Surgery Day

The last thing I remember is being thirsty and  the nurse anesthetist saying, this is going to feel like two glasses of wine.  Well, I'm not sure what kind of wine she drinks but I remember nothing from that moment forward.  It was certainly not like any two glasses of wine I have ever had.


I was in surgery a long time.  Three hours for the cancer piece and two hours for the beginning of the reconstruction.  I know it was hardest on everyone waiting.

The first thing the surgeon said to Ken and Ellen  when he went to talk to them is that I told him a joke as soon as I woke up. They said he was pretty amazed. I think when I woke up they must have been talking about Santa Claus or Tiger Woods because right now that is the only joke I know.  So I told it. 

Then I remember the recovery room.  Ken says the nurses were amused that I was trying to run things.  I kept telling them they had to let Ken in to see me (no one is allowed to see you until you get to your room on the floor).   I remember being concerned that Ken had to get home to Adam so I am sure they are right, I was trying to get him in.  I remember moving over from the operating room bed onto the room bed.  I remember having this fleeting thought that my legs were still strong.  They let Ken, Chris and Ellen all into my room at the same time.  I remember thinking the room was small and feeling like the walls were dark and were closing in on me.  Then the feeling went away as I drifted in and out.   It turns out the room was lovely.  I was just too out of it to know.

I am thrilled that I wasn't sick or nauseous when I woke up. I had talked and talked to the anesthesiologist about how many drugs made me sick.  So whatever they did to help manage that worked.

I do remember waking up to this feeling that there is a man who weighs 200 pounds standing on my chest.  It still feels like that.