Surgery Day

It’s a few days post-surgery now. I’m not quite as drugged up as I was in the beginning, but it’s pretty painful if I don’t have some type of heavy paid medication in my system. I keep feeling like I’m a wimp for taking the medication, but if it’s available to me and I’m hurting, why not take it?

So on the day of surgery, we arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am. We waited in the “short stay” waiting room for just a few minutes before my nurse, Dan, came to take us back to my room. Once there, I had to change into the fashionable lavender paper ensemble they had waiting for me, put my hair up in a cap, and climb into bed. Then Dan the Man went through a bunch of questions, mostly verifying the information I had already provided.

Then it came time for my IV. What can I say, I have difficult veins. I always feel bad for the nurse who tries to poke me. It usually takes them either a few tries, or a couple of nurses. This time, it took 3 pokes and 2 nurses. I’m pretty purple in the spots where they poked me, 2 in my inner arm and one on my hand. I think I kind of look like a drug addict, but I expected that. More times than not, I find myself telling the nurse it’s ok. “It’s me, not you.” I don’t know if they believe me, but it’s true.

Once it was time to head to the OR, I said good bye to my husband and he went to get comfortable in the short stay waiting room again. He had a couple of books to keep him occupied, but he told me later that he fell asleep and practically slept the whole time. Thank goodness! Being bored in a hospital waiting room is miserable.

On my end, I remember them putting the thing over my mouth so I would breath in whatever it was that was putting me asleep. I was drowsy, but I wasn’t out yet when I asked the nurse and anesthesiologist if I would be butt-up. Seriously, my pretty paper dress was now untied and I was curious if my doctor, who had only seen my bare feet and ankles, would have a view of my ass in the air. It’s just a little more personal than I had been with him up to this point. Both the nurse and anesthesiologist quickly replied: one with a yes, one with a no. Then the nurse said, “face down is a better way of putting it.” Great, that’s definitely a yes!

I’ll stop with that visual. I keep falling asleep as I type this so I’ll have to go into the post surgery details later…

Tagged as: achilles, achilles surgery, achilles tendinosis, achillies tendinitis, Anesthesiologist, running injury, topaz surgery