5/20 - having fun while we wait

posts for awhile will be in past tense... i have lots to tell and lots of pictures to show. but didn't get online until a couple days after my surgery. so i have to play catch up.

 

here's how my adventure started after we checked in... a nurse took me back to the little pre-op waiting rooms. along the way i had to stop at a chart on the way to verify my name, doctor and surgery. the room they assigned to me was 5!! i hate the number five. don't ask. but i'm a little superstitious and quirky about things. and numbers is one thing. of all the rooms they assigned to me! geez. for a split second i actually thought about asking her to switch me. then i saw that they were doing the actual surgery in room one. so i decided to let it go. :)

when i got to the back i had to change into my lovely wrap around gown thing behind the curtain. while i was changing she was asking questions and entering info into her charts. we went over the usual stuff: name, birthday, allergies height and weight. but here's the funny thing. when she asked for my full name i told her - Michelle Marie Hall. then she asked if i go by Michelle or Marie. i said Michelle. didn't think much about it. i guess lots of people go by their middle names or something. then a few minutes later she says, "so Marie...." GREAT.  can't get my name right. hope she isn't in charge of anything important with all those charts she kept flipping thru. haha

 

needless to say - so my adventure started a little scary and unsure. 

 

i was super duper thirsty. having all the metal in mouth doesn't help. it tends to suck all the moisture right out of my mouth. couldn't drink anything. but the nurse gave me a cool little wet sponge thing. she said it would help. IT DID!! not sure what was on it, but i loved it.

be sure to ask for one if you go in for surgery. magic little thing.

and in other news... those little wipes that i had to do a once over with were no fun. my legs were are on fire. there were some for real sensitive skin reactions going on there. yay.

sitting and waiting we were cutting up a little like school kids. when i get nervous i tend to crack jokes. luckily my mom played along. we took some photos to help pass the time. i just knew that at some point they were going to come in there and ask to bring it down a notch.

 

the nurse came in do put in my IV. while making small talk i mentioned i wasn't excited about that needle action. the nurse rambled on about how she was going to use s good sized needle so they can get the medication in faster and such. somewhere along the way she said she was using an 18 gauge needle.

 

OMG!! 18 GAUGE!!

 

being a metal smith i know exactly how big that is. it's my go-to size for my sterling silver chain necklaces that i make. holy cow. great. i know what is in my vein now. and of course i fixated on that for awhile. that was fun.

 

i guess i'm a big baby. because that damn IV hurt like a mother-f'er. she put it right where my wrist bends. so every time i moved i felt it. i know. get over it... but i guess it gave me something to fixate on for awhile.

 

more waiting... a quick bathroom break. and no, i didn't flash anyone walking to the restroom. haha

the anesthesiologist came in. she started talking all this crazy stuff about breathing tubes. for some reason i never even thought about it. can't really use a traditional breathing tube since they are going to be working in my mouth. so thru the nose it is. she went over all the usual stuff and things that could happen. i listened and nodded my head. then when she left i got a little weirded out. some of the things she was saying were pretty scary. 

 

then my surgeon and the additional surgeon came in to talk to us. i absolutely love my surgeon. i can't express how important it is to find a good surgeon. do your research. they talked to use for a while about what's about to go-down and asked if we had any questions. ha. questions. i was pretty much out of questions and just ready to get this done.

 

but i did ask what kind of sock he had on today. he always has great socks. he had brightly colored argyle socks. yellows and green. that will do. :)

the other surgeon had a contraption that was holding together my jaw molds. it was cool. he let me take a picture. i joked about how i kept saying "break my jaw" and Dr. O corrects me and says "saw my jaw." he gave said he likes to call it "releasing the bone" and we laughed.

so they left and shortly after it was off for surgery. a lady came and got me to wheel my bed down the hall. it was kinda funny. it seemed like a very long ride. we passed OR rooms and doctors/nurses standing around. it was like i was in a parade. just passing these people. got down to my room. the lady told me to keep my arms in the bed. really... like i was going to start throwing them around or something. she wasn't kidding it was super bumpy and she ran into the doors like a crazy woman.

i tried looking around as much as i could. i wanted to see all the tools. i know, weird. but i wanted to see because i love tools. haha. didn't really see much. just about a million people all running around doing things. then several of them came over and started doing all sorts of things to me. i got super anxious and a little smothered.

at one point my surgeon came over and fixed my right arm to be more comfortable. they were taking my blood pressure with that one. it was kinda dangling off the surgical table they moved me to. man those things are little. he comforted me. LIKE I SAID... HE IS AWESOME!

they put a seat belt on me and various other things.

i heard a lot of people talking medical talk.

then things got a little fuzzy...