So, I had my surgery! It wasn't so bad. I was a little nervous, but not as much as I thought I would be. I have never been put under for anything, not even my wisdom teeth removal. I have never had an IV for anything. I have never been admitted into a hospital for anything. 

The doctors said I was the perfect patient because I had nothing else wrong with me except what they intended to fix. That made me feel pretty secure. That, and the fact that my friend Carla Roland, who was just supposed to drop me off and pick me up, decided to stay the entire time with me. We chatted for a bit and we prayed before they wheeled me out. She was such a help in keeping me at peace!

The very first woman who "greeted" me when I walked into the sign in room was NOT pleasant. I would say something like, "Who can blame her? It was before 5am" if it weren't for the fact that I have been waking up at 3 for most of the last 13 years to sling coffee. She was getting water ready for the coffee machines in the waiting area and looked at me suspiciously. 

"What are you looking for?" she asked, in a very accusatory tone.

"I was told that if no one was at the sign in desk, I was to come to this room."

"Sign in on the clip board."

I grabbed a clip board from the table and filled out the piece of paper. She left to get water. When she returned, she snapped at me to take the piece of paper and put the clip board back for others to use. There were about 20 clip boards on the table and none of the other 9 people in the room were using them. One woman who had been there longer than I had, saw me sign in and went to sign in herself. She asked me what to do. A few minutes later, a young girl, her fiance (which shocked me because she looked 14) and her mom walked in with the same trepidatious look I thought I must have had when I arrived. I directed them to the clipboards and the lady snapped at them, as well.

A few minutes later another woman walked in. She worked there and I immediately hoped to have her check me in and not the snappy woman. The snappy woman came around to collect the papers we had filled out and then snapped at me again for not putting what kind of procedure I was having done. I told her and then commented that I hadn't seen a spot to put that on the sheet. 

"It's at the very top!" she snapped back. She then went to get my paperwork and when she handed the pile back to me, I looked at the top of the paper. There was a line that looked like a title and said, "Surgery, MRI, or [something else]" and apparently, we were meant to circle the one that pertained to us rather than assume it was just the title of the sheet. Uh, huh.

Carla was parking the car through most of this, but joined me as the second woman began checking people in. She checked 2 people in and called my name, but when she looked at my paper, she said she wasn't doing surgical check in. I sighed and tried to steel myself to deal with the snappy woman. But then a third woman called me over and we had a nice chat as she checked me in.

I then went to the fourth floor to check in with the nurses. I only waited a couple minutes until a nurse came to get me. Carla waited while the nurse took me down a hall with a lot of equipment along the walls and little cells off of it. She weighed me and I was pleasantly surprised (our scale is off and I never remember how much) and then led me into one of the cells. 

The rooms were super tiny! There were 2 chairs, a computer attached to the wall, and a hospital bed inside. The bed needed to be shoved cock-eyed so the nurse could open the bathroom door. She chatted with me and was very pleasant. I had to take a pregnancy test because I haven't had a period in 16 months, but it was negative. Good thing, or I would have left with my gall bladder intact and a surprise for my husband!

The nurse had me get in a gown and then ran an IV. It didn't hurt at all. She hooked me up to some fluids and an antibiotic. The doctor, another nurse, and two anesthesiologists came by to chat with me and then Carla came back to pray with me. After we prayed, the nurse started to wheel me out and the second anesthesiologist gave me a shot in my IV. It was 7:40am. I remember about 40 feet of the hallway and nothing else.

I woke up in a large recovery room around 9:30 with a lot of equipment around me. I was coughing because my throat was so dry from the breathing tube. I know I had one because they told me I would, not because I remember having one. I also felt like I was having a gall bladder attack because that area hurt. The nurse gave me some water and two Vicodin. A few minutes later I was wheeled to another cell that was a lot larger than the first one to recover. A nurse sat just outside and watched me while filling out paperwork. Carla came to sit with me and help me drink some cranberry juice. It was too cold to be pleasant. We sat in there until about 11:10 and then I told the nurse I was ready to go home. I got dressed and was wheeled out and home by 11:30am!

Carla was wonderful! All I wanted was to go to sleep; so when I got home, I greeted my mother-in-law and my daughter, thanked Carla and went up to sleep for the next 3 hours. Carla and my MIL chatted and then Carla went to the grocery store and pharmacy for us! She came back with my prescription, some Jello and a few things my MIL requested. She really took care of me!

My mother-in-law was wonderful, too! She came into town the Saturday before my surgery to hang with us and babysit for me. She did a wonderful job of keeping Milli occupied and happy. She fed her some real food as well as the breast milk I had frozen for the occasion. It lasted exactly as long as I needed it to. Milli was pretty good, but as demanding as a 5 month old is like to be.

I took two long naps that day and still slept that night. I could not nurse Milli until after noon the next day to give a full 24 hours for the anesthesia and Vicodin to get out of my system. I didn't need to take any more pain pills and I was ready to nurse her at noon on Thursday. She missed me! My MIL let me take a long nap that day, as well, and I felt so much better by the evening. I even had a little real food myself. 

Friday night I was so good that my husband made seafood enchiladas and we all went to Madeleine's for dessert. Saturday we hit Donut Parade and Sunday my husband made me bacon! I can't keep that kind of diet up, but it was so nice to be able to eat and not worry about pain.

My mother-in-law returned to MI on Saturday, leaving me to fend for myself. She had to go, but neither she nor I wanted her to. I am on a weight restriction and am not allowed to lift Milli, which makes things a little difficult, but we survived today with help from a friend and my husband. We should be OK until the restriction is lifted.

That's the news.