Surgery Day ...

     Volcano day, I mean surgery day, was scheduled early for me on October 9th.  
I was ready as my family and I made our journey from southern New Jersey to New York City. I spent the ride admiring the sun rise come up on the urban industrial landscape as we zipped down the NJ Turnpike amongst the daily commuters. 
     
     I've gone into the city many times in my life time but this trip was filled with all different kinds of hopes and dreams. It truly is the city of dreams. Many dream of bright lights and busy street but my mind was thinking of all the things I had missed out on the past few years. Dreaming that today would be the turning point in all of this. An opportunity to start a new. 

    I had spent the night before tossing and turning. Thinking over all the things I should have eaten before midnight when I had the chance. Wondering if there was anything I had forgotten to pack or do before I was admitted to the hospital. 

     It was the sort of anxious feeling you have before you go on that long trip but instead of the excitement of Disney World, it was the anticipation of what this surgery might bring. How it could possible change my life and the way I've been living. Wondering if this surgery that I had put off for so many years might actually be the right choice finally. Basically, I was mentally getting my game face on for the toughest battle yet against the alien in my stomach.
     

No Escaping Now ...

     Upon arrival and checking in, this nifty GPS Tracking was attached to my wrist. Actually it's a patient ID bracelet to let everyone know I who I was and why I was here. I still felt a bit like a trapped animal when it was strapped on to me despite being there voluntarily. 

    Before I could even ponder any jokes on my newly acquired restaurant seating buzzer, I was called back into a private seating area with all the other cool surgical patients. The staff than ushered me into a little room and handed me a bundle of paper cloths and a plastic bag. I was instructed to strip, place all my belongings in the bag and get dressed in the paper cloths they provided. 

Fun way to start your morning, let me tell you.

One Size Does Not Fit All

        As you can see above, one size does not fit all. I was able to model this gem for my family and spend a little time with them. Than the staff allowed my husband to come with me as I was taken to the patient waiting area. This was a room made of many smaller curtained rooms filled with patients waiting for their turn. I was brought over to my very own wheeled bed and instructed to get in like a small child. 

    This is where time seemed to stop completely for me. If I knew any better, I would have thought that time was actually going backwards rather than forwards. Hubby and I cracked jokes to pass the time and took in the hustle and bustle of the nurses, interns and doctors rushing around. I met with my anesthesiologist and some of the surgical staff. They asked me pertinent information to keep me comfortable during my surgery. And I was flashed by an old man as he got onto his very own wheel bed. It was quite the morning.

     Finally my name was called and I said my good-byes to my husband as I was wheeled into a brightly lit operating room by a kind nurse. The staff helped me onto the surgical table and stretched out my arms onto boards on either side of the table. I closed my eyes as they started to place the IV's and......

Come back to read what its like waking up from bowel resection surgery.

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