Surgery day – Part 2b

As I’ve been thinking about the day of surgery, I’ve realized that I left out a few little details, none are life-changing, but in the interest of documenting everything, I’m sharing them here.

1) I was totally remiss in not giving a huge shout-out to the hubs. He was the perfect person to have around after the surgery. He was so patient with my constant falling asleep, he was great at feeding me and most impressively, he managed to get my t-shirt on over my head without jostling me or making me dizzy. Hooray for an amazing hubs!

2) Right before going back to the operating room, when the nurse came in to let me know she was going to give me fluids, she also said she’d be giving me some medicine. My ears perked up and I, of course, asked what the medicine was. She said it was Versed, which would help reduce anxiety and would also cause amnesia. I must’ve given her a look like she was out of her mind, because she said, “But you don’t have to have it if you don’t want. I mean, you seem pretty relaxed.” I definitely declined the medication, mostly because I didn’t want to be given anything that was going to mess with my memory. No thanks! After the surgery, Nurse Ratched claimed that I had been given the medication during the surgery, but I don’t really believe her!

3) And speaking of Nurse Ratched . . . . . Sue, the nice nurse, had come back from break and was working on removing my IV. Nurse Ratched poked her head in, noted that Sue was back and said, “Well, it was nice meeting you and working with you.” I just looked at her and heard my mom’s voice in my head “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” So, I just looked at her =)

4) I talked with my friend Gina at church today. DH told her how much I appreciated her being there at the beginning of the surgery process.
Me: I got in the operating room and just freaked out.
Gina: Yeah, I could tell.
Me: Were my eyes as big as saucers?
Gina: Yeah, and then you closed them really tightly and I thought “Uh-oh”.

So apparently she could tell I was panicking. But, another factor was also in play. She was scheduled to be on another surgery, but that patient wasn’t ready. Since she knew me, she decided to tag along for awhile. Almost as soon as the anesthesia had knocked me out, she got the call that her patient was ready. Her window of availability was perfectly aligned with my need. That, my friends, is what I call Divine Intervention!

5) Before the surgery, I had been told that they would put a bra on me after the surgery. I kinda wondered how in the world they would get a snug-fitting sports bra on me without my cooperation, but I figured I’d wait and see. It ended up not being a sports bra. Rather, it was this velcro tube top thing. It was a VERY snug fit and the velcro was super industrial strength.
Notice that the velcro is right next to where the surgery took place. I have no idea why they put it on that way. DH and I had to do some crazy tricks to get the velcro off without accidentally whacking the incision!

And now for an update. The healing seems to be going pretty well. I have alot of bruising, and some of the bruises are enormous while others are a very dark magenta color. I’d show you a picture if it weren’t on my boob. I don’t really mind sharing a nipple-free picture, but I know many of your would be weirded out, so I’ll refrain from sharing 😀 The gurgling and sloshing is still a source of amusement to me. Not only do I get a gurgling sound (like what you’d hear in your stomach), there’s also a fizzy-type feeling (kinda like opening a liter of soda). The other weird thing is that I have no sensation in certain sections. At first I thought the numbness just needed to wear off, but it’s been four days, so this might be the new normal. It’s not the end of the world, just weird.

Finally, I”m looking forward to being allowed to exercise again. I’m up 8 pounds since the surgery, which was four days ago. That’s not good! Not being able to fit into my pants is not the way I like to begin my Sabbath mornings! Tuesday can’t come fast enough. That’s when I’ll hopefully be allowed to go back to normal exercise and more importantly, we’ll find out the final pathology.

Until then . . . . . .