Day of surgery recap

So here's a recap of my big day!

My surgery was at 8:00 am, so we had to be there at 6:35 (why not 6:30?). We live about one hour away from the hospital, so we had to get up BRIGHT and early. My parents' had come down on Sunday night to be with me for my surgery. So my parents', my husband, and I leave our house by 5:30. I am tired and try to sleep on the way to the hospital (I get REALLY car sick, so I usually try to sleep to avoid feeling like crap). But of course I couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep at ALL the night before. I don't think that any of us 4 got any sleep.

So we get to the hospital and they take me right in to pre-op and give me my "room". I put my lovely hospital gown on and wait for a few minutes for someone to come in.

My husband, Bob, and I waiting for the fun to begin!

The first nurse came in and gave me my wrist bands. I was lucky and got two because I am allergic to fish and seafood. I guess a lot of people that are allergic to fish and seafood also are allergic to iodine, so they don't use it on you if you are allergic to fish and seafood. This nurse also gave me a lovely "shot" of some medicine for nausea. Then she gave me a pill for nausea too, with a little drink of water. I made sure to drink it all since I was SO thirsty from not drinking. (Bob was so sweet. He wouldn't eat or drink anything until they took me away to surgery that morning since I couldn't eat! That didn't stop my parents from drinking coffee. But then I have had coffee in front of them when they couldn't, so I deserve it).

The next nurse to come in was to give me my IV. I was actually a little nervous about this since I have heard some horror stories about how much they hurt. I didn't feel a thing. First she cleaned my hand, then she gave me a little shot of lidocane to numb it. That was the tiniest prick ever. So my hand was numb when she put the IV in, so I didn't feel a thing.

As if I didn't already have enough anti-nausea medicine, this nurse gave me MORE in my IV. It was the weirdest thing. She said that this particular side effect only happens to females. Basically, it was this warm burning feeling between my legs. It only lasted a few minutes, and if I sat up it was better.

Next came the anesthesiologist. He came in and asked me when the last time I had anything to eat or drink was. I told him 9:30 last night. He then asked in a joking way "Did you take the meds they gave you?" I guess he was right, the one was liquid and the other one was a pill, so they gave me a little bit of water for it. But I got a chance to ask him about waking up during surgery and would there be any chance of me feeling anything. He told me that there is ALWAYS a chance, but that they take precautions to stop that from happening, and since I wouldn't be given any paralysing drugs, I would start to move before I could feel anything. He explained that there are risks whenever you go under, but that I took more of a risk getting in my car to drive there today. He gave me some nose spray to use and said that he would be back to wheel me off to surgery.

So he left and I waited for a while for my surgeon to come. He was making rounds so he was a few minutes late. He came in, asked how I was then left to go get the towels to put my hair up with. One of his nurses from his office always assists him with surgery. I was told is was going to be one lady, but it was the other one. I was glad. Not that I don't like the other one, it's just that I talked with this one the day of my pre-op so I know her better. But they put my hair up in this lovely do.

A few minutes after this, the anesthesiologist came back and took me away! I was actually pretty calm. When we first got to the hospital I was a little teary, but I kept it in. Then when we were waiting in the pre-op room, I actually thought to myself "Why am I doing this? Can I really go though with it? Am I strong enough to do this?" But when I was actually talking to the docs and stuff, I was MUCH calmer.

So I get wheeled to the OR. I was surprised at how small the room was. I was expecting a larger room, like they show on TV. It was actually pretty small. The nurses gave me a warm blanket and then had me move over to the operating table. That was the smallest table I think I have ever seen. I'm not that big of a person, but I barely fit on it. The anesthesiologist asks me what I am going to dream about. I say "Food, since I won't be eating anything good for a while". They get me all cozy on the table and I start to feel my arm tingly and warm. I say to the anesthesiologist "You must have given me something because I can feel it in my arm." He goes "Just wait until it gets to your brain." Next thing you know, the ceiling is all spinny and I say "I think it's getting to my brain now."

That is the LAST thing that I remember. I never had to count backwards or anything. It was great. I didn' t even know that they were putting me under. I think that I liked it that way. This way I didn't have to think about it.

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery and barely being able to keep my eyes open. Next time I opened them there was a nurse there and she was saying that I was in recovery and that everything went great. Once I could finally keep my eyes open, she checked my blood pressure. I guess it was still high so I had been in recovery for over 2.5 hours. My OS stayed with me until I came out and took the bands off my teeth. He then went out to my family to tell them that everything went great. That he couldn't have scripted it better and that I have VERY little blood loss. I guess I even gave him a thumbs up when he left to talk to my family! I must have been feeling ok at that time!

The nurse with me in recovery said that she was going to let my husband come in to see me since I had been in there so long. But then she look my blood pressure again and I was good to leave. So she changed my gown because of the blood. But of course as she was changing it, I got blood on the new one, so she changed it again. I hadn't learned out to use the suction thing yet. Then she wheeled me to my room.

My room was actually in the pediatric ward! My OS puts all of his jaw surgery patients there because the nurses there are great and know what we need, and a plus is that you get your own room and bathroom! So I didn't complain. A few minutes after I get to my room, my husband shows up! It was SO great to see him. Then right behind him was my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew! I had a whole crew there. It was great to have such a support system. I LOVE my family!

I was still a little groggy, so I talked to them a little bit then they went to go eat lunch while I took a nap. It seems that as soon as I would fall asleep, in comes a nurse! My family returned a little bit later to visit for a little while before they drove the 2+ hours home. They game me there gifts (if you read my other posts, they are jokesters!)

My husband stayed until around 6:30, then he went home to take care of our dog and get some rest. I figured there was no since in him staying at the hospital with me. At least he could get a good nights rest. With the nurses coming in very 3 hours, I knew I wasn't going to sleep.

Bob returned to the hospital around 8 the next morning and I was "eating" breakfast. Ensure, apple juice, and watered down cream of wheat which wouldn't fit in the syringe, so I couldn't eat it. The nurses came in and took my IV out and discharged me! They said that they have never seen someone recover so well from this surgery. I just hope that I can keep up with the good recovery!

Ok, so that's the LONG story of my day in surgery! Hope you enjoyed!