Surgery Day

I’m doing some of these posts more for me to remember than for anything else. I want to be able to look back at these a year from now, fully healed (hopefully) and remember how far I’ve come.

Surgery day was Wednesday October 10th. It was scheduled for 2:00 but I don’t think I actually got into the OR until 4:00pm or so.

I’ve never had surgery (except for wisdom teeth out) of any kind or have even been in a hospital for anything, so it was a new experience for me. I was really scared, like stupid scared, and I was lucky to have my husband there with me talking me down the whole time. Someone else’s blog (I think Dennis) mentioned that he went through surgery day alone and if he had to do it again, would have someone with him. Totally agree. I can’t imagine managing this day alone.

There were lots of questions and going over medical history. They started an IV line. I met with the anesthesiaologist and he covered what he was going to do. I would be given a nerve block which would wear off in the vicinity of 12 hours. They would also put me under general anesthesia so I would be unconscious for the procedure. This is the part I was most nervous about. I don’t know why, but it freaked me out.

They gave me some kind of drug in my IV line to help me relax…which it really did. Then they wheeled me over to the nerve block room, did an ultrasound to find the right nerves and administered the block. Yep. That worked. Can’t feel my lower leg, but that’s okay because I was on sleepy/mellow IV drug. My doctor stopped by for a chat to go over the procedure.

Doctor: “I didn’t think I’d see you so soon. I thought you were going to think some more about having the procedure done”.

*chuckle*

Me: “I was. I literally just saw you two days ago”

Doctor: “Well I meant to tell you that there is a small chance of rupturing your Achilles with the haglund’s deformity. Guess you were one of the lucky ones.”

Me: “I’m honored”

After a bit, they wheeled me into the OR where I saw the anesthesiologist and my doctor…..and that is the last I remember.

I woke up about 2 hours later in the recovery area. My leg was in a cast and I was a little groggy, but I didn’t have any pain. That comes later. I waited about an hour and they released me to go home. I got to sleep in my own bed and sleep soundly through the night without pain.

Overall, except the nerve wracking-ness of the whole day everything went smoothly and it was an easier ordeal than I though it would be.

But the next day….