Surgery Day (and Tuesday - Post Op Day One)

I had to be at the hospital by 7:15 for an 8:45 surgery, so I got up at 6 to take a quick shower. I took one last night with my antibacterial soap and everything, but I decided that I might want another one since it will be a while before a good shower takes place.

Sophie and Tally were like, "What? Why are you guys doing such weird things? Are we having surgery?"

We assured them that they can sleep, and we left Morgan and Chris sleeping to head off to the hospital. Mike had a previously scheduled business trip for today, so he will be leaving after I get out of surgery (yes, he offered to stay and yes I told him to go and that Morgan will take good care of me for two days in the hospital) So, we drove different cars to get there so that I could leave all my stuff in the car because the hospital said not to bring everything in until after surgery when you are in your final room.

The hospital is pretty on the outside. Let's hope it is good on the inside.

The hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital North, gave a great first impression. They had a desk where you check in. They asked me to go into admitting while Mike got a badge printed. In admitting, I was shown to a kiosk that had be checked in and ready to go in 2 minutes.

This also printed my allergy bracelet and my patient bracelet. Once I had that on, a nice gentleman escorted us upstairs to the second floor. He showed us how the elevators required a badge swipe before they will move. So far, I was loving the tech.

I was taken back to the pre-op area and they left Mike there and told him he could come back in a while. They made me LEAVE MY PHONE WITH HIM. I was not quite prepared for that early of a departure, and my heart skipped a beat. Amazing how attached we can become to little pieces of electronics. At that moment, I was receiving best wishes and prayer notifications from my dear friends, and it was comforting. However, I somehow managed to pry it out of my little hands and give it to Mike. :)

She asked me some questions and verified the procedure (colon resection and hernia repair with mesh). They had me scrub my whole body with these wipe things. She said it was because i would be getting mesh. I got in a gown and a warm blanket, and then they started my IV. I was apparently ready to bleed and made quite a mess. She put the IV in the weirdest spot to me - under my wrist. It was very difficult to put my hand anywhere that was comfortable, but it seemed to flow ok. 

The anesthesiologist came and asked about my past anesthesia experiences. I told him that I haven't ever had any trouble except that I do tend to wake up a little mean sometimes. He said that he has something extra he can give me at the end to help with that. 

Carmen and Jen were there with me and Mike until I went back. It was so nice to have them telling jokes and making me laugh. Then, I went back and was wheeled into a room. They said they were putting me to sleep and I was out.

The next thing I remember was that I was drowning. And Mike was there for some reason. Why was Mike there? He was supposed to be gone on a trip. And why was I drawing again? and OMG my belly hurt. My eyes had sand flying in them. 

The nurses started to tell me that my oxygen dipped into the 70's and that they were having a hard time getting enough CO2 out of my system,. So they had this CPAP like machine on me. It was completely miserable and DRY. I was already dry and coughing from anesthesia, but this thing made it worse. And I wanted to take it off to cough but they wouldn't let me. And I couldn't stay awake. And the nurses were kind of a little bitchy that I wasn't staying awake and kept making some snide comments like I didn't know. Like, shocker, there she goes again. Asleep. And they would say things to my family that didn't sound very nice. Now I might just have been sensitive at the moment, but all in all it was terrifying and extremely frustrating.

I was in ICU for all of Monday night and until Tuesday afternoon. I slept in tiny slices, and they kept asking me questions that they couldn't hear through the dumb mask. I kept asking to take it off to get a sip of water or to wash my mouth out or to have some ice chips or anything. I did get to swish my mouth out a coupe of times, but I was told, "Don't think that you are going to do this every hour or something." Since I am writing this later, I can tell you that I LOVED my nurses at St. Joseph's Hospital - except the only one I really remember in ICU. Morgan and I dubbed her the evil nurse. I was so happy to get away from her and to get to a new room.

Even on Tuesday, I was pretty out of it. I fell asleep in the  middle of conversations and I was in a lot of pain. I pushed the morphine button a lot. We named it greenie since a little light came on that was green to tell you when you could get the morphine. Greenie quickly became my friend. 

Travis came to visit on Tuesday, and he brought me flowers and a Product Manager Stay Calm shirt.

 I loved them. It was great to see a friendly face.  I wasn't allowed to walk at all until Tuesday when I was allowed to do a short walk in the hallway. It was certainly no marathon, but I felt victorious.

I did get my foley catheter out this afternoon. It was great, but the rule is that you have 6 ish hours to pee or they have to put it back. I was panicking around hour 5, but then the magical moment came. Ahh....no more foley for me.