The worst part of preparing for surgery is not being able to have coffee in the morning… really that was the absolute worst part of prep. This mornings coffee tastes so good, absence indeed made the heart grow fonder. MMMMMM

My friend Cliff picked me up yesterday morning and took me to the Hospital, I had offers from several people including work folk, but Cliff made the most sense. Cliff did come with a cup of coffee for himself, which made me crave it soooo badly. He came in with me and we made sure they had his number to call when I was finished. I handed him my wallet and keys and he was off. He could have come up with me to the pre-surgical place – but why would you do that to some one? (See my post on how I get when I visit folks in the hospital: Squeamish)

In the pre-op area they gave me a lovely gown and booties that had bear paw prints on them, reminded me of being in Children’s Hospital in DC which had a bear logo – my friend Tipton commented on the photo I took and suggested I had found a veterinary hospital by accident. They took my vitals, inserted an IV and did some blood work – not sure what they tested for, but they came back and said my sugar levels were ok.

I then laid in that bed for over an hour before my Doctor came, she’s nice but I think her sense of humor is better in the afternoons. She was concerned because she couldn’t find the anesthetist, eventually the anesthetist arrived (OMG it was this cute hispanic bear and I just wanted to devour him, he was so sweet…. sorry) and they started to roll me away. On the way the hot anesthetist asked me which type of sleep stuff I wanted – why would I know? He mentioned one that would leave me feeling refreshed when I woke, the other one involved sticking a tube down my throat – which is what they did for the appendectomy I think. I opted for refreshed and wonder why he asked at all… maybe he was just lusting after me and wanted a reason to talk – I always find hot guys when I’m in less than optimal condition? and why do I think they are interested at all in a sick guy? lol I remember he injected me with the stuff and I remember rolling over onto another bed and that was it…

They told me to wake up and boom, I was awake, I was alert, I was rather cheery… which probably annoyed some of the other patients. They let me have some ice-chips, they asked me how I felt and stuff. They had a blood pressure cuff on my arm and they had the massaging things still on my legs, though they weren’t working – I’ve never been awake when they’ve been working yet but I bet it feels pretty good. After some cranberry juice they said I could go home as soon as I urinated, I said “Hey, I have to go” and boom they called Cliff and let me get dressed.

Cliff was downstairs waiting and we got me all loaded up into the car, Cliff had more coffee with him to torture me further as I hadn’t had any yet. On the way to my apartment the first wave of nausea hit me… Cliff was talking and I interrupted him to say “I don’t feel well” I rolled down the window, felt chills all over my body and like at any moment i was going to hurl… It felt like I stayed at the window for 20 minutes but it was probably only a couple and it passed. We headed to the pharmacy, and I picked up my oxycodone – that’s what the label says but I thought they were giving me something else… Vicodin if memory serves, I’ll have to ask Cliff. Cliff dropped me off, assured me he’d call to check on me later and if I needed anything I should call… it’s nice to have old friends around.

In the apartment I followed instructions… I took two of the pills and slept for 4 hours. When I awoke I did all kinds of bodily functions, took a sits-bath and relaxed… I ate lots of fruit and some popsicles, sat on a ice pack … it’s loads of fun to recover from surgery. All in All I had 4 sits-baths yesterday and one in the middle of the night after I awoke and couldn’t fall back asleep.

Last night I did watch the movie: You Kill Me – about a hit man who goes to AA. I really liked it and found myself yelling several times – don’t do it, don’t do it… about him picking up a drink, but he didn’t listen… Go watch it if you have time, it was a good watch.

I’m awake, I’ve had some coffee, some cereal, and I plan to take it easy today – that’s kind of hard to do at present as it’s not really comfortable to sit or lie down on my back. Not pain, but just uncomfortable. This should get better as the day goes on.

Thanks for all your concerns, your well wishes and for reading my blog and knowing what was going on… 😉