Surgery Day

Well, there's no turning back now. I had surgery at 6:00 am today so I'm officialy on the losers bench. Well, actually I'm on the losers bed.

For anyone who is a patient of Dr. Nick Nicholson at Forest Park Medical Center, this may be most helpful to you:

I got to the hospital at 4:00 this morning. At first it was a lot of hurry up and wait.  I got my ID band between the 4:00 and 5:00 hour. Around 5:00 am I went back to the holding area where I got changed into ONLY a hospital gown and where I got my IV. The first attempt was a failure. She got it in but it just did'nt do whatever it was supposed to. Oh, and they used Lidocaine to numb the area. Lidocaine stings a bit, but it makes the IV going in a lot smoother from my perspective. I barely felt anything. I would call what I felt, pressure not pain. Now, all I had to do was meet with the Anesthesiologist and my doctor. Oh, and his surgery nurse. She popped in and identified herself before Dr. Nick and the anesthesiologist. Shortly thereafter I saw Dr. Nick and the anesthesiologist. Things went quickly after that. Within minutes of the anesthesiologist leaving my room she came back with Verced....the drug that relaxes you and there and then I was off. I remember going into the operating room and getting on the OR table. Next thing I know, I woke up in recovery. I have no idea how long I was in surgery or recovery. I told my Mom who was with me to ask Dr. Nick about my liver. He told her it looked awesome and he could tell I did a good job on the preop diet. Hallelujah!!

Okay, this is where I describe everything so far after surgey. If you only want the "pretty roses" story, I'd suggest you stop reding now. So I woke up in Recovery. I have no idea how long the surgery lasted or how long I'd been in Recovery. I didn't wake up with a catheter or a drain. Yay! I woke up with INTENSE pain and my back arched.  That is my very first memory.  I soon realized I had severe cotton mouth too.  But mostly, it was just about the INTENSE pain. At that point, I wondered what in the heck I had done to myself and I truly wished, at that point, that I could rewind time and not go through what I just had.  I truely was feeling regret.  Yeah, I know I may sound like a whinny baby but I really am not. I've been told by other doctors that I have a high tolerance for pain. But not today! I think it was more physical pain then I've ever felt in my entire life. They just couldnt give me enough pain meds this morning.  But after what felt like an eternity, I was able to get enough to calm the pain down to a tolerable level.  Thank goodness for the Morphine pain pump. It hasn't completly killed the pain but, as of right now, it is manageable.

So that pretty much sums up surgery day for me. I think that is all for now.
~Amy