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August 23, 2004

Surgery on Wednesday

I went to see the surgeon that will be performing my surgery on Wednesday. Her name is Dr. Carolyn Day, and seemed to be a very nice lady.

When I arrived at her office, I was the only person in the room. I payed my fee and sat down to read a magazine. Before too long, I was called back and was asked to wait for the doctor in an examination room.

Pretty standard stuff.

The doctor's suite was several floors up, so instead of sitting down in a chair, I decided to look out the window and watch a bit of life. Almost immediately, I saw a man and what I'm assuming was his son. I noticed that the boy was wearing a white shirt, and upon closer examination I saw the Crusade logo on the front. I smiled a bit and wondered if he was a kid that had been helped, or if his mom or dad was a volunteer and he might have been at the station sometime during Crusade weekend.

Next thing I knew, there was a knock on the door and Dr. Day came in. She was a very nice lady, tall and had blonde hair. She told me to lay back on the examination table and proceeded to push in on my side. Afterwards, she told me to hop up and said "now it's time to draw. I'm not very good at this ... if I was, I doubt I would be in here with you right now." She proceeded to draw out an outline of a human body with a bellybutton. "This is you," she said as she proceeded to draw some organs within the outline. Meanwhile, I was thinking "that's not me ... too narrow".

Anyhow, she drew a liver and a gall bladder and a pancreas and showed how they all connected. She then went on to explain how the liver makes bile and so on and so forth. I explained that I had some some research on this over the past week and had made myself familiar with how the process worked. She told me that the procedure would be a simple one, and would only require four minor incisions. She said that only in special cases would it be necessary to go beyond those four little openings, but if necessary she would do so ... like to save my life. I told her that I was completely OK with that.

The doctor went on to explain that most of the surgeries were rather simple, but there were some people who's anatomy didn't quite fit right or using the scope wasn't giving a clear enough picture, and in these instances the major cut was required. I told her once again that this was okay with me, as I just want to get rid of the darn thing. She then explained how sometimes seeing things in 3D instead of 2D can make all of the difference in the world, as can having your hands in to actually feel instead of using instruments. The worst part about this, according to the doctor, is that I would have to stay in the hospital for a few days. Needless to say this wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear about, but I took it in stride and continued to listen.

After she had finished explaining everything, she asked me if I had any questions. I asked her if it was absolutely necessary for me to be put under in order to go through with the surgery. She said that yes, it was necessary, however there would be someone to watch over me to make sure that my vitals and the like were doing okay. I also asked about a local and how it would affect me. She told me that the local would keep me good and numb for a few hours, and just for good measure she would give me a shot at each of the locations that I had been cut. She also told me that I would probably be very sleepy.

So anyhow, that was last Wednesday. It's now Monday, and I'm roughly a day and a half away from my surgery. Mom and Aunt Carolyn are coming up Wednesday morning to take me to the hospital since Amanda has school and work that morning. Mom wants me to come back to Frankfort with her after the surgery so that she can keep an eye on me, and after discussing it with Amanda tonight I think I'm going to do just that. With everything that Amanda has going on, it's been a tough enough week without having to help me out after being under the knife. It just isn't fair to her. Instead, she's going to come down to Frankfort Wednesday night and love on me till she has to go home. :)

Anyhow, that's all I got for tonight. Everyone wish me luck for Wednesday. Hmm... I wonder how much a gall bladder weighs ... maybe it'll put me under my 300lb mark.

BTW ... I'm currently at 302. :)

Posted by ed at August 23, 2004 09:49 PM

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