My pre-op appointments

So, yesterday I had my pre-op appointments with Dr. Brown and the hospital; needless to say I was very nervous.  My appointment with Dr. Brown was first.  We arrived there around 8 and waited until around 8:30 before Jen called us back.  She took my temperature and blood pressure and then showed us to our room.  We waited about 5 minutes for Dr. Brown to come back in.  He performed the trans-vaginal ultrasound to make sure there weren't any "surprises", and there weren't.  He then told us what to expect from the surgery and what I needed to do to prepare for it. 

He said that he didn't expect the surgery to last more than 15 minutes, but it could last up to an hour and it is what the consider "band-aid surgery" because there aren't any stitches needed, just glue.  He reassured me that everything would be fine.  I told him I wasn't really worried about the surgery, but more so about the pain afterwards.  He then explained that on Friday I will be really tired from the anesthesia, so I'll just end up going home and going to sleep.  He said that Saturday I'll probably be in some pain, but it is from the air that is inside of my body from the surgery.  He then said that by Sunday I'll be sore, but not in any "real pain" and that will probably last about a week.  He then wrote me a prescription for pain medication.

He then explained how I was supposed to prepare for the surgery.  He told me how to make my Dulcolax & Miralax cocktail and mix it with 64 ounces of Gatorade and how I was supposed to drink it.  He then told me that the "bowel prep is the worst part of the whole procedure".  YIPPEE!!!  I am supposed to start that a couple hours after lunch on Thursday, and then after the prep I can't have anything to eat, only clear fluids until around 10 am on Friday and then I can't have anything at all.  He then told me again that everything would be alright and that he does about "10 of this procedure a week and no one has died yet :)".  He then gave me a hug and told me I'd be okay and that he'd see me on Friday.

We then left and went to our pre-op appointment at the hospital.  We had an appointment for 10:15, but we arrived around 10 and they called us back right away.  We met with the registration person first and she explained all of the legal things about having surgery and about patient/doctor confidentiality and had me sign a lot of papers.  She then had us pay the crazy surgery bill.  She then gave me a folder with some paperwork in it and showed me where the pre-op area was.  I registered at pre-op and about 5 minutes later the nurse called me back. 

We then went over more paperwork and the nurse explained what I needed to do the day of the surgery.  Which was mainly not eat or drink anything and don't wear any make-up or nail polish and to wear glasses instead of contacts and wear comfy clothes.  She then took me to another nurse who would be drawing my blood, and this is where the trouble began!!

She began by wrapping my arm in the sticky ace bandage and then taping it shut and then tying another rubber bandage around that to make my arm tight.  She then had me squeeze a stress ball to get my veins to stick up and then she started to poke me to try to get my blood.  She started up by my elbow and then decided that she didn't like that spot after she had already stuck me with the needle.  She then got upset with me because I was still squeezing the stress ball.  She kept saying "you're going to blow out your veins".  She then stuck me in the middle of my forearm and started to wiggle the needle searching for a vein.  As she was wiggling the needle she started rubbing my arm like she was trying to milk the blood from it.  Finally, the original nurse came in and saw that she was having trouble.  She then took the needle out of my arm because "the vein had burst".  She then put the rubber bandage on my other arm and started feeling for a vein.  She apparently couldn't feel one because the nurses who had been sticking me said that "she doesn't have any veins".  Finally they decided that they couldn't get it to work, so they were going to walk me down to the lab.  The second nurse also lectured me about drinking water and that I "should drink a ton of water to make it easier for me and the nurses on Friday".  I do drink a ton of water, water is all I ever drink anymore!!!!  Finally I walked down to the lab and waited for them to try to get blood out of my arm.

After waiting about half an hour and feeling defeated, they finally called me back.  First I had to pee in a cup.  When I was finished the phlebotomist asked me "what happened here" to the cotton balls and tape from the first two attempts to take my blood.  I then had to explain to her that I was at pre-op first and that they couldn't get any blood.  She laughed and said, "that's because they don't know what they are doing".  She then put the rubber bandage around my arm and felt around and immediately asked me, "are you ready?"  I told her that I was but I couldn't watch her do it.  She then stuck me with the needle and said "BINGO!!  We got it!!"  She then filled up several vials of my blood and then put another cotton ball and some sticky ace bandage around my arm.  She then gave me this hospital bracelet and said that I had to bring it with me when I came back to the hospital on Friday or I would have to start the whole process over again.  She then asked me if I would like it loose so I could take it off, or if I wanted it on tight so I wouldn't lose it.  I decided that I would rather have it on tight and not lose it than to go through the whole blood-taking ordeal again.  She then said that I was free to go!!  We then left the hospital and went to Sonic, because we hadn't eaten anything all day.  I felt pretty crappy the rest of the day, so I laid down and read.  I feel a little bit better today, but the nerves are still here.

Here is my arm today and my fancy hospital bracelet!!