The Eternal Guest Room

Well, I survived!

I wasn’t nervous until the morning of, and then the Super Nervous-es kicked in. I also wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything, and with my surgery not being until 2:00 I was pretty hungry, grumpy and agitated.

We got to the hospital at 12:30, checked in, waited a little while, and finally went in. All of the nurses were really nice and helped make me feel at ease. I got the mandatory bracelet with my info on it, which they kept checking to make sure I wasn’t trying to get someone else’s surgery or something. And I got a special orange Allergy Alert bracelet because of my penicillin allergy. I got to put on a snazzy little outfit that was totally open in the back and had a weird pocket in the front. It also included weird stocking things that went up past my knees and made me feel like I was about to lose circulation in my legs.

I only had one minor breakdown. After they put the IV in my hand (which I wasn’t expecting, for some reason) I started shaking, crying, and telling Darek I didn’t want to do this anymore. They made me go to the bathroom with the IV; having the nurse walk you into the restroom, hang up your baggie of fluids, and saying she’d be back when she heard the toilet flush…well, let’s just say it makes you feel a little dehumanized.

But I survived.

I remember saying good-bye to Darek and being wheeled down the hallway. I felt like I was in a movie – the scene where they’re wheeling people around in those beds. It was very surreal. I remember shifting myself from the wheelie-bed to the Operating Room bed. There were a lot of people in the room. I still remember the ceiling very vividly. They put a mask on my face and told me to take deep breaths. I remember feeling absolutely terrified.

Then I was being wheeled into a dark room where the nicest nurse on the planet took care of me. I remember asking a lot of questions. “Is it over? Did they puncture anything? When can my husband come back? So it’s over? And nothing was punctured? Why did I have to wear those stocking things on my legs?” Normally I’m pretty quiet and don’t ask many questions but apparently the anesthesia and the fact that it was over made me pretty chatty. I was thrilled to learn that I’d get food & drinks. I got to pick out what juice and what kind of crackers I wanted. When Darek finally got to join me, I was halfway through my juice and crackers. Eating felt amazing.

I stayed in the last recovery room for over an hour. It was fascinating to watch my heartbeat on the monitor and weird to think that I was in the hospital post-surgery. It really weirds me out to think about being unconscious and handled by strangers; actually being picked up and moved onto a bed from the operating table. Very surreal. I got to leave the hospital in a wheelchair, which was also super weird.

But I survived! Recovery is taking longer than I anticipated, but every day gets better. I’m off the prescription pain meds and onto Advil, so I’m making progress.

The doctor told Darek that everything went perfectly. He even showed him pictures of how huge the polyp was – before, during, and after photos. Fun. And now it’s gone! So everything is getting better.