Day 0: I MADE IT!

I was really hoping to have posted earlier, but man, credit to anyone who can manage to get anything posted sooner, I was EXHAUSTED!

Yesterday was rough to say the least. I headed to the hospital around 10:00 am, and was called back to get my gown on by 10:30. I was disappointed by the amount of time I had to be back there alone, it wasn't until noon that my mom was finally told she could come back. I met with a few nurses, the anesthsiologist and finally my surgeon, Dr. M and another surgeon who was assisting him, Dr. Y. The anesthesiologist and nurse decided it would be best for me to take out the two difficult piercings in my ears. They were both pierced at a tattoo place, and the earrings themselves need to be opened with special tools. I completely understood their reasoning, but it was just a bit frustrating. The nurse decided to find some makeshift pliers tool to open them, had absolutley no idea what she was doing or how my earrings worked, and with the IV in my arm and two people leaning over me, it was kind of too much, and I just started crying. The anestheioloigst was incredibly understanding, he asked me if I was crying because it hurt, and I said no, and then he asked if I was just upset because they are a part of me and they were taking them out, and I said yes. He was really nice about it, and it made me feel better about the whole thing. I think I had at least 5 people tell me I needed to remove my tongue ring, and a lot of people had this 'you know you can't keep that in, right?' attitude. It was a bit frustrating, as I had already figured everything out with Dr. M.


Right at 12:30 I was wheeled back into the OR. I asked the anesthesiologist to not give me any relaxers before putting me under, because I wanted the whole OR experience. Everyone thought I was nuts, but it was really fascinating me to me to be in the OR and watch everyone prep everything, wrap me up like a burrito to keep me warm, and listen to all of the lingo :) I never did any 'count-down' and don't remember being put under at all! It is so cool to remember being in the OR though.

The surgery took 6 hours I believe, and I was finally awake by 7 pm. The first thing I remember asking about when I woke up was my tongue ring. I realized it hadn't been put back in, and was totally unable to comprehend what the nurses or my surgeon (I can't even remember who!) was saying as to why it hadn't been, but some nurse handed it to me, and in my drugged up stupor, I managed to put it back in all by myself. I felt like such a champion!




My night nurse, Heather, was such a sweetheart, I was so lucky to have her. She really had to put up with a lot of tears and a LOT of bathroom trips. With all of the fluids they pump you with, I had to pee at least once an hour, I felt so bad, but she was so sweet. DISCLAIMER for anyone wanting to avoid receiving TMI from me: to any females to may end up having their time of the month during the surgery, please find someone to discuss it with prior to going into surgery, possibly one of the nurses that will be in the OR with you or if you feel comfortable, your surgeon. I had some issues with this post-op, and I really wish I would have been in better communication about it with someone before going into surgery. It lead me into a state of tears and total stress, just one more thing my nurse had to deal with.

To be completely honest, last night was terrible. I was so weak, I was in and out of sleep every 30 minutes, and I constantly had the urge to pee. One of the biggest things I recommend asking your nurse about is if they have one of those suction tubes that are used at the dentist. My mouth felt so slimy and gross from all of the blood inside, and it felt so great to have that to get rid of everything!

I looked in a compact mirror after arriving to my room, and because the mirror was so small I could only see one half of my face at a time. I looked at my eyes, and it looked just like me, but I brought the mirror down to the bottom half of my face, and started bawling! I scared myself! The swelling is so intense and my lips are so massive, that it was scary to see somebody in the mirror that didn't look like me!

The pain was minimum all night, any discomfort came from my face weighing 100 pounds and my lips being absolutely huge. My face is numb from below my eyes downward. I didn't eat anything at all the first night. I did my best to sleep as much as I could, but with the nursing assistant coming in every 30 mins to get my vitals, it was a bit difficult. I felt sorry for the guy, I could tell he was a big nervous dealing with me!

Surgery was a success! I am so incredibly thankful to be on the other side!