The day has finally come. Well, actually the day before surgery has finally come. I'm supposed to be at the hospital at 5pm today. Long story....but it's so I can get in first thing tomorrow morning. Not how I really wanted to spend the night before surgery, but gotta do what you gotta do.
Am I nervous? A bit. I'm not really nervous for the actual surgery, but for all the prep. I dislike needles so getting the IV is a pain. Although they do numb you first it still isn't a pleasant experience. I don't know if they'll hook me up tonight or wait until tomorrow morning. I guess I'll find that out in a few hours.
I'm also supposed to get another picc line. Ehhh. That is thing I am most dreading.
Alright, a few more hours of freedom so I'm going to enjoy it!
*Praying everything goes well*
Showing posts with label surgery day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery day. Show all posts
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Getting ready for surgery #5
After weeks of trying to get my surgery moved up it has been officially confirmed that my last surgery will be next Monday. Which is when it was originally scheduled for.....*sigh*. I had a feeling that would be the case. I'm still waiting on the time, but I assume since I had booked it weeks ago it will be early in the morning.
For this they will be putting in a plastic piece that was made to fit exactly the size of the hole in my skull. They had 2 made so I wonder if I can take the other one home....hey, I paid for it! At least I won't have to worry about any ridges with this piece unlike the bone cement and titanium mesh from before.
This recovery should be a lot easier since I will only have to be on IV antibiotics for one weeks after surgery instead of 6 to 7 weeks. I know my skin might take a little longer to heal this time because it is the 5th time it's been cut open.
I'm more anxious than nervous about the surgery. I'll be praying that everything goes well and I have an easy recovery.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Surgery Day 7.11.07
My surgery day had final arrived. As usual I had to be at the hospital around 4 or 5am with the actual surgery to begin around 8 or so. The prep for brain surgery takes a bit longer than a more standard procedure. This is mostly due to the fact that they have to shave parts of your head and attach probes to monitor brain activity. Of course this was something that was NOT mentioned prior. Therefore I had tears running down my cheeks as the nurse took a bic razor and shaved different parts of my head. I was determined to keep as much hair as possible! (Side note....this was the same time that Britney Spears had shaved her head, so I kept reminding the doctors and nurses to NOT go "Britney Spears" on me!)
After getting the IV all hooked up I waited for almost what seemed like 40 minutes before I was taken to the OR. I wasn't given any medication to make me more relaxed because there were additional probes and equipment they needed to hook up. Plus I had to be moved onto a special operating table. They notified me that they would inserting a catheter and a breathing tube. The breathing tube would be removed before I would be woken up in the middle of surgery so I could talk to the speech therapist.
*Note that most surgeries do insert a breathing tube, but because of the length of brain surgery (6+ hours) you can expect your throat to be sore and scratchy for the next day or two.
I do recall a few things when I was awoken in the middle of the procedure. The speech therapist kept calling my name and repeated her name to make sure I was aware of who she was. I was lying on my left side and she was pretty close to my face. I didn't notice anyone else in the room. Before she could say anything else I do recall mentioning that I was quite thirsty and would like a diet coke. I heard laughter from the others in the room. She proceeded to ask me the questions which we had gone over before. They also make you make faces and move your mouth and tongue. Again, this was a bit hard to do because your mouth is extremely dry. I'm not quite sure how long they kept me awake, but the overall surgery lasted about 6 1/2 hours.
Next thing I knew I was in the ICU (since they don't take you to the regular recovery area).
After getting the IV all hooked up I waited for almost what seemed like 40 minutes before I was taken to the OR. I wasn't given any medication to make me more relaxed because there were additional probes and equipment they needed to hook up. Plus I had to be moved onto a special operating table. They notified me that they would inserting a catheter and a breathing tube. The breathing tube would be removed before I would be woken up in the middle of surgery so I could talk to the speech therapist.
*Note that most surgeries do insert a breathing tube, but because of the length of brain surgery (6+ hours) you can expect your throat to be sore and scratchy for the next day or two.
I do recall a few things when I was awoken in the middle of the procedure. The speech therapist kept calling my name and repeated her name to make sure I was aware of who she was. I was lying on my left side and she was pretty close to my face. I didn't notice anyone else in the room. Before she could say anything else I do recall mentioning that I was quite thirsty and would like a diet coke. I heard laughter from the others in the room. She proceeded to ask me the questions which we had gone over before. They also make you make faces and move your mouth and tongue. Again, this was a bit hard to do because your mouth is extremely dry. I'm not quite sure how long they kept me awake, but the overall surgery lasted about 6 1/2 hours.
Next thing I knew I was in the ICU (since they don't take you to the regular recovery area).
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