Liberation experience continued...

Where was I... ah yes, lying flat for 4 hours... had to drink 1.5 litres of water! "measure as you drink' the nurse said as she handed me a 500 ml bottle of water... drink, drink, drink... hmm, I need to pee, but I have to lie flat & the thought of using a bedpan while holding my right leg straight while I did it... NOT going to happen... HOLD IT!!! This is a fantastic test of the old bladder control... hmm... Jenn is trying not to make me laugh! Good luck with that! LOL... I get to eat! YAY! Nom nom nom nom... ahhh - remember, I haven't eaten since midnight & it is now almost 2 pm... growl... don't think about peeing.....

I have been waiting for something or other to happen most of the time I've been in Sofia, so my ability to wait has improved greatly. The last 5 minutes of the 4 hours is EXCRUCIATING! I can hold it, I can hold it, I can hold it... 4 hours is OVER!!! YAY! Now, how do I move? My leg is super stiff & my back is aching from the 2 hours on the operating table plus the 4 hours of lying stiff & still... hmm. I rolled to my left, swung my right wounded leg over the edge of the bed & tentatively stood up.... no balance issues - YAY, feel solid on my feet - YAY, walk tentatively to the bathroom - don't need to hang onto walls - YAY, make it to the bathroom - no urgency - YAY! Blessed relief! ahhhhh.... oh hey, did I mention the toilet seats in the hospital are heated?! Pretty cool, if it were a cold winter day! LOL I have to keep the right leg straight due to the pressure bandage that is wrapped so tightly around my butt that I'm pretty sure there is no blood flow there! Back to bed & rest for 2 hours until I can get up & walk around.

Finally I get up & wander down the hall to the meeting area... all my compatriots are there! We are all comparing experiences & Al asks me why I still have my pressure bandage on.... Like the good Canadian girl I am, I say "the nurse hasn't come to take it off" & everyone laughs! apparently, they have a "do-it-yourself' standard of care! Just being me, I walked down to the nurses station just to confirm it was ok to take it off! They looked at me like I had 2 heads & in broken English told me to take it off myself! LOL Back to the room, I tried untying the knot - hmm that's not going to work... let's see if I can take it off like pants - this is working... wow, is the incision ever tiny! Not even the width of my pinky finger but it has an awesome bruise around it!

I am free! Liberated & mobile! I can walk without my cane as the balance is better! YIPPEE!

I have to stay in the hospital overnight as Dr Grozdinski has to do a follow up doppler! Cool.... I go back to bed, nap time :) Get up to eat dinner (I believe this was the grilled trout night - yum)

Jenn is an awesome cohort & has taken amazing care of me!

I sleep well that night for the first time in ages! I had an eye mask on due to the bright sunlight, so I hear a noise & slowly lift my eye mask... what do I see???? The anxious smiling faces of Dr. Grozdinski, Dr. Petrov & a few others longing for me to respond.... I give them a BIG smile & say I feel fantastic! YAY! Dr. G will be right back to do the doppler! More waiting LOL I went to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth & prettied myself up as best as possible after my big day.... Dr. G sets up his portable doppler... his lovely assistant is poised & ready to take dictation... cold gel on the neck.... doppler doppler doppler.... Dr. G is smiling - this is a good sign! All is holding up nicely & I am free to go!!!! YAHOO!!!!!

All I can think about is a nice hot shower at the hotel.... I just have to wait (do you see a pattern here?) for my papers... pay my bill, bring a copy to the unit & I am free to go :)

Papers finally arrive... I go downstairs to pay... Visa in hand, go up to the desk, hand them my papers & my visa... please enter your PIN... OMG!!! What the hell is my Visa PIN????? Uh Oh.... tried the usual number.... REJECTED... uh oh.... tried my secondary number... REJECTED... uh oh... third time you are out - so I take everything back, go up to my room, get on the computer to my bank all the while thinking to myself that there is only one more possibility - and if I try it & fail, it's game over..... I get the "collect call" number for my bank & go to the collect call payphones in the lobby... number is not valid... try again.... number is not valid ... OK it's WTF time... I go back to the payment desk & give that last resort PIN a try..... SUCCESS! Thank goodness! relief!!!!! We go & grab little cafe's, pack up my room & head off to the hotel - FREEDOM :)