Well this is actually day one and a half. I arrived at the hospital at 5:11 AM Monday morning. It is now 1pm Tuesday morning. A lot has happened in those 34 hours.
When my wife and I got to the hospital we were so early, my appointment was for 5:45, that admitting wasn’t open yet. So we had to wait about 20 minutes. I was so excited I felt like dancing in the lobby. When admitting finally opened I ran over to get checked in. They took my name, gave me some paper work and had me head up to the third floor.
Once I got to the third floor I checked in at their counter and was told to site down in their waiting room. They said I would go back at about 6 am. So I was waiting for another 20 minutes or so.
Finally they called me back to the pre-surgery prep room. I had to change into a hospital gown and put all of my clothes away in bag. Then it was a few papers to sign and a few tests to be run. They wanted my really warm before the surgery so they put this air blanket on me. This thing was just constantly filled with hot air. It was kind of nice.
Next was one group of people after another. Various groups of doctors and other medical people. I lost track of how many people came in. At one point the anaesthesiologist came in and connected me up to an IV. A few more people came in and next thing I know I am in recovery. I don’t even recall being taken out of the prep room.
The medical staff tell me I was in recovery for about 45 minutes before I woke up. When I woke up I was very groggy. I tried texting my wife to let her know I was awake. The nurses kept saying ‘she is drunk texting’. Looking back on what I had texted back then they were right. For many of my texts I have no idea what I was trying to say. But a few minutes later I was being taking to my hospital room.
I have a great room with a wonderful view of Salt Lake City and the valley. My wife was waiting for me in my room. This is where I will be until I leave on Saturday.
I think it took me nearly 16 hours before I was totally over the anaesthetic. Last night was somewhat painful but mostly uncomfortable. They have the bandages very tight, so there is a lot of pressure there. Of course there is also the fack that I just went through a major surgery and my body will be recovering from that for a while.
The medical staff here have been fantastic. Very caring and helpful and friendly. They are constantly checking on me to make sure everything is as it should be. Unfortunately that means some one is in my room doing something ever couple hours, so sleeping is more like a lot of short naps. But they are so caring and are only looking out for my health.
I have lots of medications, but they are doing a great job of keeping the pain down. At this point I am just focused on doing whatever I can; rest, eat right, etc to have a smooth recovery.
