Another day, Another Blood Test

I hate needles. Like, a lot. Ugh. *shudder*.

I thought last week when I went and had fresh blood pulled for the cross-match that I was done, but no such luck. That blood went to the hospital I am going to be donating at for a cross match, which went well, and today's blood stayed at my local hospital for another cross match. Apparently the double check is making sure that each lab gets the same results. My local hospital's policy is that they do a final cross match 1 week before surgery, but apparently the hospital I am going to be donating at won't need that as we just did a confirmation.

So, hopefully I am done with needles until the 22nd. The 22nd is the day of my pre-op clinic, which is essentially a full day of tests to confirm that I am healthy and that all the information they have is the latest and greatest. Chest Xrays, EKGs, etc. I can do that.

I did have a chance to talk with my coordinator just after the test today and we talked about some of the specifics relating to pre and post op. Again, the different hospitals do things a bit differently, but she did give me a general idea of what to expect.

My surgery is on a Thursday, so I will either be admitted on Wednesday or even Thursday morning. The surgery is typically first thing, and I will be pretty out of it right after due to the anesthetic. Apparently most patients report nausea after surgery due to the drugs and anesthetic, and they pump my abdomen full of CO2 to give the surgeons room to work so I will be really bloated. I will be in the hospital until my bowels start working, but apparently will also have a catheter in. Yay. The good news is they put that in just before surgery when I am already out. Apparently they need to monitor what is coming out as well as what is going it.

From the sounds of things, once I am out of the hospital I am good to return home and will have my 2week post-op appointment here.

As for what life is like immediately post-op, there is no lifting (nothing over 10lbs), no bending, lots of rest, and it will take a while to get my appetite back. I will need to make sure that I am walking and not in bed all the time but still resting when I need to. I can do that.
Apparently it is 3 holes for the surgery, 1 for the camera, 1 for the instruments,  and 1 for the kidney removal. Oh! I totally forgot. Apparently it is a urologist who will be doing the surgery, a doctor who deals with nothing but the kidneys and kidney surgery. Just another one of those slightly different things, but still worth noting. Anyways, back to the holes. The one for kidney extraction is right by my bellybutton, and the others are one on each side. Apparently these take up to 6 weeks to heal (they heal from the inside out), which is one of the reasons why bending and lifting are out of the question for the first few weeks.

It will also take a while to get my appetite back and also to be on solid foods. I'm okay with that. My father-in-law (FIL) will be coming to stay with us for about a week when we get back (which might be sooner than expected) and the good news is that he makes fantastic soup. If I'm not up for solid foods or anything like that, at least I will have tasty soup waiting for me. Plus he is great company and since its getting cold out I will be pretty much confined to the condo. Will be really nice having someone there so I don't go stark raving mad because I'm alone too much.


I think I can handle everything thats going on, and know that between my husband and my mother I don't need to worry, they are doing enough of that between themselves.
I'm excited, I really am. Just not for needles. I really hate them. Hate everything about them. I'm not a fainter, but I do need to stay distracted when they take blood or it does make me light-headed and weak.
So here's my question to you: What was life like for you immediately post-op? What did it feel like? Any tips/tricks for making it easier? If you got a kidney, could you feel the change when you woke up? I'd love to hear about any/all experiences, the more I read the better prepared I am for my own.
Thanks!