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

  

27th April 2015 - Hospital admission

I was told to be at 8 am at the hospital. The reason behind is because on my last visit to his clinic (two days after getting my mouth moulds done at the hospital) my orthodontist placed an elastic chain on my lower teeth braces in order to close the gap between some of my teeth. If they had moved considerably since the chain was placed then making new moulds would be necessary. 

I got up early and got ready very quickly because I wanted to avoid my children seeing me leaving to the hospital. After my son’s reaction when we spoke about my surgery, I knew he would panic again if he saw me leaving and I would not be able to hide my anxiety this time around. My plan failed as my daughter woke up earlier than normal on this day and she was following me everywhere I went like if she was my shadow. It seemed like she knew I was going to be away for some days. There were extra hugs and kisses and cuddles and I struggled to hold back my fears and tears. I got her ready for Kindergarten, prepared her breakfast, said goodbye to her and my mom (who was already feeling very nervous, anxious and half-panicked), sneaked a kiss on my son (he was still sleeping), double checked if I had all the necessary documents with me and left with my little suitcase. In the garage we met a couple, friends/neighbours of ours, and when they greeted me and wished me good luck I just could not hide my anxiety anymore. I let all the tears I was holding back stream down my face until I calmed down. I felt really embarrassed afterwards but I am a very emotional person and despite most people thinking that I was freaking out because of the surgery, I was in truth having a harder time accepting that I would have to be away from my kids. 

When we arrived at the hospital we went straight to Prof. Dr. Watzke’s clinic. The doctors from the surgical team checked my teeth alignment and they decided that making new moulds were unnecessary. They went through some more paper work (I signed some more documents), confirmed the kind of surgery I was going to have (BSSO and genioplasty) and asked me if I had any further questions I wished to ask. Last but not least, they gave me a bag with elastic bands and a toll (to help me place the elastic bands in the surgical hooks). I also found out that my surgery was scheduled to be the first one, at 8 am, the following morning. As my splint wasn't ready yet, I was sent to an office to get officially admitted to the hospital. 

Arriving at the admissions office the guy that attended us asked if I had also a private insurance. As I do, I had the luck to be accommodated in a single room (a real dream come true!). The hospital does not have a station only for patients having orthognathic surgery so anyone having this kind of surgery stays at the Dermatology Station. 

Once we got all the paper work done, my husband and I went to the Station 74. I was introduced to the nurses and I was really relieved they were all extremely friendly (one of my fears was getting grumpy nurses to take care of me!). It felt like checking-in in a hotel. My husband left me then to go to work and all my medical check-ups started. A very friendly doctor came over, asked me loads of health related questions and did a ECG test on me. We spoke a lot about London ( It seems we are both London lovers!) and once she was done I got called back at the clinic of Prof. Dr. Watzke. As soon as I got there, one of the doctors checked the fitting of the splint in my upper teeth and then called Prof. Dr. Watzke, who had a short talk with me. 

Back in my room, I got very hungry and seeing that I did not really enjoyed the food offered by the hospital I asked the nurse if it would be ok to leave for a while just to go down to the lower level of the hospital to get something to eat. He said I could leave at any time however, I needed to let them know it so they could lock my room (Apparently some dirty souls are stealing patients at the hospital…Which kind of person does that?). I went to bakery located at the ground floor and I bought all things that looked very tasty; a pastry, a piece of plum’s cake, half a litre of chocolate milk and a can of coca-cola (which I normally rarely drink). With all “healthy” stuff safely stored inside my shopping bag, I went back to my room and I ate, and ate, and ate until there was nothing left. As soon as my private feast was over, another nurse came in and she filled another health questionnaire and took my blood pressure. She was really lovely and friendly and before leaving she advised me to stay in my room because soon the anaesthesiologist would come to talk to me. 

And so I did. I stayed in the room and waited. Took some selfies (to make later some before and after photos) and waited some more. One hour passed by and no anaesthesiologist came to see me. One hour became two and still nothing.. As I was beyond bored at this stage I got my headsets and phone and started listening to music (very loudly). I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and looking at the mirror I thought: “ok, Andrea. You have two options; either you let bad thoughts get the best of you or you can make the best of the situation, stay positive and sing your sorrows away! Come on girl! stay positive”… And then I started dancing in front of the mirror, making thousand facial expressions and singing “Shake it off” from Taylor Swift really, really out loud. After a few minutes I suddenly see a shape/ shadow next to the door (which I had forgotten open) and who is standing there seeing me “shaking it off” like a mad woman? The anaesthesiologist! OHHH MMMYYYY GGOOODDD! How embarrassing! And, on the top of everything the guy was young and very good looking (I mean, very-hot-good-looking-I-am-going-to-hyperventilate-type) just like the ones from “Grey’s Anatomy” series. He apologised and said he knocked the door before entering but because of my headsets I did not hear it! We laughed at the situation and he said that was the first time in his career that he ever met a singing/dancing patient! Laughter aside, we spoke about the anaesthesia procedure. I asked him about anaesthesia awareness occurrence and he told me this is really difficult to happen and the cases are so rare that if it happens it would most likely be heard of the next day on TV. He asked me if I had total anaesthesia before and if I had nausea after awakening from it. I told him my medical history and also let him know that I can handle anything but vomiting, and I asked to be given medicine against nausea after awakening from surgery.

As soon as he left a nurse came in to put my IV on and also to collect blood to test my blood group (The hospital did not accept the test made at the lab). At night a Doctor came to check on me and a nurse gave me a medicine to protect my stomach. I was also offered a sleeping pill (which I denied) in case I had difficulty to fall asleep. 

Right before going to bed my husband surprised me and came to visit me again. He said he had a hard time putting our son in bed.. It was a short visit but one that meant a hell of a lot to me! I truly love him!

So, once Michael was gone I went straight to bed and it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep!

     To be continued...

    

BUSY WEEKS BEFORE SURGERY

Hi, guys!

I am really sorry I haven't posted for so long. I have got really busy before my surgery and sick as well and I did not find the time to write on my blog. Then I had my surgery and I finally had the time to write a post, but no laptop as it broke and on the top of everything, I had no energy. Despite having difficulty to concentrate in the first days post-op, I still took notes of everything that happened, so I could tell you all about it afterwards even if with some delay…. So lest’s get started!

BUSY 3 WEEKS BEFORE SURGERY

Well, those weeks were for me extremely stressful. I spent 11 long weeks fighting whatever kind of cold I had. No matter what medicine I took, this cold would go away for 2 days then it would come back again - full force. I was already panicking, thinking I would have to delay my surgery because of it, and then luck hit my door and I finally got healthy again. You could not imagine my relief! 

I have also kept an eye on my weight and I was over the moon for putting on 1.5 Kg with this diet my nutritionist gave me. Believe me guys, I never managed that before in my life! I was literally smiling to the sky! People on the street were staring at me like I am a mad woman! My mom’s cooking skills also made a huge difference on my diet and everyday since she arrived in Vienna (14th April) I ate the famous Brazilian feijoada (loads of iron) and steak! 

So, one week passed by and exactly two weeks before my surgery, I had a scary moment. I got an allergy to whatever unknown thing. I woke up on a Saturday with my entire face swollen and numb (it looked like I have been punched all over my face). I truly could not feel anything! I went the following Monday to my general practise doctor, who sent me to an allergy clinic. Next day, all I did was jump from one clinic to the other thanking heavens for my mother already being here to help me out with the children. I did my pre-op exams and the allergy test and all that was left then was waiting for the results, which turned out to be negative for everything I have been tested for. Including Penicillin, that I used to be allergic to as a child. The lady in the clinic said that most likely the allergy was already gone by the time I got tested. Anyways, once that was out of the way and I was deemed fit by my GP doctor, I got what they call in German, Op-Freigabe. It’s a clearance from your doctor that allows you to undergo surgery. 

On the week preceding surgery (on Monday 20th April 2015) I went to the Hospital to make my mouth moulds and take my X-rays and pre-op photos. The clinic of Prof. Dr. Watzke is in the Hospital so that makes everything a lot easier! The first thing to be done was the X-Ray. When that was finished, I was sent to another room and a lovely doctor took my photos. That took some time because every time she positioned the camera to take a photo I had a laughter attack! I was expecting by then to be totally freaked out but I was just soooooo strangely calm that I felt like laughing! Thank God she was laughing together with me and didn’t get annoyed! I guess I was the only patient of them that ever laughed while taking these kind of photos! :-D Anyways, when that was done, I was sent to another room. Once there, the doctors introduced themselves to me. All of them were part of Prof. Dr. Watzke surgical team. You could see from the first second that they are really good at what they do. No trust issues there! They measured my face completely (and so exactly) from the left to the right, from right to left, up - down, down - up. At the end of it, I was actually feeling very, very excited.. All I could think of was “IT IS FINALLY HAPPENING!”. I could dance “YEAH” from Usher right there and then! :-) Like I said, I did not feel scared or anxious as I expected to, just really, truly excited! I had loads of questions popping in my head and one of the doctors kindly had a short talk with me. She went through all my concerns and also advised me to think whether or not I would like to have a double jaw surgery to fix my gummy smile. She said if I had upper jaw surgery my teeth would be lifted up and my upper lip (which is apparently long) would cover them completely making me look toothless while my lips are on rest. She also said, if I had the upper jaw operated that my septum deviation could be fixed too without any further costs. With a lot to think about, I was given some paper work and sent to my health insurance to get my splint payment approved. 

Next morning, at 8am I got a call from Prof. Dr. Watzke assistant. She told me that my surgery had been anticipated by one day. You cannot imagine what a difference a day can make in your life! So there I go, calling everybody and re-arranging things all over again. This is not easy when you have kids involved but we found a way to get organised again. And actually, to be very honest with you, I was happy to get it done sooner! Had enough of waiting! :-) 

On Wednesday, 22nd April, I went to Dr. Meissl's clinic to get a professional mouth hygiene and put my surgical hooks on. They also made some pre-op photos of me during this appointment, which I will try to post on my blog soon. 

One day later, on the 23rd April 2015, I finally got to meet my surgeon personally. Univ. Prof. Dr. INGEBORG WATZKE. What a joy! She is a very friendly, wonderful, kind person. The kind of person you get to look at once, and you know you can trust her blindly. I immediately had the feeling I was in very good hands! Another interesting thing is that I, somehow, felt like I knew her for years! Don’t ask me to explain this. I just would not know how! 

I was in her office for over an hour and I went through most of my “long list of questions to ask” with her. She was very patient and kind and she really did take the time for me. We discussed the best surgical plan for my case and she advised me to go for BSSO (Bilateral Sagittal Split Osteotomy) and  Genioplasty (chin reduction). Like the other doctor said, if I had double jaw surgery, my upper jaw would be cut to reduce my gummy smile but my upper lip would cover my teeth completely making me look toothless while my lips are on rest. She also said I would look older, my nose would get wider and she could even try to shorten my upper lip to fix the lip incompetence but that would change the shape of it too and I would look like a totally different person. She also reckons that, once my lower jaw is advanced, I will not be able to lift my upper lip that much when I smile/laugh and therefore I won’t show much of my gums. She said over and over that she likes my smile and she doesn’t want to do anything that will change it dramatically. As for my midline, it will be corrected with elastic bands. My upper jaw is about 1.5 mm off centre (rotated to the left) and my orthodontist, Dr. Meissl, will work his miracles with the help of orthodontics to make it even.  

After this meeting, I went back home and I had a talk with my children. This was BY FAR, the hardest part of this whole process. Even though we tried never to speak about my surgery in front of the children, my son managed to pick a few things here and there and when I spoke to him, it was like he already knew all about it. I saw how big my little grown-up 6 year-old boy is. I explained everything as nicely as I could but he did not take it well. He cried, so heartfelt, that I did not manage to hold back my own tears. He went literally into panic mode and I felt his anxiety as if it was my own. My daughter, still too small to understand what was really going on, started laughing and making fun of us and that made my son relax a little bit. I, on the other hand, just felt like crying some more! 

Next day, I let them stay at home with me. No Kindergarten. We played together and I tried to spend as much time with them as possible. They helped me decorate my house for my upcoming birthday party and they went also shopping with me. I love my children so, so, so much, I can not find words to describe or make justice to my feelings towards them! 

On Saturday 25th I celebrated my birthday with my family and a few friends and on Sunday, the last day before admitting myself to the hospital, I just tried to relax as much as I could, packed for my stay at the hospital and spent some time with my family. At night, after bringing the kids to bed I cried again. I was just very emotional about being away from my children. Then I just went to bed. I knew I would have to get up very early the next day and Thank Heavens I was so tired from all the events of the previous days/weeks that falling asleep was not a problem!

To be continued…