We arrived at 5am, were the second in line, to a busy Patient Checkin Center. We waited in the waiting room until 5.45am when we were called back to go to the 2nd floor and I was stuck in my room.
Wait some more.
My Nurse on the Prep floor was Hope. They made me use an antiseptic prep on my skin, which had me very nervous to use and I wondered if I would itch as the prewash you have to do the night before surgery and morning surgery of made me itch all night!!! I tell people how allergic I am and its like they don't believe me. I actually skipped the application on the morning of and just rinsed with water. It wasn't too bad but even though the package was heated up, it made me cold! Now to the fun part of getting down to your birthday suit and into a flimsy gown with funky socks! Nothing like making you feel like a nobody. She attempted to put an IV in my left arm, midway up between the wrist and elbow and reached a valve. I have never had an IV inserted so far up on my arm, usually they are done in my upper palm or inside of the wrist. The pain from this was excruciating. Of course Hope told me it shouldn't hurt but she clearly had reached a brick wall! Ugh, sweet pea, it killed! It truly makes me laugh how they don't let you eat or drink after midnight but want your veins to suddenly pop out and be working like magic when they apply an IV...totally laughable. After a few more attempts and some work to make it flow, she got the IV working in the upper palm of my right hand.
More questions. Take a pill with an ounce of water. What a teaser! I am used to drinking a full glass of water each morning after waking up, so I was feeling quite parched by this point. Hope said, "But it was a full glass of water!" LOL!!!
My anesthesiologist was Robb, an intern working with Dr. Gelbard. He was nice and listened to my concerns, but I swear he talked way faster than me and you all think I talk fast!!! No, I had not had any medicines yet and was thinking very clearly...even Aunt Connie thought so.
Then it was time to put my hair up in the cap. Hope, my Nurse made a comment: I bet you are one of those people who wish you had straight hair. I said, Actually no, I love my hair! But you are right, it seems if people have curly, they want it straight and if they have straight they want it curly.
Then Dr. McWherter came in. He was so funny...said he brought the cookies I had sent with him to have a snack after surgery. We had to wait for the lab to complete my pregnancy test. This was a joke...Dr. McWherter told the Nurse that the only way that would be positive is if there were lights in the Eastern Sky. It was funny. Once those negative results came in, they wheeled me off down the hallway to the surgical room.
Boy was the room cold! Move me from one bed to another and put an oxygen mask on...not too much later, I don't remember anything. Another first! I am used to them watching me and waiting for me, it always seems like they are impatient when they are looking down at me, for me to go out.
The next time I woke up, I was in recovery. I asked the Nurse what time it was and she said 10.30am. The pain was horrific. The nausea like waves trying to sink me. Oh, no matter how much you try to prepare for this, it is overwhelming and miserable!
The next time after that that I was conscious, I was in my room. My Nurse on this floor was Tammy during the day and Charlotte at night. They left me alone pretty much the rest of the day. Aunt Connie tried to help me by pressing the button for more pain medication to be released as it was a self administered unit that you could press approximately every 7-10minutes...I sensed the nurse clearly did not like this. Aunt Connie was simply trying to help as if I dosed off, I would wake up in extreme pain and it was so much harder to get under control. I am not sure why they don't just do a drip and regulated dosage for awhile while you try to adjust to the procedure and pain you are experiencing. Starting me off at managing my own dosage didn't seem to make much sense to me. The rest of the day I fought with extreme pain and nausea and they decided I could not go home. About 6pmCST, they finally gave me some Toradol along with the Morphine to cut the pain and brought me my Bland Dinner about 7pm:
- Chicken Broth
- Iced Tea
- Cranberry Juice
- Grape Popsicle
- Orange Jello
No comments:
Post a Comment