As evidenced by the title of my blog, I like wine. A lot. Pinot Grigio is my fave, but I’m an equal opportunity drinker, for the most part. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays (I’m embarrassed to admit). I love love and I love that there’s a day for people to express how much they love one another. For people who don’t normally express themselves, it’s like a free pass and I think that’s empowering and fun. Normally, J & I go out on a date or I cook, but the meal always includes wine. Not so this time. I had to eat a small meal and then stop eating or drinking by 9:00 PM. Yes, I suppose I could have had some wine, but I know myself and when I’m nervous about something, I am more likely to overdo it and I would really hate to be hungover for my surgery. It seems like hangover & anesthesia would be a terrible combination. I still don’t know the answer to that, so maybe I’m way off base.
The next day, J & I woke up and went to the hospital at 5:30 AM. There, we paid the nice lady the remainder of my deductible and I received a bracelet with my deets. Then, we waited. It seemed like forever, though it was only around 1 hour. After that, I went back into a room alone where they assured me that J would be able to come see me prior to surgery. They gave me these warm antiseptic wet pads with incredibly explicit direction on how to clean my body. Maybe everyone knows about this, but I thought it was funny and odd. I didn’t take a picture of the directions, but it was something like this:
• Use one cloth to wipe each area of the body for 20 seconds in the following
order (you will use a total of 6 cloths for this process):
1. Wipe your neck, chest and abdomen – not the face.
2. Wipe both arms, front and back, starting with the shoulder and ending at the fingertips. Be sure to thoroughly wipe the arm pit areas.
3. Wipe your right and left hip followed by your groin. Be sure to wipe folds in the groin area.
4. Wipe both legs, starting at the thigh and ending at the toes. Be sure to thoroughly wipe behind your knees.
5. Wipe your back starting at the base of your neck to your waist line. Help may be needed to reach.
6. Wipe your outer buttocks – not the rectal area.
Mine was slightly different because it included some other areas – I’ll let you imagine that, but it was very funny. Then, I was to put on my hospital robe. Well, the hospital robe was not buttoned in such a way that it looked like a robe and I was slightly confused. It was just a sheet. The nurse came back in and I showed her my makeshift toga. She laughed and helped me get it to a robe-like shape. After that, J was able to come sit with me. Shortly after that, my doctor came in to say what up and to let me know he’s pumped for the surgery. He explained that the anesthesiologist would be coming in shortly and that everything would be fine. I asked him how long I was going to be under and he said 30-90 minutes, depending on the severity of the endometriosis. I then made him promise that I wouldn’t wake up during surgery (it happened once when I was younger and it is now one of my biggest fears). He promised and we parted ways.
A anesthesiologist nurse (?? I feel like that’s wrong, but it’s something like that) came in next and put in my IV. My veins are super charged, so naturally, my blood started spurting all over the floor. This was thrilling and my room looked like the site of a murder for a bit. The anesthesiologist came in after that and said he was going to start giving me something to relax – it wouldn’t put me out, but would make me feel a little bit less nervous. I gave J my last conscious kiss and let him know what to do in the event of my untimely death (most of it had to do with work, haha) and let them shoot me up. I started feeling more relaxed immediately which was a relief! Then, there was a kerfluffle in my room because a blue paper (that included someone’s instructions or summary of their time with me or something) was missing. I chided the entire staff (whilst laughing hysterically) and let them know I wouldn’t stand for this in my office. I really think they loved me. It was quite funny.
I slightly remember being transported to the operating room and trying to figure out if I was cold (that’s what everyone always says about ORs and yes, they do have to be kept at a certain temperature), but I don’t think I came to a conclusion. The next thing I knew, it felt like people were just screaming my name. I quickly replied with “what time is it?” It was going to be my earliest indicator of how the surgery went. I could tell by the nurses face that she was surprised that I asked and also that it wasn’t going to be great. It was 2 hours and 15 minutes later. I was in quite a bit of pain when I woke up, but I suppose that’s to be expected. They gave me a couple more doses of IV medication, then brought J back. I was ready to go immediately, though I almost fell four times. We got to the car and then went to the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions. During that time, I did the only logical thing and had J drop me off at work so I could check on things while he filled my prescriptions. Spoiler alert, everything was fine. They survived without me for five hours. 😉
We then went home and relaxed for the remainder of the day… unsure of what to expect from here!
Pinot Grigio and Infertility 