Our new clinic is very different than the old one as we discovered with my husband's surgery. Since the new clinic is part of a hospital, all OR procedures happen there. When I went in this morning, I was scheduled between a bone operation and a kidney surgery.
Things were very different than the first procedure. It was very busy in pre-op. They took my vitals at least six times. They separated us until my IV was in. We waited for nearly two hours before being walked back. I saw at least 9 nurses throughout the day saying they're the ones going to take care of me. Contrary to old clinic where they have a cubby for your stuff and you go back to the same room after surgery, in the new clinic each part was a different location. I was told I should give anything valuable to my husband for safekeeping. This included my glasses. I was VERY uncomfortable giving up my glasses before needed since I cannot see without them, but I couldn't risk them getting damaged or lost for that very reason.
Forty five min after my scheduled time, I gave up my glasses, said goodbye to my husband and walked semi-blindly with the nurse to the OR. They got me set up, hooked up a bunch of things, and started medication. As we waited for the doctor to come the nurses complimented my eyebrows and we had a whole conversation about the benefits of threading. The doctor came and everyone was ready to start but we had to wait for the anesthesiologist to come before the nurse could administer the dose that would put me to sleep. At that point my doctor complimented my eyelashes and everyone chuckled since she clearly missed the threading conversation. I joked with them to keep the compliments coming; the oxygen mask covering my face made talking difficult and my eyelids were getting heavy.
The anesthesiology doc finally showed up and the nurse gave me the heads up that they're about to start. I felt a cold sensation in my IV arm and I was out. The next thing I knew they were trying to roll me onto a gurney but my body was totally dead weight. I fell asleep again and woke up in recovery sobbing, hearing someone telling me to take deep breaths. I don't even know why I was crying - relief? Pain? Drugs? Who knows. I feel like this is a common theme with me waking up from surgery.
The doctor was telling me something ".... and we'll go over your results." By the time I opened my eyes again I wasn't sure how much time had passed but my doctor was gone. They told me they need a few more blood pressure readings before I can go to the next stage of recovery where my husband will get called. They gave me water and ginger ale and crackers and said I have to be able to go to the bathroom before they can take me to the next stage. I sipped my water down and asked for another. I took a few swigs of the ginger ale. The crackers were ignored.
At one point I was still disoriented and the nurse pulled the curtains back and said something like "....I'm just going to check..." - lifted my robe and peeked into my mesh undies. First of all, when did I acquire said mesh undies. And second, I know that while I was out they could do literally anything, but dude I'm awake and I'm right here!!! I was still out of it enough not to make a stink about it but still. They likely do this every day; they're just doing their job; but a little courtesy and warning goes a long way.
About 50 min after arriving at post op they asked if I was ready for the bathroom. We walked over and I did my business and as a reward I was allowed to level up to the next stage. They called my husband over. The nurse was about to give me something for the nausea but I declined -- I'd rather a day of nausea than a week of constipation, tyvm. Also, thanks for asking and giving me a choice rather than just shoving it in my IV. I already liked her better. I was about to get dressed when I asked if I was going to see my doctor. Apparently I had asked for her twice already and she was being paged. She called the nurses station and I walked over to talk on the phone. She said we'll talk at the post-op, remember? I said I had no memory of this but thanked her and hung up. Clearly I was not lucid when that conversation took place.
They took out my IV, I got dressed, and they wheeled me out. I asked if I could walk and they said it's policy. Being in the chair made me so nauseous and I really preferred to walk, but I also knew that if I argued it would delay going home and that was my ultimate goal.
I got home starving. It was nearly 3 pm and all I'd had was water and a little ginger ale since 6 pm last night. I had my prepared healthy lunch of roasted sweet potatoes, hard boiled eggs, and whipped cottage. I was no longer hungry but I was very dissatisfied. I had an intense need for cake. I. NEED. CAKE. I took to the freezer and found some ice cream. I also found some cheese curls hidden in one of the drawers. I had both and was still not happy.
I paged my world and asked them to bring cake. One person brought babka; another brought an apple crumble. While it was greatly appreciated that people answered the call, they didn't bring the right cake. The babka was store bought and gross; and I don't like baked fruit. I couldn't direct them because I didn't even know what I wanted. I couldn't tell them they brought bad cake because even in my insanity I still felt protective of their feelings. My mom offered to make sponge cake. I declined, not wanting her to bother. I decided I need chocolate chip cookies and made a batch. They were heaven. I planned on eating the entire batch but I was satisfied and full after two cookies. They really hit the spot.
At this point it's been over five hours since I woke up from the procedure. Cramping has subsided significantly. There's more bleeding than last time but I don't know what that means, if anything. Hopefully it will go away in time for mikva. Sex is allowed as soon as bleeding stops but that's not my concern right now. Even though cramping has gotten better and I'm not in physical pain, I'm really tired and feeling light headed. They did general anesthesia, not the twilight stuff I'm used to. I'm also really annoyed. Really, really annoyed. I don't know why, but I'm just mad at the world. I've limited visitors because I can't be trusted not to snap at someone or say something I might regret. My filter went for a hike and I don't know if it's coming back today.
Shabbat food was already made last night so we're prepared; all I need to do is light. Going to shower, light, eat, and sleep for 15 hours. Shabbat shalom. Love and peace to all.
I have an easy recipe for a chocolate mug cake that's baked in the microwave. Takes 3 minutes to make. (Not my blog) http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2011/01/quick-cake-for-one.html
ReplyDelete