SURGERY DAY

I woke up at 5:30 am. Unlike my normal self, I was feeling extremely calm. When the nurse came at 5:45 am to wake me up, I had already stowed my belongings in the safe, tied my hair up as instructed by the doctor, brushed my teeth thoroughly, showered and I was dressed in my surgical gown and... singing!  When she saw me, she said: “Oh, the singer is still in a good mood today?”. That’s when I found out I was nicknamed “the singer” as, obviously, the anaesthesiologist told everyone about our encounter the previous day. She gave me two pills and I remember one was to make me sleepy and tired. The nurse started wrapping my legs (procedure against thrombosis) and while she was working I sang over and over “its like I’ve got this music in my mind saying it’s gonna be alright…”. She left my room smiling (maybe wondering which planet I come from? Or if I know the lyrics of any other song..) and I decided to take some more selfies… Feeling that the pills were having effect on me I just laid down again and took a nap. 

I woke up with a male nurse entering my room. He looked like a member from a rock band and honest to God I don’t remember what I spoke to him. Next thing I know, I was in the pre-op room. There was a tag with my name written outside the Theatre 3. He put a blanket over me and undressed my gown. He also put a cap (similar to a shower cap) on my head and fixed it on my face using a tape. I remember feeling really cold. My bed was wheeled and suddenly I was inside the surgical room. There was a watch on the wall marking 8:01 am. I was feeling so, so cold and I told the “rocker nurse” that I was freezing. He put a huge tube between my feet and warm air started blowing from it. I felt so happy about it that I started singing again. I remember I sang two Brazilian popular music songs. One called “Aquarela do Brasil” from Gal Costa and “Garota de Ipanema” from Tom Jobim. Then one member of the surgical team said: “What’s this? Do we have a radio today?” and then another one pointed at me and said; “No, that’s our patient singing!”. One female doctor came to me and asked me where I come from. I told her: “Brazil”. She looked happy to see me singing. I guess that was also a “first” for them. I remember we had a short talk but I just cannot remember what we talked about. Then the anaesthesiologist came and even though I could not see his face because of the mask he was wearing, I realised he wasn't the “Grey’s Anatomy” one. He was blond and this one was dark haired with beautiful eyes. He introduced himself to me and said he would put a mask on my face and I would fall asleep and most likely no longer remember him. After a few seconds I was gone.

I woke up at the pre-op room. I remember looking around and I realised my head and face were wrapped in a bandage. I remember someone checked on me and the first thing I said was: “Where is my Sacher Torte?” :D Then I was gone again.

When I woke up again I was in my room. I felt very tired and I  slept for a couple of hours. I woke up with a nurse checking on me and as I was feeling very thirsty, I asked her for some water. She double checked first with the anaesthesiologist if I was already allowed to drink something and as he gave permission she kindly set a glass of water with a straw on the table next to my bed. I did try to drink it (my throat was very sore) but one tiny little sip made me feel nauseous and I vomited. All the blood I swallow during surgery came out. It wasn’t much though and I guess I didn’t panic because I knew this could happen and also because I was able to open my mouth. I was wearing the splint but I was not wired shut, so I didn’t have the feeling I was going to choke. I immediately called the nurse and I was given a medicine against sickness, a round of antibiotics and  some medicine against pain (even though I didn’t have much pain). All medicine were liquid and given to me through my IV.

Some time later, three doctors, members of the surgical team, came to check on me. They were smiling from ear to ear when they said I am their favourite patient and my surgery was the best they have ever performed. According to them, everything went smoothly and worked perfectly from the beginning to the end and they really loved operating on me. They also loved that I sang before the surgery started! :D 

It feels amazing to know so many people like you! I also like them all quite a lot and I truly respect them for the work they do! I feel very fortunate and blessed to have such great teams on my side during this journey (Surgical team, nurse team, ortho team)! But I must confess though that I would prefer being known for my dancing skills rather than my singing! :D

Later afternoon, my husband came with my mom to visit me. My mom told me how the children were coping with my absence and my husband showed me videos of our children. Each of them made one video wishing me a good recovery, saying how much they love me, that they miss me a lot and can’t wait for me to go back home! Obviously I cried! Emotional mommy I am! Anyways, Michael and my mom kept the visit short. They saw I was very tired and falling sleep. I told them I was doing well and being really well taken care of by the nurses and there was no need for one of them to stay with me.   

Once they were gone, the nurses kept on bringing every half a hour new ice packs and in between giving me antibiotics through my IV. At night, a doctor checked on me and as I was not able to eat anything I was given an astronaut drink, which I somehow managed to drink. It taste like a shake and it’s supposed to be full of protein. Before bed time, I got an injection on my thigh against thrombosis (That my dear, bloody hurts!). After that, fatigue took over and I went to dreamland…

 P.S: Curiosity fact: All doctors from my surgical team really are handsome, pretty people. If they could act as well as they can operate people, they could easily be hired for "Grey's Anatomy Series"! :D

I leave you here with some pre-op fatigued/drugged-faced photos of me and a couple of post-op photos. I hope you are all doing well!

Hugs,

Andy