My surgery was scheduled for January 25th. I expected to be able to go back to work the next day. I just assumed that because it was out patient surgery that it wouldn't be that bad. Still, I was nervous. The whole idea of anesthesia freaks me out! The things that could go wrong. What if I didn't take to it well? What if I came out of it and I was puking all over? What if I didn't come out of it? You can't be sure that you'll react well to a drug if you've never had it before. There wasn't really the option to say no. I had to take the plunge and find out what the heck was wrong with me.
I talked to the Doctor's assistant before surgery day and asked what to expect. How long I would need to be out of work. She said to expect to take the day after surgery off and be prepared to need two days to recover. That really got me more nervous. I was told to come at 10am for my 1pm surgery. We'd have a pre-op meeting to go over all the details of the surgery before.
There was less than one week before my surgery. I was nervous already and the nervousness only increased as the days melted away. The weekend came finally and I was relaxing at home. I felt like crap. The neck lump had gotten so huge by this point I was uncomfortable pretty much all of the time. Dave and Joe made plans to go to Liverpool (about 30 mins away.) to pick up brewing supplies. I said I'd stay home. I was watching a movie on Netflix when the call came.
"Amber, we're stuck. I need you to come get us."
Dave's truck had broken down on the side of the highway just outside the next town. It would have been an inconvenience to go pick them up, but we had gotten 6-8 inches of snow and my car hadn't been shoveled out yet. I reluctantly suited up to go snow blow the car out. I finally got on the road about 30-40 mins later to drive the 15 mins out to pick them up. They were both so pissed.
Dave had already called for road side assistance. **I must say that is the best add-on to our car insurance ever. I've called for lock out service twice.** The local tow service said that would be another hour and a half. He'd asked them to call him about 10 mins before their arrival. So we went home and waited. Once he arrived and got the truck towed to the local garage of our choosing, he proceeded to lock Dave's keys in the truck and leave it in the middle of the garage's driveway. What a mess.
So Monday we had to drive down to the rental car place and rent a car for Dave to drive to class and work. Then I had to meet him there after work to drop off the rental car. All this the day before my surgery.
We arrived at the hospital the next morning right on time. We met my mother in the lobby. I signed in and was sent upstairs to the surgery unit. I was taken in immediately and given a room. A nurse came in and gave me a horribly huge gown, compression thigh-highs and gripper socks to put on. Once I was dressed in my hospital garb, I got an iv started and had a blood draw. Then I was wheeled down to xray for my chest film to be done. It would have been nice if they had done that while I was in my street clothes. The huge gown was falling off me all over the place. Then I was wheeled back to wait.
I was super nervous and sweaty. I talked a ton and laughed and joked out of nervousness. Finally they came in and discussed the details. They would cut me open and take out a piece of the mass. Dr Hsu would take it up to pathology and look at it. They would do an initial assessment of cancer or not. Then if possible he would come back and take as much as he could out. I should be under between 1 and 2 hrs.
Sounded good to me. Pretty much what I was expecting. They just wouldn't know what they were dealing with until they got in there.
(About this time Dave got the call that the truck was fixed... and it was going to be $1100 and we could pick it up at time.)
It was nearly time for me to go in. Nurses, anesthesia, students and other doctors were filing in and out of my room. My mom and husband were asked to go to the waiting room. I was given "something" to help me relax. It quickly moved through my body and just as I was relaxed (read really messed up) I was being wheeled into the operating room.
