The alarm went off at 5am but it didn't have to. I have been up for ten minutes already because there is no way I am going to miss this date. I did the second surgical scrubbed down, have performed this procedure only four hours ago before I went to bed. Thoroughly scrubbed from head to foot I got up and made Marla some morning coffee. I checked my two bags I was taking with me to the hospital. I knew already that I was staying two days and it may likely be three according to Dr. Miller my endocrinologist. So I had one little bag packed for the surgery day - it contained - my glasses, toothbrush and paste, comb, deoderent, and other little knick knacks one would pack for a flight nowadays. I also had my iPhone, an iPhone charger, and a note pad with a couple of pens. The second bag was one for the remaining days - it had my PSP, a collection of movies, a magazine or two, a housecoat, a clean t-shirt, and a pair of slippers.
I figured it best to keep both bags in the car and we took off for the hospital. We were supposed to be there at about 6:45am and we arrived at 6:43. That was a good sign. We parked in front of the hospital and found they had everything all ready for us. Day Surgery on the Royal Jubilee Hospital is located on the third floor of hospital. We passed all the scarey places like the heart clinic and such and got down to the end of the hall where surgery is located. We were welcomed at the counter when the host gave Marla a piece of paper with the phone number on it and the time that they could expect my surgery to be complete and I would be waking up. Then they told us to kiss goodbye and shoo-ed Marla off.
I was instructed to remove all my clothing and put on two industrial size hospital gowns. The first that ties to your back leaving my best side exposed to the world. The other tarp with arm holes and strings went on like a housecoat. I put on a paper slippers which was a challenge to figure out not only inside and out but front and back as well. Then we put all my belongings in a big blue laundry hamper bag and locked them in to locker number one. Of course now that I was all changed and bundled up I had to pee.
So before I was directed to my pre-op surgery bed, I had to detour to the scale. When I first started this voyage I wanted to get my pre-op surgery weight down to 300. I had started at 339 in 2008 and since then I have dropped down. Then last week we spent some holiday time in Tofino and w
hen I weighed myself on Dr. Amson's scale on Monday my poundage went up to 305. So after two days of liquid diet and the great purge before the surgery, my weight went down to 299.5 I know it sounds a little like cheating but really I didn't set up any of the parameters to how I wanted to get below 300.The staff, lead by a real sweetie nurse, Charlene, got me all settled down. First of all they had to check my blood, they forgot the test to see how long it takes to clot so they needed to do a second draw. They also checked to cross type my blood to make sure that they had some spare on hand. I had a visit from the anesthesiologist who was a really nice guy. He checked my mouth, teeth and throat, reviewed my allergies and what happened when I had my gall bladder out. He had a big binder all about me and reviewed it with me. Dr. Amson passed my bed to say hi and that he was glad we were able to get me done. I had this great feeling like my time has come. Charlene tried to put in an IV port but couldn't find a good line and they only get one try. But that's okay - she said "they would do it in the operating room."
Soon she handed me off to a couple of guys in the pre-op waiting area. This is where you go when you are just about to head into the surgery. I was happy to go there because I was the last one left in the pre-op prep area. They asked me all the same questions that Charlene did, gave me a shot of heprin http://www.rxlist.com/heparin-drug.htm, and got ready to push me to the surgery room. Then they noticed that I didn't have my IV line in and said "they would do it in the operating room."
So off the guys pushed me down the hallway. Along the way we bumped into Dr. Amson checking his email. For anyone who hasn't met Dr. Amson, he is a thin rail of a tall person and could definitely use a little poundage on him. So there it was early in the morning and he was noshing on a big doughnut. He's allowed, but the two porters and I chucked about the irony of it as we moved into the operating room
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