Surgery Day

Well, where do I begin?

First of all, the last time I had surgery was back in the early 70's to have my wisdom teeth removed. I had no idea what to expect yesterday. Or how I would react to the anesthesia. Especially given I'm a good deal older now.

What I should have known, given my recent experiences with the health care system was that I would sit around and wait. My surgery was scheduled for 1:30 and I had to be at the hospital at noon. In part because I was to receive an injection (more about that later) 30-60 minutes prior to the surgery. By 12:45 I had changed into a smock, someone had asked a few questions, banded me, and taken my vitals. This was a total of about 7 minutes worth of activity. So we sat and sat and sat. Finally, shortly after 1:00 the nurse came in to describe what would be happening. She was quite a trip. Real talkative and somewhat spacey. By now it was getting to be a quarter after one and people kept coming up asking her if I was ready, they wanted me in the operating room.

She finally got everything straight and off we go. Brownie trailing behind with my clothes. No escape for me! The orderly pushing me was real sweet. Once we reached the surgery doors he told Brownie to hug me before rolling me into the room.

Suddenly there was a flurry of activity. Dr. Tsuei was there and marked the spot where he was going to cut and talked with me a little. Someone placed some leg massagers on me to keep the blood moving. Seems like a bunch of other stuff was going on, but I can't remember it all.

Then I got THE injections close to the nipple. Some type of radioactive material with a blue dye. These were the injections that were supposed to happen 30 minutes before surgery. Well, I had been warned. What I didn't know was that there would be 4 of them and each one hurt worse. Now admittedly it was only for a few seconds at a time and deep breaths helped. But geez, by the time they got to the last one I was ready to be finished with that! It kinda felt like some had taken some needle nosed pliers and and pinched real hard. I suggested to Dr Tsuei and the woman administering the shots they should have them to see what it's like. She laughed, but I think Dr Tsuei is a bigger pain baby than me! He pretty much said he didn't plan on having any surgery.

Next the anesthesiologist and her side kick (Bob-his is about the only name I can remember) showed up again. While she asked me the same questions I'd already answered a few times that day he put the catheter in for the IV. He was so good I hardly felt it at all. I even complimented him.

I remember being wheeled into the OR. It was cold in there. I could see the clock and it was getting close to 2:00. Then I moved myself from the gurney to the operating table. Hmm, that's about the last thing I remember. They must have started my IV and I was out. No counting backward or anything.

When I woke up I was in the recovery room and the clock read 4:20. I indicated the pain level was about an 8 so I started getting medicated. Once we got it down to a 4 I just layed there in a daze for quite a while. I felt like I had overimbided, but in a somewhat pleasant way. No nausea I just kinda wasn't sure if I could get up and walk. After a while the nurse offered me some ice chips which I was glad to get. Two hours passed before I was moved to short stay where I could dress and leave. I was pretty sure by now Brownie was getting worried as we were way behind the schedule that had been laid out. But I was okay, just laying there. No one seemed in much of a hurry to get rid of me.

We were finally reunited around 6:30. I was glad to know the surgery part was over.

We stopped and got my pain meds on the way home. Later that night the pharmacist stopped by to check on his patient.

So I spent the evening pretty much vegging out. Tired, sleepy, but awake. Brownie's been great, trying to anticipate my needs and make sure I don't want for anything.

Today I go see Dr Manning (the radiologist) for the next step in seeing if I can have the Mammosite. He'll do a CT scan to see if the temporary device is filling the cavity completely and if it is far enough from the rib.

That brings me up to date here. Hope all is coherent as the Percocet while keeping the pain at bay has kept me slightly lightheaded.

Let's hope for more good news today.