Day 435: Post-op update

I was whisked in to surgery at about 9.30a by a lovely woman called Maureen. She passed me over to a very efficient nurse who prepped things outside of the operating theatre. Dr. Jacques, the anaesthetist whose invoice I was asked to pay over the phone on Tuesday, introduced himself and got to work. He as initially going to put the cannula in my hand but found a vein elsewhere after my pleading. I reiterated my history of nausea post-op ("I am a recidivist chucker" is what I actually said) and asked if he could do his best to prevent it.

Out came Dr. Andrew who took photos, drew all over my right breast and asked if I had questions. Since I did not, I was wheeled in to theatre at 9.45a and asked to wiggle onto the bed. Dr. Jacques popped around to my side and said that he was giving me a glass of champagne to relax as he put a sedative into my cannula. Then it was lights out.

I was wheeled into recovery at 11.50a and came to very slowly. They'd put some Vaseline-type goop on my eyes in theatre which made waking up very strange. The man next to me was snoring very loudly so that helped me wake up.

I had a bit over an hour in recovery and got into my room about 1.15p to find Nick waiting.  I was a bit loopy and tired so dozed for a bit while he went to get lunch. Shortly thereafter the nurse came and helped me change into my own PJs as I was feeling remarkably well. I was hungry so ate 2 pieces of toast and had a cup of tea plus 2 biscuits - and I kept it all down! I haven't needed too much pain relief yet. We passed the afternoon chatting with Ruth, who arrived about 3p. We all noted the intense swelling in my arm around the elbow, which is my "problem area".  I changed my garments as the set I wore into theatre were stained with iodine. Nick left about 5p and Trent popped in about 6p for about 45 minutes before they left for dinner.

I enjoyed the alone time, watching the news and returning messages. I had some time to think about the results of the urine sample I did after eating when my wee was blood orange colour. As it was light orange yesterday, I mentioned it to the nurse so we did a sample. She came back telling me that it showed a high level of glucose, so we did a prick test. My glucose level was 12 (average is 4-8) and my lovely nurse, who is diabetic, measured 10.5. Apparently a high glucose level doesn't change the colour of one's wee. She told me not to worry, but just poked her head in and suggested I test it again tomorrow. Hmmmm.

It's 9.30p and it's been a big day. I'm going to drug up (via the button I press to get "pain relief" AKA fentanyl) and head off to sleep. Good night.