My People

My People
My matched set of grandchildren - Oliver and Cosette

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Whiniest of Wednesday is yet to come...

It's the whiniest of Wednesday around here! It's my surgery day and I am... at peace but apprehensive, if that makes sense.

Yesterday went fine. Everyone says the prep is the worst part of a colonoscopy and that is true... I wasn't a fan of the IV either... but other than that, no big deal. When I got to registration the man at the sign in desk noted that Dr. Lewis was doing my surgery... he said, "he's a fine, Christian man... he's my surgeon too"... and I thanked him for sharing that... "that's comforting to know, thank you for telling me that"... seriously... knowing that the person who is in charge of my care prays the same way I do... well, that's a good thing.

I had a long wait in preop...it was a little over an hour... I tried to nap but there was a lot of commotion over a guy who had a surgery scheduled and the equipment had not arrived. Apparently our hospital doesn't own the equipment for some procedures and only has it on site certain days of the week. Who knew? The person who scheduled this poor guy's surgery didn't schedule the equipment. So there was much drama and many people coming back and forth and (loudly) discussing the options. I was worried for a brief moment that his equipment was also my equipment but quickly surmised that was not the case. After that I just laid there eavesdropping.

Finally they came and took me back. The procedure itself... turn on your left side... covered with nice warm blankets... put on oxygen mask... make sure blood pressure cuff is positioned correctly... make sure heart monitor leads are not constricted... everyone makes introductions, a little pleasant small talk... the anesthesiologist says, "I'm going to put something in your IV, it works quickly" and... wake up in recovery. It was that simple. Dr. Lewis came by and said everything was fine, no polyps, no gnarly growths or anything to worry about... just hemorrhoids. The nurse comes in and tells me I need to pass gas before I can leave... she sends Bubba out of the room so I will fart... she says, "you grew up together, didn't you pass gas in front of each other?"... Not intentionally. I mean... my boys would fart out songs to each other... they would light their farts... there was no holds barred... but my immediate family was slightly less gauche. So I pass my gas, get my apple juice, get my clothes on and go home. No big deal. I wasn't even loopy.

I'm on the third day of my liquid diet. I am not loving it but I'm not really suffering. I had a little mango ice yesterday... a cup of coffee or two (black)... a good bit of apple juice and I went to sleep before 8. I woke up at 12:23 am and panicked because I wasn't supposed to have anything to eat or drink past midnight. I decided that it wasn't a big deal if I had something to drink so soon after midnight, took a big swallow of juice and poured the rest of my glass out so I didn't accidentally drink anything if I was groggy during the night.

I feel like this is such a boring entry! I'm just really distracted by my anxiety. I'm not in a cold panic or anything. I'm just apprehensive about the pain and recovery. I'm trying to sort of equate it with childbirth recovery since there are a lot of the same kind of pains... but I'll be minus the cramps, the engorgement and having to care for an infant... so this should be easier, right? I'm just ready to get this over with.

So that's my Whiny Wednesday...
Nothing to eat or drink until after surgery...
Having to get another IV...
Worrying about the pain and recovery...
And... that's it.

I'll update whenever I am lucid enough. Thanks in advance for your prayers and good wishes!
Love and hugs!

0 comments: