Surgery Day

Well folks, this is it!  I'm up, bags are packed and we're headed soon to downtown Seattle to check in at the hospital for surgery.  I went out late with Heather, Allen, Ashley, and Sean to get pizza at Zeek's for my last solid meal for the next few days.  It was so nice to be surrounded by fun and loving people.  It made hard to feel scared about today.  I also got to see Dheeraj and Phoebe who I haven't seen in ages but are among my favorite people I've worked with at Microsoft.  I can't help feeling blessed by knowing all these wonderful people.

Once I get to the hospital they'll check me in, and then I'll get to wait for an indeterminate amount of time before they prep me for surgery.  Pre-surgery prep usually involves changing out street clothes for a hospital gown and some ugly grey socks.  I can't wear either contacts or glasses into surgery so I'm basically blind after this point.

After getting fashionably appropriate they will stick me on a gurney and put on a pulse/ox monitor (clips on your finger) that measures pulse and oxygen saturation.  They also will put on an automated blood pressure cuff that periodically inflates and checks my pressure.  Lastly, they  will insert an IV.  Generally they do this by inserting it into a vessel in the back of your hand.  To me it's always felt like they' were trying to lodge the needle in the metacarpals of my wrist.  The only good news is that shortly after they do this they start giving some kind of anti anxiety medication and you suddenly don't have any worries anymore.

Everyone I meet will ask me for my name and birthdate to confirm I am who they think I am.  The anesthesiologist will stop by a for a brief chat about his or her roll in the procedure and get my informed consent. Then the surgeon will show up and I'll have to confirm with him what the exact procedure to be performed will be so that he and I are in agreement (so I don't get the wrong part lopped off).

The ORs are bigger rooms than you expect but I can never see much with no glasses.  There are usually  a dozen ore more people in the room.  Then right as they're going to knock me out they'll call a stop for a safety check where every person involved in the procedure has to agree that the person and the procedure are correct.  After that comes the easy part for me.  I'll be unconscious for a few  hours while they work on me and then wake up some where with warm blankest, juice and cookies.

I'm  a bit hazy on what will occur after that, but after I've recovered sufficiently from the anesthetic I'll be taken off to my room for the night and hopefully be fed real food.  Then it is up to me to try to sleep as much as I can.  At some point my boyfriend will likely leave for the night and I just hope I'll be so out of it I'll sleep through the night.

This will be my last blog post for a few days.  Please check the Facebook page for updates instead.