Matt and I arrived at the hospital early on purpose so that I can have my time to go through the pre-op process slow and take time to mentally process everything. I was going to be my surgeon's first case of the day and the first surgery taking place in the operating room.
Upon arriving at the hospital I remember how relieved I was that my Mom and Dad where there, having my family by my side allowed me to relax a little bit and made it easier for me to trust the staff and nurses.
I remember checking in at the main entrance of the hospital and having to sign my life away! Then they gave me my ID band and took me back to the pre-op room. The nurses that I met there were wonderful and spent time going over everything with me to make sure I truely understood what was going to happen and when.
A nurse came in to place the IV line in my hand. Puttine one into my inner elbow was not an option any longer as I have had many IV's started there recently and the area is too brused and sore, Because of the severe dehydration that comes with not being able to tolerate and/or keep down food and liquid my veins had become hard to find and very tiny. She tried three times to get the IV into one of the veins on the top of my had before getting another nurse. This seccond nurse chose a spot about halfway up from my wrist to my elbow, and it worked on the seccon try and he started fluids and antibiotics.
Then I was escorted to the restroom where I was to change into the lovely hospital gown and wipe down with antibacterial wipes one last time. Here I am in the pre-op room:
I had woken up super nautious again thanks to my "dead" colon. We had decided in my last pre-op appointment that to fend off nausia I would be getting a squalamine patch, they placed the round silver patch behind my ear very quickly, thank goodness. My surgeon had also explained that women are more likely to respond to anesthia with nausea and vomiting after surgery so they wanted to get a head start on that and be proactive. Such a great idea, i love when doctors are proactive about your health. :)
I
must say I had the BEST care team. Before wheeling me down to surgery I met with both
anesthisiologists that would be in the room, then two of the nurses and the
lead nurse that would be working with me, my surgeons assistants (3), and then
my wonderful surgeon.
My surgeon has a very calming presence, when I saw him the morning of my surgery i felt very relieved and relaxed. While he was talking with me and my family about the procedure I began to cry as a wave of calm swept over my body. Finally I could let all the anxiety, fear and pain go, I was finally going to get the surgery I had been needing for years! My trust in my surgeon made this possible. God had guided me to this moment, to this surgeon and everything was falling into place.
Before I knew it I was saying my last goodbyes to my family and getting lots of hugs and kisses from everyone. Then the ansteologist wheeled me down the long hallway and into the operating room. On the way there I started getting extreemly nervious and I guess that the nurses could tell because the anestologist gave me a sedative through my IV.
I remember beeing wheeled into this huge operating room, just the sheer size of the OR was intimidating not to mention all the machinery and surgical tools! Next I was situated to recieve my upidural and that is the last thing I remember. My surgeon and I
decided to do an epidural that would help with pain so that i would not have to
take so many narcotic pain medications. I must warn you that I was very happy
for the epidural because I woke up after surgery in very little pain for the
first two days but it made me itch horribly, i was told this happens some
times. The reason for the epidural was because we were concerned about the
posiblity of an ileus from narcotic pain medications so wanted to limit the
amount i was taking. In a previous surgery i had a serious bout of an ileus.