My surgery experience - for Caribou and anyone else who is interested

It all started way too early in the am for me......3:30 to get my shower and meet my friend Allie who took such good care of me for a 5:30 check in..... Everything went really fast - I registered and they immediately took me back to have some blood drawn and to change into the lovely hospital gown.  Next they took me into an area for pre-op prep, where they took my blood pressure gave me a whole bunch of pills - that was the main reason to be there early most of it was for pain management and they wanted it to take effect before surgery - they also gave a me an anti nausea pill. Then came the part that I really hated about this hole process they put the dohickey in th vein on my hand for the IV fluids that I had to live with for 2 freakin' days (no matter how much I begged to have it removed).  I spent probably a little more than a hour there....things were starting to get fuzzy..... The next thing I remember is being wheeled to the OR thinking it looked like a scene from ER...but I was gone before we got there I don't remember another thing until someone said to me that I had my surgery - it was over and then took the breathing tube out.  This is when I started to be goofy, and I don't need drugs to be goofy.....they said "you have someone over there who has been very worried about you" so I sit up at little turn and give a big ol' wave to Allie - which had them all crack up......then I kind of went out of it and don't remember anything else until I was awake in my room. This was my first inpatient stay except for when I was born.....besides the IV where they kept pushing fluids, it was noisy because of my roommate from hell. The first day the major accomplishment they expected was to pee.....I failed and then they put in a cathetar which when they did they said "oh, she didn't really have much in her bladder"....but nonetheless it then had to stay in until the am of my discharge.  They also beside changing bags for the in and out of fluids - would check vitals - I think it in reality was about every four hours. I didn't get any good sleep the first night so I admit I was a little cranky. The second day is the day were your goal is to do a minimum of 5 laps around the halls and drink 30oz of water. I did the 5 laps in the am hoping I might get released, but no such luck. I also had no problem drinking the water and got a little more sleep the second night - I think the nursing staff gave something to my roommate so I could sleep......she was a lot quieter however it happened. The last morning they removed the cathetar and the IV much to my relief.....I then peed for them - they told me I could leave at 10...... All in all - given that being an inpatient is not the same as going to a five star hotel - it was good. The patient care staff were all very nice and responsive to my needs. Hope this helps anyone with upcoming surgeries and as always if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Candace

Thanks Candace! This is especially helpful for me since I think Toder will likely be my surgeon as well. Welcome home! Can't wait to follow your progress!

Glad it helped. If you choose Toder, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I was lucky during my preop time - I work at that large employer in Belfast, and there are many people that have been through this surgery at various stages so I have a lot of resources there.  Also - I've been struggling with the protein drinks and am working out some alternatives - I have a lot of all 4 flavors from unjury that you might be interested in - they were fine for me preop but no-no post. They are all open canisters so I would understand if you don't want them - but I will make the offer to give them to you if you are interested. And again....I don't mean to put you in an awkward situation since you don't really know me yet - it is perfectly fine to say no Candace