Day 2: I had a fever

Day 2 - Friday, March 23

Emji came in after her shift at around 2am. She stayed with me. I let her sleep because she had to work again the next day. She bought me a Gatorade and 4 plain vanilla ice cream from McDonald's.

My nurse told me I had to drink water and eat at least ice cream. I didn’t want to, because of the pain. Yet, I knew I must, and so I did. That pain was the worst so far in my life. I never had this when my gall bladder was removed via open surgery. It was even worse than a toothache. Nothing compares haha! Yet, still manageable. Oh Lord, thank You for the gift of perseverance.

Dr. Kirt visited me again and told me that, if everything would be okay, I could go home on Sunday. I couldn’t forget his ring tone when someone called him, “despacito”... naks! Sorry haha, can't help it. I really wanted to share it!

My nurse (no name, I was getting a new nurse every 8 hours) was checking on me every 4 hours, to give medicines and check my vitals: BT (body temperature), BP (blood pressure), pulse (HR or heart rate) and breathing rate (RR or respiratory rate). I was taking 4 types of meds: paracetamol, pain killer, antibiotics and one for my stomach since I was on a soft diet.

That night, I had a fever. Not good. I knew that fever isn't a good sign after an operation. I was not worried though. But I was waiting for an explanation from my beautiful nurse. I tried to swallow, the pain was extreme. I'd say 8/10. Could it be because I said NO to the last pain killer that I should have taken? I told the nurse that it was no longer bearable so she gave me one.

Then my nurse told me that my dextrose was not in place. She said it has to be transferred again to my right hand... I didn’t like the idea but I had no choice. Jayzel was there with me.

It wasn’t the first time that they needed to transfer my dextrose - in the recovery room before I was released, they noticed my hand was swollen. They put me back to the recovery room and removed the dextrose, then a nurse approached me and told me, “ma’am masakit to ah? Sorry.” I wasn’t worried because I knew I could bear it. But yay! It was soooo painful! I guess she’s new. She had to stop and redo it, oh shocks! I still remember the pain haha! But I still managed to relax, I looked at her and told her, “Miss, sorry pero pwede ba yung nurse ko na lang sa taas gumawa nyan? Medyo masakit kase...” I didn’t want to offend her in any way, but it was really painful hahaha! In fact, it left a weird color in my hand, I still can see them. Two of them actually, because she tried it twice in different spots. She responded, “pagagalitan kase kami ma’am pag umakyat kang walang dextrose.”

Ah okay! Soooo...? La la la, hahaha! She stood up and a guy nurse approached me. He said he would do it. Okay, give it a shot - rabbit here! That was smooth. Good job! No pain at all. Whew ate! Yang tataa! But ate is nice and pretty...

Going back. My nurse, I forgot her name (I didn’t have a permanent nurse but it’s okay), she told me she would get a specialist for me. But she said she would give it a try first. She was very calm and nice and empathetic. I told her she could do it anyway, I made her feel that I trusted her. It’s just a needle anyway. I’d rather be hurt physically than make someone feel incompetent in her profession. No pain. Praise God. I heard Jayzel whispered, “miss, thank you ah?” Jayzel was worried about me. I was okay. I don’t want people to worry, physical pain is fleeting. I can always bear it, by the grace of God. 

After a couple of hours, fever was gone... Glory to the Father!

My family, especially my mom and Ate Cel, my sister in law, kept checking on me via chat. I asked them not to go to the hospital anymore because it was too far from home - we live in Montalban, Rizal. Nanay is 52 years old and I don’t want her to travel, plus that her sense of direction is poor. I assured them that I was fine.