Surgery 9-12-16

The day before surgery, I had to stop all food and liquids at midnight. I knew I was going to be very thirsty since my surgery wasn't scheduled until 12:30pm the next day. That's a long time for me to go without food or water. So, I grabbed a huge movie theater cup we have (thanks to my husband who likes to keep these kinds of things) and proceeded to drink 2.5 of these throughout the afternoon and evening before I went to bed.



For dinner, my mom made baked potatoes, salad, and black beans, which filled me up nicely. I took my shower with the antibacterial cleansing soap the hospital gave me to wash with and off to bed I went. 

When I woke up, I was thirsty and hungry, but I tried to distract myself from thinking about food or water by packing my hospital bag. I took my second shower with the antibacterial cleansing soap and changed into my loose clothing. My mom, sister, husband and I all took HG to daycare and off to the hospital we went in a 3 car caravan. I was very nervous because I had never been under general anesthesia before, but my mom, dad, and several other friends who have gone under before reassured me everything would be ok. 

When we got to the hopsital, we went to the front desk and told them I was here for surgery. They sent me to the second floor where I was immediately escorted with my husband to the AOD area (pre-op prep room). I changed into a gown, they took a urine sample, the anesthesiologist put my IV in my arm, and we waited...for 2 hours. The nurses that were going to help with the surgery came in and introduced themselves and got my saline started. The doctor came in around 12:30pm to say hi and check that everything was squared away with what surgery we were going to do. Then, the anesthesiologist's nurse came and gave me the "margarita". It only made me feel slightly dizzy, but not that good feeling you're supposed to have. I guess I was on such high alert that it didn't affect me much. They wheeled me to the OR and I transferred myself to the operating table and laid my head on the pillow. The anesthesiologist started mentioning the things she was injecting into my IV and then she said, "Now here comes the good stuff." It was this white liquid and within a few seconds I was out. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in the recovery room. The nurse put a washcloth over my eyes and drew some blood (which I don't remember her doing that because I couldn't feel a thing and couldn't see because of the washcloth). After she removed the washcloth, it took me about 5 or 10 minutes and then I was wide awake. It was 4:15pm. She was very surprised at how alert I was given that I had just come out of surgery. I knew they had done something because there was a bandage on my neck and a drain coming out of the side, but I was in no pain, and of course, I didn't remember anything. They called my husband back to see me and the doctor came and talked to me about the surgery. He said it went much better (and quicker) than anticipated and I had minimal bleeding, my nerves were not damaged at all during the surgery, and they didn't have to remove any lymph nodes! He also told my family that once the pathology report comes back, he and the endocrinologist will discuss whether or not radioactive iodine treatment is necessary. Then, he asked me some questions, I asked him some questions, and he said, "You are the most sharp, alert patient I have ever had that just came out of surgery. Most people are super groggy and not with it." 



After about 45 minutes in PACU (recovery), they wheeled me to my room. My caravan of family were with me (dad, sis, and husband) except my mom who had the duty of picking up HG from daycare, taking him home to eat, and then bringing him up to the hospital to see me. Once I got settled in my room, my dear friend April came to visit. We had a nice time chit chatting and it was good to see her crazy self.



HG and my mom showed up later and he ate his dinner and got to sit on my lap and watch some of his videos on the phone. Around 8pm, everyone but my mom left. I started to get a tingly feeling in my hands and feet and I knew my calcium levels were getting low. My calcium wasn't due until 9pm, so we waited. I got to walk around a bit which felt nice. Once the anesthesia wore off, I started to have some pain in my throat, like I had strep throat, but it was from the breathing tube that they put in and took out during surgery. It was bearable for a while, but as the evening went on, swallowing became very painful. My incision site didn't hurt much at all (probably about a 1/10). I ended up asking for a pain pill around 10:30pm thinking that would help me sleep. But, I was wide awake. I tried to lay in darkness with my eyes closed, but ended up not really falling asleep until close to 1am after they took my vitals and the tingling in my hands and feet subsided. I woke up at 4:15am and was wide awake. They took my vitals again at 4:30am and took blood at 5am to check my calcium levels. My drain wasn't full, but they emptied it anyway. At 6:45am, the doctor came by to see me and removed my drain.














He said my calcium levels were still too low, so they were going to increase my dose and dosage to hopefully help bring them back up. He said they didn't give me enough last night, which is why I was having the tingling in my hands and feet (which I knew it was because my calcium was low). They gave me more calcium at 7am (it was originally supposed to be at 9am, but since it was low, he wanted me to have some right then). He said they would give me more calcium at lunch time and take my blood again around 2pm. At that point, they would decide if my levels were ideal enough to send me home.

My mom and HG were coming up to visit me before he got dropped off at daycare and he really wanted to eat breakfast with me, so my mom brought his breakfast and we had a picnic in my room on my bed. <3



I was also able to walk around for about 15 minutes to give my legs some exercise and stretch a bit. By the end of breakfast, I could hardly swallow again, so I asked for another pain pill. That gave me just enough relief so I could stand drinking any water. Once my mom left to take HG to daycare, I took a good 2 hour nap. I really needed it since last night's sleep was not very good quality. I then ordered lunch and took my second calcium for the day. At 2pm, they came by and took my blood to be sent off to see how my calcium levels are looking. At this point, I'm still waiting to hear back on whether or not I'm allowed to go home. 

Overall, I feel pretty good. I'm taking it easy and following all of the doctor's orders. The staff here at Methodist have been wonderful and my doctor has been great as well. So far, I've had a really good experience, but I'm definitely ready to be in my own bed!