I felt horrid when I finally woke up. Though I had informed them that I was claustrophobic they still has to put an oxygen mask on me due to the difficulties they were having waking me up. A nurse was standing right there waiting and as soon as I opened my eyes she was there to remove it and put on the nasal cannula. As I awoke I noticed dull throb in my abdominal area and my brain was pretty foggy as well. The nurses that were attending to me were very thorough, as soon as I was coherent enough to stop babbling they gave me The Button to deliver my Morphine! I considered this a bonus! My only instructions were that I can push the button every 10 minutes and I was not to let anyone else touch my button, not a problem.

After a little while in the recovery room, they finally moved me to my room. It was a single bed room, I was in heaven. A morphine pump and a private room, in one day, I almost exploded with joy. As I started to get comfortable in my room I noticed that there was actually another tube in my nose, pumping stuff out of my stomach, yes it was annoying but they told me that until my system started working on its own again that I was stuck with it.

Day two in the hospital was when they informed me that the room I was in was temporary! I was actually in a different area than where they normally would put me. They were remodeling the other rooms, crap. Not too much further into the day they moved me into my regular room. There was no one else in there yet so at least I got the bed by the window. The view of the other side of the building didn’t do much for me, but it was better than nothing. Too bad I was going to have a roommate soon.

This is going to recount the days that I spent in the hospital, including the moments up to surgery, it isn’t terrible exciting, but may prove useful for someone someday. I will be doing it in parts so as not to have one long rambling post.

12-26-08
The alarm started blaring at 4am, I was starving and still very tired. Becky and I got up, got dressed and set about the task of getting to the hospital. My surgery was scheduled for 7:30am and you are required to be there two hours early for check in and getting prepped. After check in we were sent to the waiting room where we, guess what, waited!  The wait wasn’t very long but it was unpleasant for me. I hadn’t eaten anything since the 24th and I tend to get cranky when I am hungry. They took us to a little room with a very small bed like chair and a few regular chairs. I got to put on my sexy robe at that time and lay down for a bit. Thankfully for Becky, there was a small TV in the room as I wasn’t much company.

People came and went for the next few hours. I saw nurses and anesthesiologists and more nurses and I believe a surgeon, although I have to admit I was a bit out of it from being tired and hungry. When the time finaly came for me to go to surgery, they asked me if I would be able to walk or if I needed a wheelchair, I walked. I remember walking into the very brightly lit room, I remember the pure abject terror that I was feeling. As I was lying on the table they were busy searching for veins for the I.V.  Soon they put me on oxygen, they were talking to me the whole while, telling me to relax. My heart rate was showing my panicked state. Then I was out.