The surgery went surprisingly well. I was really pretty nervous, but the kindness of the staff and the drugs that they gave me helped calm me down. The event went as follows:
Jack and I arrived at 6 AM, I registered and paid some money, and we headed over to the surgical wing. My mother was late, but she arrived just in time to wish me well and give me a hug. The nurse who came to get me laughed out loud and said, “Imagine a tiny little thing like you getting her gallbladder out!” All the nurses made a big deal of how thin I was and, although I know that’s largely because the people they normally see are larger, it made me feel good.
They could tell I was nervous as they were prepping me and such, so they gave me some drugs to calm me down. They wheeled me into a room that probably would have freaked me out horribly if they hadn’t drugged me. It was small, cramped, and full of dangerous looking tools. They had me scoot onto a green surgical bed, and adjusted me a bit. That’s the last thing I remember.
I suppose this is normal, but I don’t remember being put to sleep. When I’ve had various teeth pulled, I always at least remembered the nurse or doctor saying, “Okay, we’re going to put you out now.” In this case, I don’t remember whether the anesthesia was administered via IV, or whether they gave me a mask. I also remember having strange dreams under anesthesia, but not so in this case. When I awoke, it was almost as if I had been asleep for a year and I hadn’t dreamed of a single thing. It was a strange experience.
They let me wake up a bit, and then wheeled me into a recovery room. They were a bit freaked out at first because I had what looked like a blotchy rash on my chest and they assumed I was having an allergic reaction. I had to explain to them in my sleepy state that I regularly get blotches on my chest from temperature change or stress, and this seemed to calm their concerns. After getting to the recovery room, they had my mother and Jack come in. I was happy to see them. I really wanted to go home right then and there, but they insisted that I hang out for a bit to recover. I had very little pain, as they had numbed my incisions pretty thoroughly. After what seemed like an eternity, they released me.
I was in a little pain yesterday, but I was mostly just nauseous. [TMI ALERT] As soon as I got home, I threw up and my largest incision started bleeding all over the place. It scared me a little, but it stopped pretty quickly. Other than that, I slept and rested and watched movies.
Today, I’m pretty sore, but my nausea is gone. My wounds look pretty stable. All in all, my nerves were mostly for naught. Everyone was really very nice. I am absolutely thrilled, however, that it is over. I hope I won’t be back in the operating room for a very, very, very long time.
