer and getting back into the gym!

[RRB]

Cheers for the acvise RRB....Im thinking of staying in Birmingham for at least 2 nights ina b+b ...I guess it'll be a lonely couple of days but Im hoping that the struggle will be well worth the effort...My minds on summer and getting back into the gym!

Well if your staying a couple of extra nights get somewhere with Sky TV for sure  . The beechwood where i stayed was ok but i was only there from 8pm to 7.30am the next morning, no Sky.

Also travel as light as possible, other have said about the weight of your bag etc after op,  Im a pretty big guy and reasonable strong, I travelled light and still my bag weighed a ton, i was knackered carrying it to the train etc.

[AJP]

Hey RRB, well done mate. Just remember that things will get better rapidly. I can only imagine what kind of a nightmare it was for you catching the train. You're home safe and sound now though, so you can concentrate on getting back to normality. Minus the gyne!

Best of luck for recovery.

[RRB]

Thanks AJP

It is well worth it, only thing if i could do it again i would take someone with me, other than that and the brutal drain removal, the op was quite easy.

Today my mother came down to see me and bring in some shopping for me.  She made my dinner and drove me nutty for about an hour.  The op was painless compared to my mum running about my house cleaning and really stressing me out, it went something like this

Me: mum please sit down your stressing me out.
Mum: look dont stress yourself out.
Me: im not stressing myself out, YOU are stressing me out
Mum: totally ignores me and keeps doing what shes doing.
Me: sighs  

[AJP]

 

Sounds a bit like my mum!

Drives me mad half the time, but she's a good 'un.

My dad's going to be driving me down to Birmingham on Wednesday, and also picking me up the next day so after what you've told me, it's quite a relief he'll be there. Don't fancy a journey like yours mate.

All the best.

[RRB]

Yea my mum rocks, loaned me 1/2 the money for the Op.

Hardly any pain now at all not that there was much to be honest, getting some twinges on my left pec.  Well swollen under the armpit and above the bandages, no sign of bruising yet.  Been lying in bed most of the day watching dvds, i get up every so often and have a walk around the house.

[Merv_UK]

RRB,

Well done mate. Heard you getting called for your op when I was recovering. I was a few rooms down from you in the Aston suite.

I'm just off the ferry from Scotland after an 8 hr coach trip so I'm pretty wrecked. I'll post my tale tomorrow when I've had a good sleep (on my back) - it'll be a long one.

Merv.