It's been 2 weeks since my surgery. I best talk about it!


My surgery was scheduled for October 6, 2010. I needed to be at the hospital at 5:00 a.m. I needed to take a shower with antibacterial soap prior to coming. My sister had a bottle of Hibiclens so I used that.



We got to the hospital and it was really empty!

























It seemed no sooner had I sat down before they were escorting me back to the pre-op area.
























They took me back to the pre-op area and I donned a fashion-forward gown and those funky slippers with the grippy things on the bottom. My veins begrudgingly gave up some blood and my IV was started in my hand. After about an hour, they let my sister in to see me; she snapped some pictures:

























Don't you just adore the chapeau?






















The time came... time to have my surgery. They rolled me to the operating suite and instantly started working on me. I saw a woman working on yards upon yards of forceps and other surgical equipment. There were other people talking with me (I suppose to keep me focused and not freak out; not that I would, but they didn't know that). They had me scooch over onto this TINY (width-wise) operating table (I've never seen anything so narrow, but I was on it). Then they started restraining my arms. Somehow we got on the subject of Tempur-Pedic beds and they wanted to know all about it (ha).


The anesthesiologist told me they were going to put me to sleep now and put the mask over my head. He told me to take some deep breaths. Soon I felt like I was half outside myself and I remember nothing else.

Next thing I remember I was in recovery. I opened my eyes and saw my highly esteemed surgeon, Dr. Mahjed Jandali. He waved at me and smiled and I tried to utter a cheery "HI" but it wasn't there. Lights out again.

Next thing I remember I was in CCU (Critical Care Unit). They kept trying to talk to me. I tried to respond, but it's pretty foggy--even today. I remember Kathy (my sister) being there asking me how I was doing. She told me that they did everything laproscopically (I was terrified that they were going to do a big belly incision). They took my gallbladder out and took pictures of it... I guess it was so diseased they were amazed that I never had pain there. They also fixed my umbilical hernia--something I thought was going to require a 2nd surgery. THANK YOU!!

Since I've been home, she told me that they didn't wait very long before making me walk. Walking is critical in preventing leg clots--which is often one of the most serious complications from this surgery. Not the surgery itself, but the leg clots which can come from not walking.