For the second time in less than a week, this wee little pixie found herself commuting back into NYC to meet for yet another consultation appointment on my resident alien in my gut. This would be a first for me though. Instead of meeting again with my GI Doctor George, I would be meeting my surgeon face to face.
So feeling like a seasoned commuter, I hopped onto NJ Mass Transit with my Kindle in hand to start my long travels into NYC. Surprisingly, after just a few stops, a familiar face boarded the train. It was an old co-worker named Veronica. We hadn't seen each other in years since the company we both worked for went bankrupt. We spent the rest of the ride talking away happily like two little school girls. Most likely annoying those around us as we talked way too much.
When we arrived in Penn Station, we hugged good-bye and wished each other luck on our day's adventures. I am truly grateful for running into Veronica that day. She was able to take my mind off of my looming appointment by providing a much needed distraction. Thank you sweet Veronica. You were just the angel I needed.
On my way again, I found my needed subway station and rode across town. Proud of myself that I didn't ended up in the Bronx, I emerged nearby to my appointment on 69th Street and Madison Avenue. Despite the misty weather I had about an hour before my appointment. So I decided to walk off my nervous energy and do some window shopping with all of the amazing expensive Madison Avenue shops in the area.
As I wandered around. I found to my delight a french bakery with the most divine croissants and delightful macarons that I could not resist. Each and every sinfully delicious bite in my mouth tasted like a little bit of heavenly sunshine. It was well worth the price.
With my stomach now full of french treats, I made my way into the waiting room of my surgeon's office. Although the wait wasn't rather long, the minutes seemed to tick by slowly. I tried to read my book but found that I just kept reading the same page over and over. Finally my name was announced and I was on my way into the inner sanctum of the man will change my life hopefully.
Doctor Chessin was quite cordial and friendly with a firm and steady handshake. ( Steady is very important ) After a few pleasantries, he jumped right into my medical records and posed a lot of the same questions that Doctor George did. Once we were all the same page, we got down to the details of my surgery.
Doctor Chessin explained again that despite all the medicines available now to treat Crohn's Disease, no medication would be able to rid me of my scar tissue and strictures in my gut that have been causing me pain. The only option at this point, is surgical intervention. This type of surgical intervention is of course much preferred as I am the one making the choice to do it. I'd rather it this way, in the hands of surgeon that I trust whole heartedly than an emergency situation with my local hospital.
Luckily this procedure ( a resection of the terminal ileum ) can be done laparoscopically with a minimal amount of cuts needing to be made in the abdomen. The surgery is supposed to be about 90 minutes long and there will be three incisions made. I'll have a small incision on my pelvic bone that will barely be visible and than a second slighter larger one on my hip that will be about 5mm. The last incision by my belly button will be around 1-3 inches long. The length of this one, will be determined by how dilated my gut is when he removes the one section of my bowel.
For such a short surgery, Doctor Chessin will be doing quite a bit while I'm under in dreamland. He will remove the diseased section of my gut and than reattach my small intestine to my large intestine. At the same time he will also remove my cecum and appendix since the blood flow will be cut off from these two appendages.
The only unknown with the surgery is what type of adhesions the surgeon may find that my alien has caused. I feel I am in good hands though with Doctor Chessin. He assured me just like Doctor George, that no matter what happened during the surgery, he's seen it all and I would be ok.
Feeling scared but confident that I was making the right choice, my surgeon walked me up to his scheduling department to get me scheduled for my surgery. To my utter surprise, his assistant penciled me in for October 9th at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City !!!
Come back tomorrow as I continue my tale and discuss what I'm packing to make my stay in the hospital more comfortable.
Warp Speed Ahead !
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