The Surgery

Well I made it through the surgery. I spent the morning fluctuating between nervous, relaxed, and even a little excited. I was at the hospital at 10 and I had to wait 10 minutes when they called me back to prepare. I changed into one of those fashionable hospital gowns and they put the bracelets on me. A word on the bracelets; don't EVER say you have hay fever when they ask if you are allergic, they put an Allergy band on and I had to explain each different person what I was allergic to; it became a pain. I sat in a little room for 45 minutes or so, during which time I spoke to three different women who were associated with the surgery through either preparation or anesthesia. The time finally cam when I had to say good bye to Kristen, not my favorite moment and I was wheeled to a staging area. I was quite relaxed at this time, I had an IV in and maybe they gave me a sedative, I don't know. I sat in this area for 40 minutes, the anesthesiologist came in and explained what he was going to do. They finally wheeled me in the OR where I was awake for 3 minutes, max. The operation took nearly two hours and as Dr Felix told Kristen afterwards, "Nothing unusual or unexpected happened". What else can you ask for? I was in recovery for two hours but I only have vague recollections of the second hour. I was in considerable pain and asked for medicine what seemed like every fifteen minutes. I also had extreme dry mouth so they gave me ice chips. I was then taken to my room. The surgery itself was fine and the hospital was very good. I will continue with the rest of my stay with a later post.