One Year Ago....

At this moment one year ago, I was on my way to the hospital. Nervous as all get-out Scared witless, but trying not to let it get the best of me. My surgery was scheduled for 1:15 pm & I had to be there 2 hrs before...I had had my pre-op appt one week before. I was dealing with pretty severe anemia, but had responded well to a new form of iron my doc had prescribed. He also wanted me to take another drug, but after doing my own research, I decided the side effects/risk were too high & said no. The pre-op blood numbers would be where "the rubber meets the road" -- if I had been right, my Hct and Hgb would be high enough to go ahead with the surgery. If I'd been wrong, I'd either need to have a transfusion in order to proceed or it would have to be cancelled & rescheduled. I hadn't gotten a call telling me something in my bloodwork was amiss, but was pretty nervous about it, so it was a BIG relief when I asked my pre-op nurse what my levels were & to hear for sure that they were high enough to go forward.

They had taken me back into pre-op very shortly after I arrived & checked in with admitting. A few minor preliminaries & then all that was left was to wait. Luckily, they let my SO come back, so I had someone to talk to/someone to help distract me. 1:15 pm came & went, with no sign of my doc. About 1:40 pm, a resident came in & introduced herself. Followed shortly thereafter by a med student, my soon-to-be OR nurse, my surgeon and the anesthesiologist. It's surprising how quickly one of those hospital cubicles/bays gets crowded!! After 15 mins of poking & prodding, answering questions, etc, we were good to go. The anesthesiologist announced he was going to get started. I remember handing my iPod and my glasses to my SO, but nothing after that. He says we were downstairs for another 5 mins or so after that, during which time we were still conversing, but I have no memory of it.

The next thing I was aware of was PAIN. Intense pain. Pain like I've never known before. (I told my doc the next day when he came to check on me that I could cross being a magician's assistant off my life's list since I already knew what it felt like to be sawed in half!)...I wasn't really expecting that much pain. Yes, I knew that it'd hurt, but I hadn't expected to be in that level of pain, figuring they'd keep me pretty doped up so I didn't feel that much pain. Only thing I can figure is they needed to bring me back to a certain level of awareness before they could administer anything else. Once they realized I was aware, my OR nurse touched my leg, called my name & told me it was over. I don't remember a lot of other details, but I do remember that he was surprised that I not only knew who he was, but remembered his name.

I have no idea how long I was in surgery vs how long after that I came to vs how long after that I was in post-op. I'm virtually blind as a bat without my glasses or contact lenses, so I couldn't bring anything into focus even if I had been able to (and I'm not sure I could have). I do know that it was after 6 pm before I was taken upstairs to my room, so there's a 4+ hr window. My SO made sure I'd been transferred to my room, that he had told me the details as reported by my doc (and written it on the white board in my room so in case I wasn't really "with it", I'd be able to read it later), given me back my glasses & iPod, etc. He then had to take off to teach our dance classes that evening. He was supposed to come back afterwards, but when he called after the classes were over, I told him to go on home & get some sleep instead. I'd had 2 friends come by earlier in the evening & they both have since told me that they are amazed I even remembered they came, so I'm guessing I looked pretty awful.

I was supposed to be released 2 days later, but I spiked a fever that morning, so ended up staying an extra day. 6 weeks later, I had to go back to work. Luckily, I don't work in the main bldg & my boss was kind and kept it quiet that I was back for the first week to give me time to get caught up on emails/voicemails and to gently ease back into work. It took 3 months until I could start trying to build strength & I'm still not back to where I was pre-op on some things, but it keeps on improving, so with work & dedication, I should get there.

So, here's to a better August 27, 2008 than August 27, 2007!! Of course, I wouldn't mind the 6 weeks off work option, but not if that's what it takes to get it!!!