Thank you for sharing your experiences, I'm sure they will prove invaluable to people who have to experience similar surgery. No matter what doctors tell you, or you read online from official sources, it helps no end to get a very personal first person recounting.

I had a brief stay in hospital five years ago - the first overnight experience in the hospital ever for me (including birth since I was born at home). It's a weird alternate reality of rules and regimens, for first timers it can be quite a shock. Although I'm well aware that doctors cannot work miracles and their knowledge and abilities are minuscule compared to the complexities of the human body, I did find it strangely comforting to be there where you and your health are the center of attention - even if distributed across many people on any given day.

Anyway, hope your recovery continues to go well and keep writing!