Surgery!

Awake eating crackers with my Vicodin so thought I'd update!

We arrived in Irvine the evening before surgery. The drive was full of traffic but we expected it because of the time and area we were traveling in. We checked into our hotel and then went to pick up takeout at The Cheesecake Factory, which we passed on our way in. This is a memory from back when I first knew my Mom. She took me there for my 22nd birthday, along with my GriefShare leaders. We didn't know they existed outside of Houston so we HAD to eat there! We took it back to the hotel so that we could watch NCIS. I checked in at Disneyland on Facebook (we were within walking distance!) to be funny. Afterwards, I took my pre-surgery Hibiclens shower and we turned in. I actually slept pretty well until about 4am. Up at 6am to get ready for surgery! Another Hibiclens shower and we packed up and loaded the car. We were only 5 minutes from the hospital so it was a quick drive. Left the car with Valet (free for outpatient surgeries!) and headed upstairs. Signed some paperwork and waited a bit, then got pulled back. Changed into my gown, funny socks and hair net, and moved into pre-OP. I had a few sweet nurses to get me ready for surgery. Met both Anesthesiologists, saw the surgeon, and saw his resident. My surgery was scheduled for 9:45, but delayed until 10:15 due to the Dr. overlooking my allergy to Penicillin, which meant the antibiotics on my IV (not turned on yet) and the antibiotics that had been prescribed for home were both cousins of Penicillin and not safe. So we had to wait for them to change the IV antibiotics before we could get started. I remember the Anesthesiologist giving me something to relax, and when i started feeling it i told my Mom "I'm starting to go, tell me bye!" Haha. As they wheeled me off I said back to her "I'm coming back as a Bionic Woman!" hahaha! I remember being in the OR almost "gone," when a nurse tried to take my stuffed Pooh and Piglet. I shot my eyes over to her and i read her lips saying "Oh, not yet!" That's the last thing I remember until after! I was in a lot of pain when I woke up from surgery. The nurse slowly gave me 2 doses of IV pain meds before the last one finally took the edge off. My golden response to anesthesia held true: no nausea whatsoever! I was downing ice chips as fast as my Mom would let me. She was being very stingy with them and even took them away at one point. My first words after waking up were in response to this, saying "Killy potty!" That's a funny way of saying party pooper for anyone who doesn't know :P I believe we left a little after 2. I didn't sleep the whole drive because my jaw was killing me. I have problems with that jaw hurting anyway, and it used to pop every time I opened my mouth up until I got a dental bridge on that side of my mouth about a year and a half ago. So no surprise it was so painful, but of course that doesn't help it feel better! The vibrations of driving and the stop-start in traffic and in town made the pain worse. I ate an applesauce pouch at the beginning of the drive to get something in my stomach, then I snacked on saltines the whole way home on and off. We stopped to use the restroom at one point (boy I must have been a sight! I tried not to notice the stares but it was impossible lol) and Mom got me a small sprite to sip on. The water seemed too heavy in my stomach. Got home about 5:30. I was very glad to arrive home! I took a 2 hour nap and then ate some ramen noodle soup. Uploaded pictures to Facebook and then wanted to lay down in bed. I watched a couple TV shows while eating popcicles (the popcicles I never ate after my tonsillectomy in December haha) and went to sleep at about midnight. Cody woke me up just before 2, pawing my arm to get back under the covers. This was so sweet to me, because he never sleeps with me all night anymore. He waits until I fall asleep and then he moves to his bed in the kitchen or to the living room. So the fact that he took the time to wake me up (not easy as his way of getting attention is whining, I guess he figured out the need to paw me lol) made me feel good :) It was almost time for meds so I got up and took them. And here I am eating saltines updating here! I'll post more as I move along in my recovery. I go back to see the surgeon on 3/7, and activation is 3/20!