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When you come around properly you will be aware of the number of tubes leading from your body. This is quite a frightening moment if you do not know what they are for but in reality they are there for simple little things.

Firstly there will be a Saline drip tube attached to your arm to prevent dehydration. You'll not be allowed to eat for quite a few days and only allowed small amounts of clear fluid until you've been built up to full fluids. This drip simply stops you dehydrating.

Secondly there will be a drain leading from the wound itself, with a small bottle on the end to catch any blood.

There will also be a very fine tube placed up your nose and down into the stomach, this is prevent you vomiting.

Finally there may or may not be a catheter attached. You'll be unable to leave your bed for a few days so you will be given a bed pan or bottle. However the catheter may already be fitted to drain the urine from your bladder as urine retention is quite common after surgery and this would be saving time in the long run. Even with key-hole surgery you can experience Urine Retention. It is a natural reaction for your bladder muscles to clench up during an anaesthetic. Should this happen the catheter cures the problem and next day you'll be able to freely pass water.

The usual daily routine will carry on around you while you rest. The surgical team will call around on their rounds to say how everything went and ask the Houseman how your night was. The ward nurses will take your blood pressure, pulse and temperature again. This will happen twice a day, everyday you are in hospital.

The Stoma Nurse will pop around too. You will not feel much like visitors and they will not mind at all if you doze off. The nurse will have a look at the Stoma and check your wound. Your abdomen will be quite bruised and a strange yellow colour. This is not one large big bruise but the remains of the iodine the surgeon spreads over any wound site before he actually cuts. It will all wash off easily and there will be localised bruising left around the main wound, which you'll notice has been neatly stitched up.

The nurse will not remove any appliances for the first day to give everything a chance to settle down, besides you'll feel sore and not in the mood for a bag change.

You'll be able to see the stoma through the bag. It will be swollen, large and bloody. The nurse will assure you this is perfectly normal and the stoma will shrink as time goes by.

You'll be pretty much left to your own devices today. The nurses will keep popping by every two hours to check on the stoma, and will always be near if you need any tablets. On the whole you'll sleep through the daily ward life.

Tomorrow the work starts.