Pre-op Prep: My hubby said it felt like she wheeled him all over the place until they got to another pre-op room. A nurse started working on putting his IV in while he talked to the anesthesiologist. He could tell that the nurse was having problems - but kept focused on the anesthesiologist. Apparently the vein in his hand burst while she was trying to put the IV in - so they ended up having to put it in his upper forearm instead. Dr. Lowe came in to talk to him for a little bit as well. The anesthesiologist put a syringe full of grandpa's cough medicine (not really - but you know what I mean) into his IV and said that pretty soon he'd feel like he had taken a couple shots of tequila. And then they wheeled him to the operating room. He said it was cold with lots of people and a lot of stuff everywhere. They asked him to breathe into this gas mask a couple times and that's the last thing he remembers before recovery!
Waiting in the Atrium: Meanwhile, I made my way down to the 5th floor and checked in. They have a really nice process set-up for family/friends who are waiting for loved ones going through surgery. The ladies at the nurse station gave me a buzzer (like they give you at restaurants) and said they would page me if they had any updates to provide and also when the doctor comes down to provide an update after the surgery. They also gave me my hubby's Patient ID number - which I could use to track his surgery on the monitors (kinda like the monitors at airports). They use IDs to keep it more confidential - but you can check the monitors to see when your loved one started surgery, finished surgery, moved to recovery, etc.... They also wrote down a description of what I was wearing - at first I thought it was so they could find me in the room - but then I thought maybe it was for security, so not anyone could come up claiming to be me? Who knows! So I found a table and set-up my laptop and blogged about our weekend in Louisville. :) While I was blogging, I heard someone call my name. I was surprised to see someone I knew that was also waiting on a loved one that was in surgery. I ended up spending most of the time sitting with them and chatting. I didn't really expect to see anybody I knew at the hospital today- small world! The nurse station paged me to let me know that his surgery started around 10:15am and then they paged me again when Dr. Lowe came down to talk to me. I was relieved to hear that everything went well and that my hubby was doing fine. Dr. Lowe said that he would probably have some soreness and may need to use some ice to help with the swelling. He's going to have my hubby come back in about 2 months to do another test - to see if things improved with the surgery. He didn't recommend us doing any fertility treatments until after that test, but encouraged us to keep trying on our own of course.
Late to the Recovery Room: After the surgery was done, I wasn't sure how long until I'd be able to go up and see him. I ended up going down to Wendy's to get some lunch and got paged by the nurse station right when I sat down to eat. I quickly enhaled my fries (which is how I normally eat fries anyway) and then put my burger in my purse to eat later. Back on the 5th floor, I turned in my pager and learned that he was in room 712. As I was walking to the elevator I realized that I didn't have my laptop bag anymore- oops! I was hoping that I had forgotten it down in Wendy's - where my friend was still eating. I gave her a call and luckily, she was still down there and so was my bag. Whew! So I ended up having to head down to meet up with her to get it and then head back up to the 7th floor. I felt bad being so late to get to my husband's recovery room. Later he told me that one of the nurses did make a comment like, "Oh, your wife isn't up here yet?" Oopsie - such a bad wifey!!
Recovery Room: When I got to room 712, he was laying in his recliner/chair/bed with lots of blankets on him. He was shivering and his hands were a little blue - he said he was so cold! The nurse came and brought him a few more warm blankets - which seemed to help. She also brought him some coffee to drink. He had been eating a few bites of cracker and had a couple cups of water and Gatorade on his bed tray. He was also watching ESPN's SportsCenter, too - so I knew I had the right guy. :) He knew what was going on - but still seemed a little weak and groggy. He was having some pain when he got to his room - so the nurse gave him some percocet at 12:34pm. He mentioned being surprised that he felt that way - I think he thought he was going to wake up feeling normal. We just hung out in his room - he surfed channels to find something to watch. He kept offering to let me pick, but I told him it was his choice. Eventually the shivering stopped and he kept drinking his liquids - he had to pee before they would let him go. I think it may have been around 2 or 2:30pm when he got up to go to the bathroom - standing up and walking made him feel a little dizzy. The fact that he was able to pee was a good sign that none of his plumbing was negatively impacted by the surgery. :) We got him situated again in his recliner/chair/bed and just hung out a little while longer. The nurse came back to see how he was doing and said that they could probably send him home soon. I had to sign a few forms as his "adult escort" that was driving him home. We decided that it would be easier for me to just get his prescription filled at the hospital - so I went to do that while they got him ready to go and back in his normal clothes again. I called him when I was done at the pharmacy and went to get the car, while they wheeled him out in the wheelchair. He said he felt dizzy a couple times as he was changing clothes and when he got into the car. He was pretty quiet on the drive home - thanked me for taking him in and being with him (what a sweet patient), but mostly rested.
Home Sweet Home: When we got home, I got him all situated on the couch with our big, red blanket (too bad we didn't have it at the hospital for him when he was shivering). I set-up a TV tray for him and gave him a big glass of water (complete with a bendy-straw). While we were at Churchill Downs he mentioned that he'd like to see the movie "Secretariat" sometime - so I bought it for him today. We ended up watching that this afternoon - it was a good movie! He was kinda sleeping off/on, but I think he liked the movie. I made some baked ziti for dinner and he ate a little bit of that before I gave him another percocet. My sister, brother-in-law, and our nephews stopped by to check in on my patient. Wendel ran in saying, "Uncle Jooooooooby, I have some presents for you." They got him a gift bag full of different snacks - Wendel would've gladly helped him eat it all - but we limited him to just a few Whoppers (Reese's peanut butter flavor - yummy!!). They got to hear the surgery scoop first-hand from our patient. They left a little before 8pm, just in time for the Reds game to start! Being the respectful and loving wife that I am - there is absolutely no complaints about the baseball game being on TV tonight - patient's choice! :) I've actually been blogging most of the game, anyway. Right now it's tied 3-3, hopefully they can pull off a win for my hubby tonight.
My hubby and I would like to thank our family/friends for their texts, emails, and phone calls today. Thanks for thinking of my hubby on his surgery day. We could definitely feel the love and appreciated all of your thoughts and prayers. We don't know if today's surgery will help us get pregnant - but we figure it can only help. Only time will tell. In closing, I'd like to shout-out a happy birthday to Casey, one of my guardian angels.... here is a prayer that one of her little sister's shared today. Good night!!
Angel of God, my guardian dear
To whom God's love commits me here
Ever this day be at my side
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen