Surgery Day
November 6, 2008

Well, the day has finally arrived.  My surgery was originally scheduled for 11am,
but has been moved up to 3pm. I have to be at the Ambulatory Care Unite
at 1pml.  I have been fasting since 12mn and had only liquids all day yesterdy.
But I am feeling ok and not really hungry. Probably nerves.
I arrive at the ACU  and a very nice nurse takes me to my area
where I am given a hospital gown and socks to change into. They provide me with a garment bag\
to hold my clothes. They take my vitals and fill out my history sheet. Then we wait.
3pm come and goes. Then 4pm comes and goes. We asked what is going on.
There has been a delay.  They say it will be onother hour and a half.
So I tell David to go down and get something to eat as he hasn't had
any lunch.  Of course, 10 min after he leaves they come to take me to surgery.
So they say they will send David to the waiting room downstairs when he
returns. They walk me down the hall to the surgery waiting room.
Dr. Cirangle comes in to see me and answer any questions I have and then I
sit there and wait, again.  They make you walk into the operating room as they
have found it  decreases the risk of blood clots after surgery.
Finally they come to get me.  We go into the operating room , which I must
say bears a freaky resembland to a torture chamber. They have me lay down on the
table, which has arms sticking out that make it look like  a cross. It
was actually quite unsettling.  The anesthesiologist told me he was going to
give me some medication and I should tell him when I feel different.
I asked him what is was, he said Versed  I told him, being a pharmacist, I wanted
to know exactly what was going in my vein.  He laughed and that's the last thing I
remember.  I woke up in the hospital room and it was after midnight. I don't really
remember being uncomfortable at the time and I had a Morphin PCA pump
going, so I could get pain relief whenever I needed it. The rest of the night I only
remember they kept coming in and waking me up for first one thing then another
but I'd just go back to sleep.  At about 4am, they wanted me to walk. So
I did, and it wasn't so bad, the worst part was getting in and out
of bed.  The next morning several people came to see to tell me things to
be done after discharge, I barely remember them, much less what they said.
My breakfast try arrived with broth, a protein shake, and hot tea.
I could barely eat anything, because I couldn't stay awake.
When Dr. Cirangle came in he said I could go home today
as I wasn't getting enough fluids in. I told him that's because
I can't stay awake.  He l owered my Morphine dose from 2mg
to 1mg. That helped greatly.  I still wasn't hungry and was
doing the best I could to drink but still not coming close to the requirements.
I walked several times that day  without too much trouble, but the incision
sites were still very sore and painful and getting in an out of bed was hard.
I also had terrible pain in my shoulders and back for some reason.
That afternoon Dr. Cirangle came in again and he said I
could probably go home on Saturday and he'd be in to see
me in the morning. Lunch and dinner trays come in
with more broth and tea, and protein shakes and popsicles.
It was getting easier to drink things and by Saturday I was getting
close to the requirements.
Saturday morning came and went and no doctor. He
finally showed up at 7pm to discharge me.  My first question was
can I take a shower, he said "Sure". So before I left I took
a shower at the hospital and the hot water felt so good on my back
I could have stayed there forever. All the nurses and other hospital
personnel were very friendly. But I was glad to be going to the hotel
so I could sleep all night without being woke up every hour.
All in all it was not too bad. The pain was worse than I expected
andI was truly exhausted from lack of sleep. The surgery took 55 min
which is really fast, so I am told.  They did do a liver biopsy because
the liver was very "fatty". Dr. Cirangle said it is probably due
to the diabetes but wanted to be sure nothing else was amiss. So
that gives me an additional scar, but just a little hole.