I'm not sure how much "detail" anyone really cares about but if you're looking at having liver resection surgery, then I can tell you about my experience.
After my surgery I was in ICU. Like I said earlier, no NG tube, no drains. I was thrilled I didn't have a drain. ICU was pretty uneventful.. Of course I had a super cute young guy nurse and aide. Both guys. FUN. The nurse made a comment to me that perhaps I took the wrong way but he said" I don't even know why you are here". I took that as --we need the bed for someone sicker. Maybe he meant if as I was doing so good, I didn't need to be there. I don't know but it was my only negative experience while in the hospital.
They moved me out of ICU the next day and info a regular room. My sisters came up and saw me for a while. I started to feel "queasy" and even though they had put me on a clear diet, I was able to drink the broth or anything. I thought it might be the morphine making me sick. I had a few moments with my right-hemicolectomy where a got sick but this was much worse.
I ended up vomiting a lot of bright green bile on Saturday. I really felt terrible. I had the best nurses and aids ever. They were all wonderful. My night nurse on Saturday had only worked with cancer patients her entire 23 year career. She thought that this motion sickness patch might help me. They were giving me other stuff too. My problem was my stomach wasn't emptying and the bile was building up in my tummy. I even considered having an NG tube put in. That is how bad I felt. They didn't do it and by Sunday morning it was like someone flipped a switch. I felt so much better and even got to eat some mashed potatoes! Of course, they were getting me up to pee and go walk during all of this too. Not a lot of walking but sitting in the chair, etc. I had a few visitors. The weather was terrible on Saturday--lots of snow and wind. My sisters spent most the day hanging out with me.
I had regular visits from the surgeon and his team of fellows. Nice guys all but I couldn't pronounce any of their last names!
I lost a staple during my first shower. I heard it ping off the floor. The docs weren't too concerned.
I was doing so well they said I could go home on Tuesday and they started to wean me off the morphine. I started taking ocy and something else. I didn't have a lot of pain. More like I had pulled all my muscles under my right breast. It hurt to breath and I couldn't take a very deep breath without it hurting.
I came home that Tuesday so only 6 days in the hospital. 5 nights. Not very long for liver surgery!
My niece counted my staples. I have 30. Unfortunately, my incision came open where I lost that staple. I think my dog stepped on me (I didn't have my pillow protection on my stomach). I think it might have pulled it open. I thought it was infected. Went in on Monday and saw one of the "Fellows", which was a woman this time--another last name I couldn't pronounce. She saw no signs of infection and only the skin was open, the facia was not so no possible hernia brewing. I was glad. It looks really, really gross though. I have to pack it 2 x a day with gauze wet with sterile saline. This helps it heal from the outside in. I have since had some low-grade fevers and I should have called them but I really didn't want to go back in. If it were an infection, they would come and go, right? Guess I'll find out because I go in today to get the remaining staples out. The rest of my incision looks really good so I'm sad I had this blow out. It'll leave a bigger scar. It also hurts pretty bad so I hope it's still not infected.
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