Pre-op

Three weeks to go!!!

I went for my pre-op surgery. Let me describe it a la fieldnotes styles:

Arriving more than half an hour early, I killed some time by perusing Sunnybrook's gift shop (hmm.. nothing struck me.. you'll have to plan ahead to please this patient) and ordering myself a medium cafe latte from the lobby Second Cup. I'm not a coffee drinker by training. I sat in the little seating area drinking my coffee and reading my book for about half an hour until I was only fifteen minutes early and I felt comfortable heading down to the room I was told to go to.

Once inside, the woman at the desk didn't even ask my name, directing me instead to head to the back two rows of quite a large waiting room bustling with people and activity. I think it was a waiting room for anyone having blood work done, but the last two rows were for we special pre-operative patients.

I waited for maybe thirty minutes more, reading my book and feeling my heart rate escalate as the minutes ticked by. Was it the realization that this surgery was really going to happen? The nurses were going back and forth calling out the names of people, doing unknown, likely terrible things to them behind closed curtains! Ahhh! Maybe it was just the foreign caffeine seeping into my veins and screwing with my equilibrium. Either way, I don't like hospital waiting rooms.

Finally a woman came and beckoned for me to follow her. We went down the hall just slightly where a scale was waiting. She weighed me in my shoes and jeans and breakfast weight! Ugh! How totally unfair. She also measured me and I'd like to report that I am indeed 183 centimeters tall. An online centimeters to feet converstion calculator has confirmed it: I am 6.04'! Holy toledo. Gone are the days that I think I am 5'11 and 3/4. I dig it.

The woman then asked me a bunch of insignificant questions about my address and emergency contact numbers.

She led me to a small examination room where I was soon met by a young thin girl calling herself an anethesiologist. She asked me about any allergies and medications I am on, asked me to bend my head back and forward, looked in my wide open mouth, and listened to my breathing. She asked about various health things like the state of my heart and the history of family issues regarding anethestics.

She also mentioned some kind of pain relieving injection that I will be offered the day of the surgery. Apparently they lead a camera into some area of my upper thigh so they can inject something into the nerve leading directly to the source of pain. Apparently I didn't really get good details, eh? She said this is a relatively new method of pain control and she made it seem like it would replace the need for narcotic pain relievers. This strikes me as odd since the few people I know who have gone through this surgery themselves all mentioned the drugs they were doped up on. I asked whether most people accept this new pain reliever (which apparently may cause nerve damage or bleeding...) and she said they do.

Finally, a nurse came along and checked my blood pressure and then gave me some information about my surgery. This is what I learned:

For two days before my surgery I am to bathe with a special anti-septic soap that I was given today (for free!) On Monday September 8th I will receive a call between 1pm and 3pm to let me know what time my surgery is the following day. This could be as early as 6am. I am to arrive on the 9th two hours before my surgery so that the nurses can properly "prep me", whatever that means, or so that I can suffer from a heart attack while I wait. I should remember to bring slippers and a toothbrush with me to the hospital. Only two people are allowed to accompany me to the hospital. I am not to eat any food past midnight the day before my surgery but clear liquids are permitted until some time before surgery which I forget. I am instructed to brush my teeth the day of surgery. I may or may not spend the night in the hospital depending on the time of the surgery and I guess how I do in the recovery room. I am not to wear any scented anything, any jewellery, or any make-up. That's all I know. I forgot to ask what to wear on my big day.

She gave me three mostly useless pamphlets; one about anethestics, one about pain management, and one about all the stuff I just wrote.

And that was it! No blood work, urine sample, or anything at all invasive. A walk in the park, really.

And - lucky me - I get to return next week for my physiotherapy appointment where I'll get to hear about all the fun post-surgery stuff. Can't wait for that part.

Gotta hit the gym!