| 4:15 AM | Shake awake goes off and I hit the snooze button of course. 15 min later Charlie is up and getting ready. I follow his example 10 minutes later |
| 5:00 | Checking off things I need: glasses case, wallet, and phone. Get in car and drive away |
| 5:15 | I-40 overpass to downtown –full moon is absolutely gorgeous big and orange like a wheel of cheddar. I’m so hungry! |
| 5:30 | Manage to find the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) at St. Anthony’sWhile waiting for someone to help us, Charlie meets a security officr who used to work for the post office |
| 5:45 | I’m in my pre-op room, stripped down to the butt flashing hospital gownI find this room quite odd because I’ve never seen a hospital room with the toilet out in the open like that. Nurse comes in to make sure I’m comfortable and covers me with a blanket. I’m surprised the pre-op is so warm. Usually, it’s the coldest room in the building. At least in my experience it is! |
| 6:00 | Nurse comes in to draw blood and start catheter…problem …I’m slightly dehydrated and she has difficulty finding a vein. Finally managed to get the catheter in my right hand but has to use a butterfly needle to draw blood from my left arm. She asked if that’s where I usually have blood drawn. Apparently, she noticed the scar tissue from all the previous times back in 2006/2007 when I had severe anemia. |
| 7:00 | Anesthesiologist comes in to introduce himself and ask some questions. Noticed this is my 5th surgery in the past 5 years and we talked a little bit about my sleep apnea. He informs me that I will have a tube down my throat to help me breathe during the surgery, then explains that I may have some nausea and a sore throat afterwards. |
| 7:15 | Dr Berryhill comes to visit and make sure everything is ok. I asked about switching from Left to Right ear, but he’s already mapped out the left ear surgery. I “prefer” my left ear, and because of that, the left ear is more likely to be successful. He said he’d make an appt for me at his clinic to have a new right ear mold made. I don’t wear it in the right because I can barely get the mold in. |
| 7:30 | Nurses come to take me to the operating room table. I’m Helen Keller at this point, no glasses or hearing aids. People’s faces are a blur as I roll down the hallways, so all I see is a sea of blue scrubs (that was kind of odd- never seen EVERYONE wearing the same color or scrubs like St Anthony). The anesthesiologist gets started and puts an oxygen mask on me. |
| 8:30 | Out like a light. |
| 9:30 | Dead to the world. |
| 10:30 | Not sure exactly when they moved me to recovery but the doctor told Charlie it didn’t take all 3 hours to insert the implant. I’m guessing they moved me about now. |
| 11:15 | I remember being awake enough to see the clock, so I must have my glasses on. I don’t have the hearing aid mold for the right ear so I’m completely deaf at this point. I’m also extremely nauseous. Oh man, I want to HURL; it hurts. The nurse gives me some medicine and the nausea goes away. I’m also very uncomfortable on this teeny tiny “bed” in the post-op recovery. I have some kind of bandage on my head (later, I learned it’s called a CI Cup) |
| 11:30 | Male nurse/tech trying to wake me up more, orders me to take deep breaths and cough a little bit. I tend to hold my breath when I’m in pain and at the moment I wasn’t doing so good. My stomach hurt, my head hurt and I’m burning up like I’m on fire. My forehead itches. |
| 12:00 | Moved to a private post-op room and I get to see Charlie again. Finally get a chance to have some water and crackers, but they taste nasty, as if they were sprayed in Chloraseptic. I told the nurse I was hurting a little bit, so she gave me a small dose of morphine in my catheter and a Percocet. The cup is driving me insane and I can’t do anything about it. I dozed off for a little while until it was time to go home. |
| 12:45 | Nurse gives Charlie the discharge instructions because I’m pretty out of it from the combo of morphine and oxycodone. He leaves to get the car and after my catheter is removed, another nurse wheels me down to the entrance. |
| 1:00 | Finally on our way home. We’ve only been at the hospital for 7.5 hours today. |
This is the best I can do as tired as I am right now. I fell asleep several times while writing it down LOL
No comments:
Post a Comment