Day Of Surgery!

Taken from notes:

” Arrive at Hospital around 6:15am, and greeted by Susie the Hospital Liaison Officer. Susie checks all my paperwork and gets me to sign more documents. Not long after I am transferred to my own private room. I put on my hospital robes, and lie on the bed while my girlfriend plays Mario on her DS. My nerves at this stage are surprisingly not bad. Thanks again to Xanax I meet with the Anesthesiologist who seems like a nice switched on gentlemen. We talk about my current medications and general health. He is concerned about my blood pressure which read 162/80 from memory. I am guessing this is due to nerves before the operation, but the doctor said I should really get it checked, or I may have a short life. hehe, thanks doc! I then see my Surgeon, who seems like a lovely caring man, in a very rushed way! Lets put it this way, he must be a busy man, it took me almost 6 months just to get a consult with him! My only qualm with my surgeon (which I would not even consider a qualm) is he did not speak to me in more technical details about the procedures. The nerd in me wanted to know everything…like what type of liposuction will be performed, Tumescent, Smart Lipo, Ultrasonic? What size and shape chin implant…how will he carve it down and shape it to adapt to my chin. How many CC’s of Buccal fat will be removed from my cheeks?  Where will incisions on my face be located. I had all these questions but never the opportunity to ask. Perhaps this is my own fault. But I guess if he was to explain the semantics of every procedure to every patient, he would never have the time to do what he does best, operate.

“In the Operating Theatre” - Walk into the OR, and notice a huge team of doctors. My surgeon introduces me to a female trainee surgeon who will be watching my operation today. She seems very young and polite. My Anesthesiologist introduces me to his assistant. There are a number of other nurses and people preparing instruments in the background. Wow, all these people for me. I knew I am in good hands. The Anesthesiologist tries tapping an IV into a vein in my hand, but doesn’t seem to work. So he manages to tap a vein on the crook of my elbow. He mentions giving me something to relax, I like the sound of this. I instantly begin to feel dizzy. Then seconds later I was gone….blackness…nothing. Next thing I realise I am awake in a different room, with a friendly nurse beside me monitoring my vitals. Seems I had the urge to talk crap, but my lower lip had been numbed so I was talking garble. At this stage I am feeling very alert to my surroundings, but at the same time I have a headache like a hangover. The nice nurse crushes up some Digesic pain killers in honey for me…but the headache still persists for a while. I was told my operation lasted an 1:45mins, and the hospital was kind enough to refund me for the 15 minutes extra of surgery time I had paid. I had booked 2 hours. I am guessing I am back in my private room at around 9am. The nurses take great care of me, constantly monitoring my blood pressure and giving me pain killers and icecream. I have also been given a compression garment to wear around my head/neck. This helps with the swelling and bruising of liposuction. Overall I am feeling pretty good….in fact I don’t feel any pain at all besides my headache” I get up eventually to goto the toilet…and take a quick peep of myself in the mirror. I was expecting to look battered and bruised, but everything looked ok at this stage. After a couple of hours of monitoring, the nurses tell me its ok for me to go home. I just remember thinking wow, this entire process was a lot easier than I expected. What was all the stress about?? All the Doctors/Nurses/Staff had been very caring and professional, which created a positve experience for me.