Hernia Surgery Part II

This is part II of the day I actually got my gutpatch inserted. If you missed part I you can read it here.

Here I am at out-patient admittance dressed in my prescribed loose fitting sweatpants, baggy button up shirt and jacket.  My wife is dropping me off and helping make sure the payment agreement all makes sense. Basically, the hospital made me a deal that if I pay my deductible the day of surgery, they will only charge me that much no matter what.

Hopefully this includes the nurse anesthetist and all the other stuff that gets tacked on. It's only been 5 weeks since surgery and you can never be sure for a few months how it will all work out.

So, they tell me right away that the surgeon is running late because of some emergency that morning.  I ask about coming back in a couple hours and they don't want to let me go. Vee Dont Vant To Let You Go.  OK - I'll stay.  

Most important takeaways:

1. If the nurse getting the IV into your arm misses twice you can ask for a different nurse. I should have done this before she missed five times and I told her she was making me feel sick, didn't want to look like a heroin addict, and could not take her missing again. She cheerfully got another nurse who got it on #2. 
2. Take care of things that require clear thinking before they get the IV in you because there are drugs to "help you relax".  
3. It's not that hard to get up and go to the bathroom carrying your IV bag.
   
   Plus the bathroom has a place to hang it. If you have to go, then do it before surgery. 
4. Falling asleep in pre-op is good. It makes you forget the surgeon is running two hours late and you are laying around waiting to be cut.  
5. The surgery room was not like a technology manufacturing cleanroom.  If you have worked in cleanrooms like in a fab operation then a hospital cleanroom does not seem that clean.  Operating cleanrooms would probably be class10K in my old tech world though would probably test out around 1-2K with a particle counter is my guess based on many years in that world. Other people will probably just think it is a very clean room.  I was a bit taken aback myself.
6. A local anesthetic and drugs to put you in lala land really means you are out cold but not so far that the anesthetist has to shove a breathing tube down your nose or throat. My recommendation is go with the local and lala land drugs. A friend had a tooth chipped by the breathing apparatus down his throat. His dentist said it "happens all the time" because operating personnel don't care so much about your teeth.  
7. You will say and do stupid stuff when you come out of anesthesia. Don't worry about it. As we said in Part I about KYST and GYST, add NGF at this point.  Really, in your delirium if you start high fiving the nurses and the surgeon, telling the operating room nurse she has a cute outfit on really meaning it, and begging for chocolate cake it is OK.  They have probably seen and heard worse than that.  
8. The loose fitting clothing is super important NOW.  It is hard to move and having clothing that is easy to get into now is less painful. Slip-on shoes are a nice touch as well.  
9. Even though stuff hurts at this point, it is nothing like its going to hurt in a few hours or tomorrow morning.  

Try to sleep after you eat something.  You will probably be hungry from the overnight fast.  I did not get a headache from no caffeine because there was most likely two gallons of ibuprofen in me at that point.  I ate and then fell asleep on the couch.  

Next installment is about waking and getting up the first time and you can read it now by clicking HERE!  


Please comment below and I will answer all questions. This blog will only become useful if people comment and add their experience and ask the questions which other people share but are afraid to ask. Plus, everyone's experience is different. How did you find out you needed surgery?  Were you scared? How did you deal with it? Was it relief to know? Or, was the info a complete surprise? 

Gutpatch Hernia Repair Series
1. This Sucks! Step 1
2.  You Have A - I Have A - Hernia?! Step 2
3. Oh Man! Getting Surgery Scheduled - Step 3
4. Let's Have a Hernia Repair Operation - Step 4 Part 1
5. Hernia Surgery Part II

6. Post Hernia Surgery

Let's Have a Hernia Repair Operation - Step 4 Part 1

Why should you read this? Who should read this?

This post is going to provide some info about what it is like the day of surgery and is primarily for the novice surgery patient who, like me, had little experience with hospitals, doctors, nurses, hospital procedures, etc, and were nervous due to fears of the unknown and well-founded concerns about what can happen even during the simplest of medical procedures. If that is you then read on. 

Wear loose fitting clothing ✅
No food and drink since midnight ✅
Something to read ✅
Fully charged Smart phone ✅
Patience ✅
Driver ✅
Living Will - draft (hmm.. bit of a fail here) ✅
Advised brother and dad and kids ✅
Prayed for doctor and nurses ✅
Credit card ✅
Identification (drivers licence) ✅

These are some of the things you need on the day you go in for out-patient or what is more correctly known as ambulatory surgery. Some of this checklist is provided by the Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) or surgeon, and some of this is what you need to maintain your equanimity or possibly more colloquially known as KYST and GYST. See picture or click links if you don't know these FLA's.

There really is no way around the fact that unless this is the second hernia operation you are having, you don't know what is going to happen, you are extremely nervous, and anything to help you feel prepared is going to increase your feeling of control which helps you relax. There are probably a few readers that can surrender to the situation - my hat is off to you and I salute you and am envious. Most likely though you "surrender folks" are not even reading this because you have evolved past the need for this kind of banter, dry humor, and detailed information.

For the rest of us, doing something to prepare ourselves for the unknown the best we can, lets us relax a little. We have something familiar to fall back on when in a new situation.  For example, when waiting around to be admitted, or laying in the gurney prior

Hospital Gurney

to surgery, having your smart phone that you know how to use, gives you a familiar pattern to engage in which is relaxing.  A book can do the same thing. Or, reciting a prayer you know. Any of these activities engage you in something you know how to do and that will help you concentrate on what you know and forget a little bit about what you don't. That brings us to fear of the unknown.

 In order to help you, the reader, feel better I am painting a picture of what you are likely to experience so when it happens, you will remember and possibly say to yourself "oh yeah, I remember Gutpatch talking about this". That alone will let you calm down because it then becomes a shared experience between you and me.  And, the surgery thing can be a lonely experience. Gutpatch might be one of the few people that understands what you are going through. Check out this article in The Atlantic about extraordinary experiences both good and bad.  I believe that though this article talks mostly about extraordinary positive experiences that it applies equally to something that is usually perceived negatively like surgery.

People who had extraordinary experiences, meanwhile, had “little in common” with those who had run-of-the-mill experiences, and the resulting combination of strangeness, jealousy, and abnormality caused the extraordinary people to feel left out. In other words, you had to be there. Apparently, though, we don’t anticipate the social rejection that might ensue when we try to regale our acquaintances with stories from our trek across New Zealand.

Hey, hopefully you have lots of friends who will call you up, come see you, send you flowers, listen to you talk about how much it all sucks, and bring over food. All I can say is - don't count on it, and if it happens, count yourself really fortunate and say thank-you a lot. But mostly, even if our friends and family know about what you are getting ready to do, they will think it is not a big deal, or they don't want to be too involved because you don't want that, or for a billion other good reasons give you lots of space. If that is case, you are back stuck with Gutpatch. 

Sorry to get a bit psychological here. I think if you understand how things might go, you will have an easier time. And, it is OK to talk to yourself and imagine Gutpatch is there actually telling you this stuff to your face and you are arguing with me and telling me I'm full of it and to go screw off. That is OK!

This is getting a bit long so I am going to break it into two parts.  Part II will be coming soon and cover what is gong to happen once they open the door of the waiting room and escort you back.

Read Part II by clicking HERE!


Please comment below and I will answer all questions. This blog will only become useful if people comment and add their experience and ask the questions which other people share but are afraid to ask. Plus, everyone's experience is different. How did you find out you needed surgery?  Were you scared? How did you deal with it? Was it relief to know? Or, was the info a complete surprise? 

Gutpatch Hernia Repair Series
1. This Sucks! Step 1
2.  You Have A - I Have A - Hernia?! Step 2
3. Oh Man! Getting Surgery Scheduled - Step 3
4. Let's Have a Hernia Repair Operation - Step 4 Part 1
5. Hernia Surgery Part II

6. Post Hernia Surgery