Surgery Day

Surgery day!  My surgery was scheduled for 12:30, which means I needed to be there at 10:30.  I wasn't allowed to eat after midnight, but I could have water up until 8:30 which was a life saver.  We got all checked at the Baptist Surgical Plaza at Baptist Hospital.

And of course I had to take my last picture on two legs for a while...

We waited until about 11:00AM and finally got called back.  They wouldn't let Gabe come back at first, which made me nervous, but the nurse assured me he would be able to come back shortly.  I got changed into a gown and took a boat load of pills everything from a blood pressure medicine to keep me heart ready steady during surgery to anti nausea medicine for post surgery.  Then I met with the anesthesiologist who was super nice.  He went over the whole process with me and it wasn't until then that I realized that I would be intubated for surgery.  It freaked me out a little bit, but I knew I was in good hands.  Gabe was then allowed to come back to find me lookin' pretty sweet in my surgical gown... Dr. Byrd came down to check in and initial the leg he was going to operate on.

I just realized I think I have my thumbs up in every single picture we took along this process, what a nerd.  Anyway from there we waited... and waited... and waited.  The nurse came in to let us know that Dr. Byrd had a difficult surgery before mine and it was taking longer than they thought.  I just tried to relax and close my eyes but my nerves were definitely kicking in.  I had decided pre-surgery that I was going to rent an icing machine called a GameReady device (I will go into detail about this awesome investment later!).  The guy needed to show Gabe how to use it, so around 2:00pm he headed out to meet with him and kissed me goodbye.  About 15 minutes after the nurse came down to let me know the room was ready and it was time to go to surgery.  My last two memories are looking at the clock to see it was 2:15, and then having them move me from the bed I was on to the table in the surgery room.  From there I don't remember anything until the recovery room.  Gabe said that Dr. Byrd came out to talk with him about 4:15PM, but he wasn't allowed to come see me in recovery until about 5:15PM.  Dr. Byrd explained to Gabe exactly what he found and how he fixed it. He said everything went smoothly, but there was significantly more damage than they originally thought (I'll go into detail later).  He was surprised that I had tolerated walking around on it for so long.  That's the one thing about chronic pain, you just get used to it.

The first memory out of surgery is that my throat was very very very dry.  I just kept asking for something to drink but all they would give me were ice chips because they were afraid of me throwing up.  Gabe was finally allowed to come back and see me, boy was I glad to see him.  We sat in recovery for another hour and they came to check on my pain level.  Apparently I was doing better than a lot of other people in recovery because they said I was looking good and would be able to leave shortly.  My pain level was pretty high at that point, but I knew once I got back to the hotel and got some food in me I could take my pain pills. 

The nurse went over all of the details with Gabe and then we got dressed and loaded into the car.  The ride home was rough, but luckily it was only about a 10 minute ride from the hospital to our hotel.  Gabe got the wheelchair from the hotel and we made it up in the room.  I began to eat crackers and drink some water so I could take a pain pill.  I wanted to start with one to see how I did.  Coming into this process I was nervous about taking pain pills.  I usually don't react well to them, and I worry about addiction and dependency.  My pain Wednesday night was probably some of the worst pain I had ever been in.  Gabe was awesome.  Refilling my ice machine every few hours, making sure I had everything I needed. I wouldn't have gotten through that first ten hours without him, I am so thankful for him and everything that he continues to do for me.  About an hour after my first pain pill I decided to take another one.  My pain was pretty severe and I wasn't doing well.  It was hard to get comfortable laying on my back and trying to keep my leg supported so I wouldn't use any of the muscles in my leg.

For those of you who might be heading on the road to surgery here is my best advice. The first ten hours are the WORST.  It is painful, uncomfortable, and you will think it will never end but it will.  I woke up the next morning and while I was still in pain it was no where near the pain in the first ten hours.  I woke up a few times during the night, mostly to go to the bathroom.  You will definitely need help doing this the first night. My hip was in a huge bandage and it was too hard to do on my own.  You definitely want to have someone close by that first night.  I will update about my follow-up appointment on Thursday next...