vifferman

Apart from the nausea induced by mainlining morphine (I had a "central line" in my jugular, which also I think also carried wires to my heart to kickstart it if my battery went flat), the morphine, sedatives, and myriad of other chemical cocktails I was on had other tricks up their non-existent sleeves.
Hallucinations.
Farkingwithmysenses.
These will be with me for up to three months.
It started with seeing writing on the (not very interesting) hospital ceilings, and seeing little glowing creatures like oscilloscope traces zipping about on the periphery of my vision. (Personally, I think these are real, and the drooogz have allowed me to see into another dimension. I reckon they're actually angels. )
Another side-effect was my sense of smell became a super-sense of smell, and I became aware of how much I reeked from the chemicals seeping out of my skin. This also affected how food tasted, as did the scrambled taste-buds. Anything with even a smidgeon of salt tasted like it was flavoured with seawater, anything sweet tasted sour, anything sour tasted metallic, and anything with complex tastes (like a grape) just completely did my head in.
I learned to cope with this by ordering the most bland things I could: rice with no salt, porridge with no salt or sugar, toast with no spreads, etc. Even so, I had to really steel my resolve and just eat things so I didn't lose weight and strength. I'm starting to add things: unsalted eggs, salmon, some nuts, etc. are palatable, as is decaf coffee (yay!) but the basic food groups like chocolate, beer, wine, etc. are still off limits.

As for weight: gaining fluid is a problem, so I'm on a diuretic. I gained nearly 6kg in water at one point, and "my hands felt just like two balloons", so I couldn't bend my fingers. Now I'm currently ~5kg lighter than before the op, probably mostly muscle (I still have love handles). The diuretics are still being taken though, as there is a build-up of fluid around my heart (in the pericardium).

The last two effects of my chemical binge are feeling crappy and having weird nightmares. Hopefully, the "up to three months" effect will be shorterer.