Surgery Day Part Deux....... Bye Felica!

Surgery Day - January 26th - here we go...  Up at and at em at the butt crack of dawn.  Have to be at the hospital by 5:30 a.m.  Normally this would be tragic for me, but today not a big deal, as I haven't slept a wink anyways.  Arrive at the hospital and check in at the desk.  Get called back to get this "party" started.  Change into my beautiful party gown and the nurse lady gets to poking.  Yay more needles, yes...  finally a chick that knows how to stick someone, got the IV in on the first try!  Yay me! People coming in and out telling me all of the things that will be happening today.... all I hear is blah blah blah.  Nerves are through the roof at this point as I know what is coming soon.  Yep, I decided to suck it up and get the nerve blockers which are the needles (plural, as in 4)  in the back, so the thought of this is consuming my every brain cell right now.  Again yes, crazy chick I am.  You're chopping my boobs off and all I'm worried about is having needles shoved in my back.  Just want it all over with.  The anesthesiologist assures me, I will not feel a thing and he will be giving me some happy juice in my IV to relax me before they stick the needles in my back.  Yeah right, I don't think they understand my level of terror at this point.  But here comes Doctor Happy Juice and puts something in my IV.  2.2 seconds later guess what... the dude is right.  Hell they could have ran a bulldozer over me and I wouldn't have cared less.  So here I am sitting up, a guy standing behind me shoving 4 needles into my back.  I know it's happening, I feel it happening, but I don't care.  Wow I need some of this shit to take home with me!  LOL  That's pretty much where my memory ends.  I've been told I asked to go to Dogmaster for a quick drink before I go in for the big event.  Who me, wanting to go to Dogmaster?  I don't think so.  haha! Hey Van, I think you owe me some commissions for the plug in the pre-op room LMAO!  😜  Goodnight.... see ya on the flip side!

Surgery was a little shorter than originally thought, 2.5 hours versus the 3 to 4 the doc had originally planned for.  The next thing I remember I am being wheeled down a long hall on a bed into what I am assuming will be my home for the next few days.  I think I even got in a few woo hoo's during the ride.  The DMD girls would have been proud haha!  Get settled into my room and my mom, dad, fiancé and bestest friend in the world are there waiting for me.  Needless to say I'm feeling no pain.  Drugs are GOOD!  Someone says surgery a success... they got it all...  The next few hours I'm pretty sure I sat up and talked to my visitors and seemed to be coherent, but apparently I was not, as now as I am writing, I cannot remember that day at all.  Like nothing, nada.  Again, GOOD drugs!  lol  Good night... hopefully tomorrow will be just as lovely.

But.... Oh yeah, forgot the hospital part where the evil nurses like to wake you up just as you are falling asleep each time to take the vitals....  geez lady, I'm breathing and you didn't check on me all day, I think it can wait till morning.  Wrong answer.  Wakie Wakie.... 2:00, 4:00, 6:00  all AM.  Luckily the good drugs were still flowing on day 2 and my naps were abundant.  Still pretty incoherent and out of it.  And as much as I didn't want the nerve block, it was still going strong and I was so very thankful for this as I still feel nothing in my chest area.  Today we added a new fun thing.  The itching began.  From my scalp to my little toe.  I wanted to rip the skin off of my body.  Reaction to the anesthesia we have figured out.  I began remembering the same effect a day after my lumpectomy.  So now we are going to introduce Benadryl to our IV cocktail of fun.  I was loopy as a blonde chick on her 21st birthday at 2 a.m.  LOL  Benadryl in the IV is a whole new kind of fun... way better than Benadryl in the pill form.  Yeee Haw!  Added to the Percocet and Dilaudin, I was quickly becoming a fan of the old dreaded IV,  it was becoming an amazing source happiness for me.  Another  day of drug induced fun was ending...  Off to sleep again... well until the nighttime nurse parade begins again, of course.

Somewhere around day break, Sunday morning, I am feeling a new kind of pain.  One I hadn't felt yet.  Then the reality hit me, my wonderful nerve blocker is wearing off.  NO!!  Come back happy juice doctor, it's okay, just shoot me in the back again, just make it stop.  No such luck.  Pushed my little nurse buzzer and had to get the drugs flowing asap.  Anything to make this new pain stop.  Luckily we can alternate the pain meds every 2 to 3 hours.  I had thought I would be going home today, but this was a new game changer and decided one more night in the hibernation room would be good for me to try to learn how to get this new pain under control.  Today was lots of pain followed by lots of button pushes to the nurses for more drugs.  I got up and walked today though, big day Kristy! Even shuffled down to the cafeteria.  Yay me!  The whole time praying I didn't get the horrible flu bug which had plagued the hospital over the weekend to the tune of 40 checked in during one day, which gave my floor a shortage of nurses.  At one time, during my stay there were 2 nurses taking care of 22 post surgery patients on our floor.  If people do not already know this, these folks are amazing.  They chose this career and work their asses off.  Most of them pulling several 12 hour shifts per week.  Some staying awake from 7 pm to 7 am.  Insanity!  Some more compassionate than others.  Of course I had my favorites.  The ones with the most drugs LOL LOL..... Rock stars I tell ya! Finally off to sleep again, knowing I would be heading home tomorrow to deal with all of this myself.  Terror sets in once again.  Not sure I can do this without my safe hibernation place and my endless flow of the good stuff,  but whether I like it or not, tomorrow we will be finding out.