Surgery Journey.

Loved seeing that they put my name on my bed

But didn't like having the iv. Gentle but bloody!

My cart was on the right side. They put me close

to the nursing desk, in case I did panic or choked

when I woke up. Thankfully, it was all great. And

do you see the QR code on my bracelet. Scanned in!

Loved our hospital uses Ikea carts. We put a teal one

together at home with all the things I'll need for the

next little while. I'll do a post about that. And look at

my "room" number: 13! Yikes but it was lucky after all.

Edith my nurse and youngest dd as we were getting

ready to leave. And the outside of the room we were in.

Today was surgery day. This is a surgery that I've wished for for years. I was approved and then my date was set for March 20th, 2020. And you can get what happened. Yup! Covid hit, the World shut down and my date was cancelled. Later in the year, when things were a bit calmer and protocols were in place, I was offered another date but I passed as I hadn't contracted Covid and didn't want to put myself in a place of risk. Over the 2 years, I passed when the dates came up, as there always seemed to be an outbreak. Thankful for a surgeon who was able to let me wait. This year, I was offered a date of November 8th and finally was able to commit. Ironically, the hospital just announced an outbreak, but it's on a floor that is long term and not anywhere near surgery. And I have all my boosters, so didn't feel the same level of concern. To date, touch wood, I still have not contracted Covid even though everyone in my family has had it at least twice. Even with the vaccines, we took a lot of time to research and feel comfortable. Both our family doctor and our naturopath felt I would likely have some type of reaction. I took my epiPens to the appointments but again, to date, not even a sore arm for all the shots. And no reaction. Family and friends all had some level of reaction, from feeling tired, to sore arm, to in bed with flu like symptoms. Me? Nada! Bizzare but I'm thankful.

I was quite anxious prior to today. I've only had 2 surgeries: my tonsils at the age of 4 and my appendix burst on my 18th birthday. Both were slightly traumatic and especially with my breathing and swallowing. So I've managed to avoid any other procedures all these years but the day was here and after a lot of work on my own and with my counsellor, I was very surprised today how well everything went, that I didn't panic, I didn't wake up choking or not breathing, and I'm alive! I literally was terrified of going to sleep and not waking up. So much so that we reviewed our will, I purged the house "just in case" and wouldn't come to the hospital today until I knew everything in my life was in place. Lots of work. But in the end, worth it so that I could relax, which I did. Now I can recover, knowing those things are in place. 

My surgeon was so sweet, the nursing staff comforting and the anesthesiologist brilliant. She came to visit me prior to my trip down the hall and I was able to share my fear of going to sleep and not waking up. She was more than reassuring with her words and her compassion. She promised me that once I was nicely asleep, she'd do all my breathing for me and I would wake up without choking. Her prediction that I'd fall asleep and then it would feel like just a minute later that they would be gently waking up. And that is just what happened. In the operating room, I felt so calm as everything was explained to me. She said "its time" and stroked my forehead as I went to sleep. I'll never forget how loving everyone was. The next thing I remember, was a lovely voice telling me it was time to wake up. We anticipated leaving around 4 pm today but in fact, we were the last to leave around 6 pm. I feel like I must have been hard to wake up but will ask at my follow up as there didn't seem to be any concern once I was awake. My lovely nurse Edith who welcomed me there in the morning, along with dh and daughter, was there at the end and wheeled me out to our car. Again, so amazing and caring. We hear so many negative experiences about our health care system but I was blown away today with everything I experienced and what I observed with the other patients having surgery in the same unit. So very fortunate to have such committed and talented medical professionals. And at no cost to residents.

I don't recall the entire drive home. It was dark and I knew that once home I'd be tired. But loved listening to the banter of my dh and daughter as they shared their adventures for the afternoon while I was in the operating room. Once home, we got all settled in to sleep in the family room for the night, with my eldest daughter who is a nurse, monitoring everything and setting up the best pain management plan. The surgeon gave her some great tips and also gave permission for her to remove my drains on Friday as she has spent time working in pre and post op. This way, we don't have to drive back in to the big City for a procedure that will only take a few minutes but the drive in, finding parking, walking to the clinic, waiting for my time, the procedure, the walk back to the car, driving home and then getting changed back in to my pyjamas would take at least a minimum of 2 hours. I haven't had any pain yet but anticipate by tomorrow, the surgery meds will wear off and then we'll be figuring out what works the best. Should be an interesting experience. Feeling a bit nauseated but just took some ginger gravol. Hope to try to sleep for a bit, until the lovely nurse wakes me up to do her first check and meds!

I'll write a bit about this journey as we go.

~ Chy