Raechel Zhao: The Bright Orchid Swallow (趙蕙燕)

I wake up and its 7:30 pm.

I do a double take. SEVEN-THIRTY AT NIGHT?!

What happened?! I arrived at 11:00 am this morning for a 1.5 to 2 hour surgery. Things must not have gone well with pathology. It must have been … cancer.

Last thing I remember before waking up was feeling really dizzy in the OR, and lying down on the operating table. Those were some fast acting drugs. Its one thing to learn about drugs and dispense them to patients, and another to experience them yourself. I really don’t remember anything else in the OR, and that’s a great thing.

Now that I was awake, I surprisingly felt no pain, and felt fine, but it was probably the amazing drugs. But…the room and people keep moving, and it was making me nauseous. Yea, definitely, the drugs were still in my system.

• My husband told me I kept answering and interrupting all the questions he and my family had for the physicians. Whoops! Apparently even in my woozy state, I still wanted to spew out information. My husband was disappointed that I was so informative all drugged up vs. an entertaining clown like some other people are. I, on the other hand, was glad I was boring so I didn’t wake up to a viral video of me acting a fool.

A few hours after surgery, it was time to go home. I try to get up, and … why am I moving so slowly!? That was frustrating. As we get out to the car, things are still moving and I dry heave. We drove hubby’s new car to surgery, so he quickly got a barf bag before we got in the car – just in case LOL. My family helped me in, and we all left at around 10:00 pm. I slept the entire way back home.

Post-Op Day 1

I was taking Norco (an opioid pain-killer with Tylenol) around the clock and on time.

My neck was stiff, and it felt like a permanent crick. I couldn’t swallow without feeling my entire throat. Solid food was definitely NOT going to happen today. Ice cream, smoothies, and soup all day please! The Chinese equivalent of these foods however, is “Jook” also known as Congee, or Rice porridge, which my mom made for me. Let me tell you, homemade Jook is so much better than restaurant Congee because it’s not watered down so much that its like soup. Its thicker, and because its homemade, you can add as much meat or veggies you want.

Most of my day is spent in front of the TV and sleeping. My voice is SHOT. I can barely whisper, and when I do, it hurts. I was planning to go to work 48 hours after surgery. I’m starting to think that that’s not going to happen, no matter how much I willed myself to get better.

Post-Op Day 2

I had a post-op follow-up with the surgeons today. My voice is still shot, and I’m still taking Norco around the clock and on schedule. The new development today, was a horrible painful and irritating DEEP cough. It sounds like I’m coughing from the middle of my chest – almost like that time I had bronchitis or pneumonia. My doctors tell me that is normal, along with the pain, and that it should go away over the next few days or weeks.

Obviously, I’m not feeling well, and will not be able to go back to work as I had anticipated. I called my boss and let her know, and she already had a backup plan.

Post-Op Day 3 – 5

I have stopped taking Norco around the clock. I now take it to go to sleep and maybe once during the day if the pain gets bad. But since I’ve stopped taking it around the clock, I’ve been feeling HOT and sweaty. The thermometer says I have a low-grade fever.

Oh no…I hope I’m not getting an infection! It shouldn’t be because everything is clear (i.e. phlegm). And I reason that it’s because there is Tylenol in the Norco. When I was taking it around the clock, it was stifling the fevers. However, just in case, I ask my surgeons via email. They tell me that there is no need to be concerned about low-grade fevers. Only fevers that are over 101.5F.

Phew thank goodness. I DO NOT want to develop a post-op infection. Especially since I work in the hospital. I’m pretty sure I’m colonized by all possible multi-drug resistant bacteria there is to have.

Post-Op Day 6-12

All the pain is mostly gone, and I have been able to control my pain with ibuprofen instead of the prescription strength opioids. I still have this insufferable crick in my neck, but its manageable with the ibuprofen. Fevers have mostly resolved, with an occasional hot flash. I have started eating solid food – THANK GOD. Jook, Ice Cream, Soups, and Smoothies are only good for so long.

The cough though.

Still very annoying, and still DEEP and from the chest. I better get some nice abs with this cough! I’m sucking on cough drops around the clock to try to stifle, but I don’t want to be eating those all day. This is just like when I had bronchitis in high school, but without the infection. Even my childhood asthma is acting up. It so bad I can’t even sleep at night. I can’t sleep on my sides because its painful for my neck. I can’t sleep on my back because every time I breathe, my throat gets irritated and I start a full coughing episode. Sleeping while sitting only gets me so far, and I wake up every 1-2 hours. Sleeping on my stomach, face down, however, I found doesn’t make me cough or feel pain, except that I need to breath. Lucky for me, my coworker gave me a professional massage table a few months back. I moved that table next to the bed.Now I can lay face down, and still breathe, while not coughing! This was a life saver! You want to know the best part? I was able to place a table below the face hole so I could watch my iPad videos hands-free! Hubby was jealous for a few days haha.

Also, as I’m gaining strength and not sleeping all day, I notice I am easily tired by small activities. I went to the grocery store with my husband and I was pooped. I went up the stairs, and I am breathing very hard. Holding up my neck is even difficult. I feel like a newborn baby learning to hold up their heads! I’ll probably need to get a neck pillow to help me hold up my head when I get tired of doing it myself. haha.

Post-Op Day 14

I’m back to work! So happy to be back at work because being at home was BORING. There’s only so much Netflix and Hulu I can watch without getting a headache. My neck is still slightly stiff, but I have full range of motion. It still gets tired when I hold my head up all day, so I’ve been driving with a neck pillow to assist haha. The surgeons only required that I not drive for 7 days so I should be good. I also practiced a few days before with the hubby, just to make sure I was able to drive.

I still have this wretched cough. But knowing my mom who has coughs for months at a time – I will likely have this cough for a few months too, even though “I’m not sick/contagious.” Not that anyone would believe me because I sound like I’m dying when I cough. At least for now, if I was annoying before, at least my cough will regulate how much I can talk. HAHA