The Surgery

I think I’ll frame the surgery itself within the two days where it was my primary concern. Tuesday, a week ago today, Corinne and I both worked full days at our jobs. I picked her up at 4:45 and we went to the Bulldog NE for burgers and watched American Hustle at St Anthony Main. The evening was a good one for relaxin and distractin. My nerves had cooled somewhat and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Going to bed, I felt like everything was in motion – the waiting was over at that point – I was fully engaged in the surgery. We shared some tears and smiles and went to sleep. 

Washing up the evening before (C was excited about documenting the event)

Us being sad / scared for the surgery

Feeling ready!

The next morning was slow and easy. C had breakfast and I couldn’t eat or drink anything, so within about an hour of waking we drove to the hospital. The woman at the welcoming desk said we could take the elevator on our left ‘when we were ready,’ which I though was a nice touch. We were ready, so we descended to the pre-op area.

It was a small crowd waiting for us – both of my parents, C’s mom and after a bit her sister. We had a lot of bags and occupied a corner of the room. I checked in and in a few minutes, enough to say hello and make airport jokes about our many bags, I was called back to get prepped.

The prep felt like a countdown, slowly ticking to surgery – blowy air gown (to stay warm/cool), IV, visits from the surgeon, blood draw, visit from anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, and finally the family could join me. They checked my INR level (I had stopped blood thinners the week before) and gave me the first dose of valium, which didn’t feel like much. For pain management they were going to place an epidural to numb the kidney area of the body (in addition to being put under for the surgery itself of course). This process took about an hour.  

The shirt has warm air moving over my chest, poofing it out. Many a boob joke made. 

After some tears, kisses and hand squeezing, I was wheeled around the corner and into the OR. I tried chatting a bit with the techs, though they were pretty reserved and stood along the wall with their hands in front of them. The OR was cold, though I had the familiar sensation of the cold not registering with me physically. The epidural people felt for my shoulder blade hips and ribs and told me to lean way over. I felt a lidocaine shot in my back that, like the cold, was painful and not painful, like the pain was being explained to me. The OR itself looked old somehow – maybe it had 70s tiling? I laid down, someone put a mask on me (oxygen he explained) and I was out.

Here are a few waiting room photos:

Dad and Lora

C's Mom and my Dad - who had some reading to do

At the room, Dad my nurse and Lora

I woke up on my left side in a great deal of pain. I became aware of my IV pole with a yellow box on it, and a woman telling me something about the epidural. My side burned, and whether I moved or lay still, I was uncomfortable. Someone said the epidural works on gravity, and should work its way to the site. I heard beeping. Gradually I became aware that there were other people around me; specifically a man facing me in the next bed, maybe 6 feet away, who wasn’t in much better shape. I heard a fair amount of groaning, and some of it was coming from me. I had no awareness of several catheters and IV lines in my body. After about an hour or this, my family came back to see me – though I don’t remember that visit well. I do remember being in less pain. Another few minutes and I was on my way to a room.

The transition from moving bed to laying bed can be tricky, as I couldn’t really move on my own. Usually I am sort of heaved by people lifting and moving the sheet I’m laying on. This time a ceiling lift dropped and connected to the sheet beneath me and hoisted my nice and smooth burrito style over to the bed. C’s family poked their heads in (all I saw of them that day) and went on their way. C sat with me a while (possibly with my parents?) as a stream of people asked me questions while I tried to keep my eyes open (fail).

I'm actually awake and looking at the camera - you can see the epidural IV in the yellow lockbox  

Thus began my recovery. Thanks for reading!