Elvis, the Swine Flu and a very patient hubby....

It's a rainy Thursday morning...I slept in until 9:30 and now I am in bed with my new laptop (which I love) watching the Ellen show.....I think I could get used to this schedule...ha ha..

There were some interesting things that happened on the day of my surgery (I might be the only one that really finds these things interesting) so I wanted to get them wrote down before I forget them. Please bare with me as I ramble on here....

The day of the surgery coincided with the peak panic of the swine flu...so where would you rather be than in a hospital??? EEK! We went in that morning and I didn't want to touch anything and kept pulling out my little bottle of hand sanitizer just to keep us safe. This was my first surgery at B North so I was nervous about being there anyway....I missed the comfort of Good Sam Hospital that has always taken such good care of me during my five other surgeries.

So the first big hurdle of the morning was going to be getting the IV started. I usually do not tell the nurse how difficult my veins are to access but I wanted someone that could get this sucker in on the first try. The nurse was very sweet and really took her time to try to find a good spot. I was afraid that she was going to try in between my knuckles but finally marked a spot on my wrist....we all took a deep breath and in she went....GOT IT - YIPPEE! So now what were we going to do for the next hour??? The IV process takes so long that I usually get rolled right off to surgery as soon as they can get it in. Bret and I just sat back and watched tv and Joe Biden and his big blunder almost inciting a panic about the swine flu....he was being slaughtered by the media..OUCH...you should be a little more careful before you make statements like that on national tv!!

Next the anesthesiologist came in and went over the plan to make sure I didn't get sick...she also had to go over that long check list of questions...do you have heart trouble - no, do you have pain - no, do you have a history of breathing problems - no, do you have trouble holding your legs up - WHAT-- WHOOAAA....I have never had this question...I busted out laughing and said..."oh, I guess no one had mentioned stirrups...great...oh well, Giddy UP!

Dr. L came in to see if I had any last questions and after that it was time to get rolling...literally....the rolled me out of my room and down to the operating room. The anesth. gave me something to make me sleepy right before we went into the room so I didn't have much time to check things out. I always like to look around, chat a little with everyone in there (hey -these folks are about to open me up...I like to butter them up a little so they take a little extra caution!!)

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I had a very nice nurse with me and we went over the plan on how to rank my pain so she knew how much medicine to give me. She even put some vaseline on my lips which was a huge bonus (you all know I have a lip balm addiction so I had even considered trying to smuggle some in this time...)I was not feeling sick so I just tried to lay there and relax...that worked out fine until Elvis started yapping next to me....yep, I said Elvis...there he was laying there next to me...just a curtain between us. I heard the nurse say, can you tell me your name....Elvis...she giggled. I think his name was something like Elmer but he must have told her 50 times that he was Elvis and he was mad because someone (he couldn't remember who) had told him that he would not have any pain after his surgery....she just said "no one should have told you that"....he then went on to announce every time he burped and then told her that he had never had surgery in his life but he had been shot in World War I....now he was obviously old but she quickly said...are you sure you don't mean WWII???? Nope, it was WWI...ok, so this is the part I hate about recovery. I lay there and just try to get my head straightened out and try to wake up enough so they will get me out of there....the last thing I needed was to listen to Elvis!!! I guess it was better than my last surgery....all I remember is an old man close to me just moaning the entire time....that got old fast!!

So, finally get of there and back to my room...the meds they give you make your mouth EXTREMELY dry....I always want a Pepsi when I come out of surgery so they brought that and some saltines to get something on my stomach....trying to eat saltines with a mouth that dry is almost impossible so I kind of have to do a Pepsi/cracker mixture...YUCK! The nurse tells me that as soon as I feel awake enough and can go pee one time I can go home...ok, no big deal...that shouldn't take too long....WRONG!!! I guess the bladder is affected during this surgery and it makes it VERY difficult to pee...well that's just great because I already have "pee on demand" issues (this is where Peggy giggles if she reads this). I drink my Pepsi, then another and also have the IV still going thru me....ok, I think I can do it. Bret helps me in there ....I can do this....wait, try, wait, try....NOTHING! Back to the bed....drink some more...try again...even try reading a magazine this time.....nothing. I want to go home...COME ON - PEE ALREADY!!!

Shift change occurs and I get new nurses....they say if I can't pee soon they will need to do a bladder ultrasound...ok, my abdomen hurts so the idea of an ultrasound does not sound pleasant...I tell them to speed up the IV and bring me more water! So again I wait, try....nothing! They finally come back and say it's time to do the ultrasound...it really wasn't painful and it showed my bladder wasn't even full yet so she said I would probably have to drink more to be able to do it...so back to the water. Finally, I try and VICTORY!! I was able to pee...let's get out of here. Now here's the part about Bret....during that entire time he never once said....do you want to try again...maybe you should drink some more....maybe you should stay in there and try a little longer...I was getting impatient and yet he never once tried to push me...Wow...am I a lucky wife or what....he takes such great care of me...and has to be the most patient man in the world!

We packed up and off we went....time for pj's and lots of sleep! I have to say that my first surgery at Bethesda North was a good one....all of the staff were very nice and took great care of me.

A little trivia (just for you Kay!)....how big are ovaries??? I read something that said they are about the size of almonds...interesting...I would have thought that they were bigger than that! No wonder they can suck them out thru the belly button!