It's finally here! I'm up at 4:00 with a sense of excitement but a small tinge of dread. I have to check into Day Surgery by 6:30 am. I hit the tub with a small bit of sadness. I won't be able to have a tub bath for at least two weeks. I stay and soak for almost an hour. I wash my hair and use the special antibiotic soap the nurse gave me to reduce the "germ load" paying special attention to my stomach. Then it's out of the tub and just dry my hair - no real need for any style since I'll be wearing an attractive surgical hat. I check my bag, grab my special travel pillow for the trip home, get my phone and announce I'm ready to rock and roll.
My husband is loading stuff in the car for him to work on while I'm in surgery. I'm not being especially nice this morning but he is his wonderful, long suffering self. Actually I'm being a brat. I'm nervous and worried about the time and of course I'm making acerbic comments about his driving abilities.
We get to the hospital at 6:25, park and make our way to Day Surgery on the second floor. There are just a few people in the waiting area and Jupp shows me a sign on the door that says if no one is at the desk just come on back. I push the door open and enter the pre op area. A great nurse wearing a Duke badge notices Jupp's Duke's sweatshirt, grins and announces she is MY nurse. She ushers Jupp back out to the waiting area and takes me to a cubicle, hands me a gown and tells me to take everything off and leave the gown open in the back. When I'm done she begins with the patient identifiers and goes over my chart. She explains everything as she goes. When we get to the IV in the hand part she is amazing. She uses a little bit of Lidecaine and I fell only a small stick. She's obviously done this once or twice!
Next on the hit parade is the person working with the anesthiologist. She does the patient identifiers, and we discuss my history and go through my chart again. She is very thorough and I am feeling in very good hands.
Dr. Kline checks in and again tells me he is going to use a smaller scope and asks if I have any questions or concerns. I volunteer I have a very serious concern. He gives me an intense look and that's when I tell him I understand his Dummy at the ACLS workshop died. I look him straight in the eye and tell him I would appreciate him not letting THIS DUMMY die. We both laugh. He tells me I'll be fine.
The nurse has retrieved Jupp and he joins me in the cubical. He asks me if I'm nervous or scared. I tell him I'm nervous but excited. The nurse returns to give me my shots of Versed and Fentenyl and tells me to kiss Jupp first before I get the juice. I get my kiss and see her push the drugs through the IV in my hand.
That's the last thing I remember....
Friday, October 15, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Lap Band Journey
I started this journey long before I actually did anything about my decision. For the last year and a half I've been researching the lap band procedure. In July I started to do something proactive. I attended a seminar with my daughter in Morehead City to hear about the lap band procedure. We both made appointments with the respective surgeons and I went for my first appointment with Dr. Michael Bell.
After the initial appointment I received a large envelope with all of the requirements needed. I endured an echocardiagraph, a chest x-ray, a GED, a nutrition consult, blood work, gathered numerous bits of paperwork, weight history and my favorite....a psych consult. All of the foregoing was relatively easy and the psych eval confirmed my belief that all of those in the psychiatric profession really need their own psych!
That said I was pronounced worthy and went for the final history and physical with the surgeon. He asked if I wanted to start the final two week diet of almost no carbs which would shrink the liver and make the surgery easier. I said of course and we picked a tentative surgical date of October 15,2010. Then all of the information was sent to the Insurance Company Gods and I began the wait to see if I was deemed worthy. I felt reasonably comfortable that it would be a yes since I am insulin resistant and have sleep apnea.
A week later I got the news that the procedure was a go. After two weeks of almost no carbs I returned to the surgeon's office to discover I'd only lost 4 pounds. However the nurse said it was still probably a go and to report next to the imaging center to register, consult with the nurse and see the anesthiologist.
My anesthiologist was Dr. Kline. I liked him a lot and felt good about his skills. We talked for a bit and then he asked me to open my mouth wide and he looked down my throat. He told me I seemed to have a small airway and he would be using a smaller than normal scope. He said he thought everything would be fine and we parted company.
When I got back to work that day at the hospital I checked in with the Pathologist I work with. He asked which guy would be "passing the gas" and I said Dr. Kline. A long pause, then "oh". "Oh what?", I asked. Dr. Grimsley then informed me that he didn't want to scare me but at a recent ACLS workshop, Dr. Kline's dummy died. I laughed. You've got to understand and love path humor. We find humor in things that make most people cringe. I worked late on Thursday getting everything completed before the big day on Friday. I went up around 5:00 pm and collected the surgical schedule to see that I was number one on the hit list with a 7:45 am show time. I got home that night and was beginning to vacilate between nervousness and excitement. I was trying to get things ready as well as stress over all of the details.
Tomorrow is the big day.....
After the initial appointment I received a large envelope with all of the requirements needed. I endured an echocardiagraph, a chest x-ray, a GED, a nutrition consult, blood work, gathered numerous bits of paperwork, weight history and my favorite....a psych consult. All of the foregoing was relatively easy and the psych eval confirmed my belief that all of those in the psychiatric profession really need their own psych!
That said I was pronounced worthy and went for the final history and physical with the surgeon. He asked if I wanted to start the final two week diet of almost no carbs which would shrink the liver and make the surgery easier. I said of course and we picked a tentative surgical date of October 15,2010. Then all of the information was sent to the Insurance Company Gods and I began the wait to see if I was deemed worthy. I felt reasonably comfortable that it would be a yes since I am insulin resistant and have sleep apnea.
A week later I got the news that the procedure was a go. After two weeks of almost no carbs I returned to the surgeon's office to discover I'd only lost 4 pounds. However the nurse said it was still probably a go and to report next to the imaging center to register, consult with the nurse and see the anesthiologist.
My anesthiologist was Dr. Kline. I liked him a lot and felt good about his skills. We talked for a bit and then he asked me to open my mouth wide and he looked down my throat. He told me I seemed to have a small airway and he would be using a smaller than normal scope. He said he thought everything would be fine and we parted company.
When I got back to work that day at the hospital I checked in with the Pathologist I work with. He asked which guy would be "passing the gas" and I said Dr. Kline. A long pause, then "oh". "Oh what?", I asked. Dr. Grimsley then informed me that he didn't want to scare me but at a recent ACLS workshop, Dr. Kline's dummy died. I laughed. You've got to understand and love path humor. We find humor in things that make most people cringe. I worked late on Thursday getting everything completed before the big day on Friday. I went up around 5:00 pm and collected the surgical schedule to see that I was number one on the hit list with a 7:45 am show time. I got home that night and was beginning to vacilate between nervousness and excitement. I was trying to get things ready as well as stress over all of the details.
Tomorrow is the big day.....
Sunday, July 11, 2010
So why Glorious Disconnect? My favorite definition is: 1. (verb) gulf, disconnect, disconnection an unbridgeable disparity (as from a failure of understanding)"there is a vast disconnect between public opinion and federal policy"
This unbridgeable disparity seems to best describe "my" reality vs. the world's reality. And since I'm positive I'm right, this blog will give me a place to express my views and perceptions without annoying too many unenlightened idiots.
And the glorious?.....why of course my brilliantly beautiful, magnificent and splendid thoughts....lol
This unbridgeable disparity seems to best describe "my" reality vs. the world's reality. And since I'm positive I'm right, this blog will give me a place to express my views and perceptions without annoying too many unenlightened idiots.
And the glorious?.....why of course my brilliantly beautiful, magnificent and splendid thoughts....lol
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