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

Flower My Pedi Please - And I'll Take Those Shoes, What a Deal - Scooter Girl Gets Some Pre-Op Glam

Ready for Dancing in these

Flower my Pedi Please!

A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!  You've been told you will not be able to walk for 6 weeks and that you will be in recovery for 6-12 months after surgery, what does that girl gotta do?  

She has to go the day before surgery and invest in an amazing pedicure. 

Nothing completes a girly girl like a bright pink pedi with a pretty flower painted on top.  

Even though I could not sit properly in the pedi

massage chair due to my swollen and damaged hamstring, I managed to sit cockeyed through the procedure while a very nice lady at our local salon took care of my soon to be bed ridden feet.  Being that it was summer and I would find myself indoors for a while, I opted for a very bright shade of hot pink and had her top it off with a daisy hand painted on each large toe.  While I didn't know if it would be allowed to stay on during surgery, It is up to your anesthesiologist, I took a chance and was relieved to find my pretty pink toes staring up at me post-operatively. A little bright spot through my pain wincing eyes.   

This post is simply to bring a little lightheartedness into the story of Scooter Girl's Proximal Hamstring Rupture repair.  

Trying on just for fun paired with compression sock

I have to say that I was very happy with my decision to take care of this pre-surgery pampering.  I have enjoyed glancing at my feet at times while laying down for all hours of the day. It somehow brings the feminine to a place that, much of the time, seems dull and boring.

Girls - Take Care of Yourselves!

I'll Take Those Shoes, What a Deal!

Part two of this post, Ladies?  You know how every now and then you stumble upon a pair of shoes?  You know the ones, high end designer, the last pair on the discount rack?  You do the double take, that glance, which makes you flush with instant recognition that they were just waiting for you and only you, then the hesitation, "what if they don't fit?"

These are the ones!  Magnificent!

A week before my surgery I was out with my husband, niece and grand niece.  He needed a pair of work shoes so the four of us launched out towards one of our favorite shoe stores.  As I hobbled about in discomfort, holding onto the day as a token of a day out before my long recovery and housebound days would keep me inside, unable to sit and unable to stand and walk unaided for many weeks, I ambled to the discount rack.  I had been hoping to spot a pair of shoes for my niece as a gift, however, there, in a perfect brown box atop the little velvet bag and baggie of two extra heels was THAT pair of shoes.  $250.00 Ellie Tahari kiwi and cream stiletto sandals.  I knew in an instant they were for me.  At a half size too small according to the box, I snagged the box off the shelf in such a way that wreaked of sneaky, looking over my shoulder in hopes that no one else was trying to dive in at the same time. I strode over to a little bench, reached down through my pain and put those little kiwi sandals on my feet.  They were a perfect fit!  I stood in them, wobbly leg, "she has conquered."  I watched as my husband made his way over to me, standing tall, proclaiming, "THESE SHOES SHALL BE MY MOTIVATION TO DANCE AGAIN AND BE WHOLE!"
$19.99.  Now all I needed was that pedi and I was ready to be cut open and face what was coming next.

Ladies - Take Care of Yourselves!

New Pedi added 9-26-15 with yellow sunflower
I could finally sit for it.

It helps to feel girly and fresh in my cocoon