Long Day

Friday was long but uneventful. Originally I was scheduled for noon. When the anesthesiologist called Thursday night it was changed to one.. When I arrived with with my entourage they had us wait until the room with the lift was available. After waiting a while Kari decided to use the bathroom figuring they would come for us. Sure enough they did. When we were in the room the transfer was interesting but I did get in the bed. Then the bed was rolled to a different room. Now Cindy had to figure out how the bed worked so she could get me undressed. Meanwhile Todd had to find out where to park my chair. We were laughing because they always say to leave valuable items at home. Yet my chair and special computer were just sitting in the hall. They are the two most valuable things I own including the van. Just after we settled in the nurse came in to tell us the previous surgery was taking longer and mine would be at 2:00. That was not too bad because the nurse had to ask all the usual questions and they needed to start an IV. After we told the nurse how difficult it is to find my veins and she took a look she agreed that it was not for her. The specialist was the most patient person to ever get blood or put in an IV. She was also the first person to use a local anesthetic. Finally, using a newborn needle, she was able to get just enough blood and start an IV. It took almost 20 minutes. Now the waiting began. Cindy went to get lunch with the thought that would start the surgery. Did not work. But we did have a great opportunity to catch up on Kari's current projects and the list of project's that Todd needed to do to finish the remodle of their house. Then another estimated time of 3:00. After another announcement that it would be 4:00 Kari went to get lunch and Todd to do some errands. Everyone was back when the anesthesiologist finally came. He wanted to be sure he knew how my vent worked. Finally they were ready at 5:15. We could complain but we were just happy not to be the person in that surgery. There was someone after me too. For me the time passed quickly. Actually was not that long for the others. I liked what the anesthetic was because I did not wake-up foggy brain. I even know what the surgeon told me. He had taken a big chunk so there were several layers of stitches. Biopsy would be available in two or three days. We had a good laugh at the poster outlining what a patient had to do before discharge. " walk with assistance, drink water, eat a cracker and pee" When the boys were told that, Miles said I had to drive and write a sentence. I could do both so we skipped dressing me completely and " borrowed " a hospital gown. When everything finally getting started we were home by 8:00. It had been more than 24 hours since I had anything to eat or drink.