Yesterday I went for surgery - the surgery I never wanted to have and hoped never to need. I really hate being a patient, and knowing that I am "sick" (or at least not as well as I think I should be) and having to have something done by other people. I just want to be normal and healthy and not to have to deal with all this.
Anyway, I went to work in the morning as usual, and that was fine. I guess it was good for me to have something to do rather than just sit around trying not to think about how much I want a cup of tea and can't have one.
I was admitted at midday, and then spent the next three hours sitting around in a patient gown waiting for my turn. Dean came with me right down to the operating theatre. The anaesthetist put in the IV (I didn't realize it hurt so much!) and then told me to keep my eyes open as long as I could. I remember staring at the overhead lights and then they went wavery around the edges...
I woke up to hear a nurse saying "She's still very groggy" and I thought "Damn straight" and went back to sleep.
I woke up again back on the ward, with my left arm all in pins and needles from having been leaned on while I was asleep. It made me realize how a GA is different from normal sleep. Usually I wake up and change position before my ulnar nerve gets pinched too badly - this happens to me on and off - but this was numbness worse than I have ever had before.
I was nauseated but not in pain, and the nurse gave me a third medication to take the edge off - ondansetron! This is the stuff I used to prescribe for cancer patients having chemotherapy - I guess that's the nice thing about being a private patient! Now I now why they all like it so much!
I finally convinced the nurse I could go home, by eating two triangles of sandwich and gritting my teeth and smiling. On getting home last night, of course I was terribly sick again - I'm just surprised I survived the car trip!
Still, today I feel better, although a little sore still. Now I just have to cross my fingers and hope it all works! I don't get the results until next week.
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