I managed to sleep a good 2-3 hours, which is not too bad! We woke up at 4:30 am, had only enough time to clean up quickly, get dressed and get out the door. We arrived at the hospital on time and got checked-in.
The check-in process had many more steps than I expected. First, I signed in at the front desk, where they made me fill out a form and sign a few papers. Then, I had to wait about 10 minutes for one of the three available check-in staff there. They made me sign even more paperwork and put a band on each of my wrists. They said the doctors would decide which one to keep, but they actually kept both the entire time I was in the hospital. I guess it was easier that way.
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| The view from my pre-op room. |
Once that was done, we waited another 15 minutes for a nurse to call us in. First, she had me take a urine sample (to check for pregnancy I'm guessing), and then she led me in a long, narrow area with two rows of small rooms. Each room had a rolling bed, a TV, and all the stuff you need for vitals and IVs. There were a few pre-op nurses with their own terminal in the middle of the area, taking care of multiple rooms around. I was introduced to my own pre-op nurse, who instructed me to change into a gown. Once I was set, he put on compression socks on my calves. They were electronic and pretty cool! When they turned them on, they'd periodically inflate with air, then deflate to massage my calves. The nurse also applied these weird large bandaids on my heels and on my tailbone. They were called Mepilex, and apparently they help prevent sores from being on the surgery table for so long? I don't know...
Shortly after, the anesthesiologist came in. He called me the night before to make sure I didn't have anything to eat after 10pm, and he sounded kinda weird on the phone. He actually said "greetings" in a serious tone. I was a bit wary of what kind of person he would turn out to be. I always figured it would be nice to have an anesthesiologist who is upbeat and funny and likeable like in a lot of blogs I've read. There's something reassuring about it, knowing that the person who is basically keeping you alive and tethered to the living world is full of joy and love and seem to like you. I'm probably overthinking it, but there you have it. So after the call yesterday, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but he turned out to be awesome. He was very calm, smiling and incredibly warm. We chatted a bit about where I came from and the weather, etc. He inserted the IV himself and I kid you not, I did not feel a thing. Truly a magic trick! He also introduced me to the nurse who would be in the operating room as well.
My surgeon came in for a few minutes to check on me, and then left, saying he'd see me soon in the operating room. My nerves were at an all-time high at that point, with so many people popping in and the realization that this was really happening. The anesthesiologist then gave me a small sedative. He said it would feel like I had a couple of glasses of wine, and it was pretty much spot on. It calmed me down at least, which was nice. Then, he started wheeling me towards the operating room.
There were about 2-3 other nurses in there. The surgeon greeted me again, and he had me transfer to the operating table. At that point, things start feeling fuzzy in my memory to be honest. I remember seeing a wall full of metal shelvings and supplies in front of me. The anesthesiologist then placed a breathing mask over my head and asked me to hold it there. And that's it.
No countdown, nothing! It was kind of nice to be honest. I didn't go through the whole anticipation of counting and knowing it was going to happen soon. I just drifted off peacefully.
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