Surgery and Beyond

Surgery

May 29, 2013

I rose early on Wednesday and showered and dressed.  As instructed, I used no hair products, lotions, perfume, deodorant, or makeup.  Maybe I should adopt this grooming style permanently.  It could be a bit scary to others, but it sure cuts down on time spent getting ready.  I was ready to go well before Heidi arrived at 7:15, and we arrived at the hospital before our appointed 7:45 check-in time.

First item of business was to go over to Radiology for a chest x-ray and a blood draw.  I was given the usual hospital gown that ties either front or back depending on the procedure.  They are considerate enough to provide two gowns now so that one can be worn frontward and the other backward, thus providing maximum privacy when ambulating the hallways.  After x-rays, we went back to Same Day Surgery for preoperative preparations.  Here I was provided a lovely new ensemble consisting of a pair of stylish one-size-fits-all "privacy briefs" and a gown that opened in the back.  This was not the normal cotton gown but a paper gown, lilac in color, with several openings similar to those in disposable vacuum cleaner bags.  Once I was dressed I resembled a lilac Stay Puft marshmallow man.  Heidi and I had a good laugh over that.  Once I crawled onto the table and the nurse plugged a "vacuum hose" into one of the openings, we discovered the true use of the gown.  Warm air was pumped into the gown that I could control with a dial for more or less heat.  No more complaints of being cold!!  This was awesome!

We had an unexpected wait before surgery because the surgeon had to perform an emergency appendectomy, which set her other surgeries back.  About 11:30 or 11:45 they finally wheeled me to surgery and Heidi went out to the waiting room to wait.  It was sometime around 2:30 or 3:00 when I first became aware of my surroundings again.  I was surprised that I had no recollection of going into the operating room or being transferred to the operating table.  I met the anesthesiology team one at a time while still in preop, but that was the last I remember seeing them.  I am just guessing when I say it was the most amazing experience I never remembered.  The left mastectomy was performed as planned, and the doctor removed three lymph nodes, none of which appeared to have cancer cells, so that was great news.

The next thing I remember I was comfortably settled in my room for an overnight stay.  A bouquet of flowers from Brian and Teresa sat on the night stand beside me.  The familiar quart-size water cup with the big fat straw next to the flower vase brought back memories of previous stays in the hospital when each of my children were born.  Those water cups never change.  With all the advances in medicine and science, I guess no one has been able to come up with a better design, or maybe it's the idea "if it's not broke, why fix it?"

The afternoon passed quickly.  Heidi stayed for a while and then returned to rescue Bryce who was watching the boys (with his mom's help I think).  Marilyn also came to spend some time with me.  Jim was on the road so was unable to come.  It was good to visit with her for a while.  When she left, KayLyn Shaw came over and visited.  She took me on a short walk around the hospital corridor.  When I was settled in for the night (as best as one can be in a hospital) I received a short visit from two dear friends who also happen to be in the Ward Relief Society Presidency, Molly and Kathy.  They apologized for not coming sooner but they couldn't find a patient named Colleen Hatch.  They forgot that I might be admitted under my first name.  It was kind of them to come and visit.

I don't know why I thought that I would get a good night sleep.  I settled down early enough, but the nurses had to check vital signs about every four hours, and in between those assignments, they checked about hourly to see if I needed anything and check on my pain level.  Each time I told them I was fine, I didn't need any medications, I just wanted to sleep.  They would say okay, get some sleep, but they didn't really mean it.

Thursday morning around 8:30 I talked to the doctor for a few minutes.  She said things looked good; I should be able to go home shortly.  She just needed to do the paperwork.  I called Ammon and said plan on probably more like an hour.  It was closer to 1 1/2 hours when he came to pick me up but I finally settled in at home by about 10:30.  I finally got to sleep for a few hours without interruptions.  In the afternoon I read a book that Teresa gave me and did a little tatting.  Then I turned in around 9:30 for the night.  It was probably the best night sleep I have had in a long time.