I arrived at the hospital at about 5 am. Fortunately the parking deck was empty - so we even got free parking. Woot!
I was remembering a conversation I had with my mom the day before when she revealed she suffered from fibroids! I couldn't believe she never told me. The entire approach they took for diagnosing me might have been different had we known that information. But what can you do?
We walked through the maze of the hospital to get to the admissions office. IT was actually still closed, but as we were approaching, a security guard unlocked it and we entered. I met the woman at the front desk and she asked for my last name. I gave her my name and she handed me a folder and told me to go to the third floor. My mom, husband and I walked up to the third floor. I checked in with the nurse there - and she indicated that she would check me in soon. She took my advance directive and checked me in. I was taken alone to the pre-op area to get ready. There I undressed, put on a gown and laid down in a room the size of a closet.
After a while, a nurse came in and tried to put in an IV. Of course she struggled the same way they struggled when I had pre-term labor. This time around, I was dehydrated because I'd been pooping water for 14 hours. Funny thing, all I could think was PLEASE don't let me crap on the operating table. They did make me drink an entire bottle of miralax the day before! The nurse was using lidocaine to numb my skin before they stuck me. Finally after several failed attempts, the nurse brought in a colleague who was able to do it. She insisted on doing it without the local anesthetic - and go figure - that worked! Once the IV was in, they brought my mom and my husband in. Shortly thereafter, the anesthesiologist came in to talk about my history. Then my surgeon came in. We spoke a bit. He wanted to confirm about the previous surgeries so he knew what to look for. I've always known I had 3 kidneys and one removed when I was a child. Suddenly my mom pipes up and says - umm...no! It was 2 urethras! The surgeon corrects her - you mean 2 ureters? From the kidney? They go back and forth, but ultimately he confirms that it was 2 ureters from my kidney - not 3 kidneys and not 2 urethras. The doctor answers my questions and we're good.
Now here's the moment Im' kicking myself for. I asked the doctor, "we're just doing the left mass and maybe the left ovary right? "I should have explicitly said - "no wedging of the other ovary". But I didn't. He confirmed only the left ovary and they let my mom and husband go. You'll see later why this was so critical.
The next thing, they were giving me a heparin shot in my stomach. They wheeled me into the operating theater. I was shifted onto the operating table, and I saw the anesthesiologist's head pop up. He mentioned they were going to give me some gas and pain medication. I looked around and saw the davinci machine all covered in plastic. I also remember looking at the ceiling and thinking - that while the room looked clean, the tiles on the ceiling didn't look spotless... hmmmm....They put some gas over my mouth and nose. I felt that the nozzle wasn't sitting quite right. I mentioned that the nozzle was off a bit and they quickly readjusted it. The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery room feeling like I'd swallowed a pound of flour....
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