I went up to the ward, and looked for the place I was supposed to check in. They didn't actually have a designated place for that, which struck me as a bit weird! We just went to the nurses station, and were passed on finally to my new nurse. We were escorted to my room, and were left to settle in, this apparently was the room I would be in for at least the next week. Just as we got "Bridesmaids" set up on the computer, the nurse came in, took my blood pressure ect, and told us how the night would pan out. She said that my surgeon and anaesesiologists were coming in over the next hour or so, and then I was free to leave the hospital for dinner. Because most people are out-of-towners, they head into town for dinner, but I preferred to go home, seeing as we live in the same city as the hospital. We played about half an hour of the movie before my surgeon came in, and he basically just checked I wasn't freaking out too much, and asked if we had any last minute questions, as well as going over the procedure, as it had changed from an anterior op to a posterior op only days before. A few minutes later, my anesthesiologists came in, and asked me to go over what I had been told would happen from start to finish with my anesthesiology over the next day or so. I didn't actually know much, just that they put a tube down your throat. I was then informed of the massive role they actually play in my surgery, including managing my level of sleep, my blood levels, putting in all the tubes and iv's, and of course putting me to sleep/waking me up. It was pretty interesting, and somewhat sparked my interest in anesthesiology as a career in the future. FINALLY, we got to go home! After a bit of a health scare from one of my sister's friends in another city, I felt almost grateful for what I was about to go through, that it was definately not the worst thing someone has to go through. It was weird going home again all the same. I had said goodbye to everything for over a week, but naturally I went straight to my guitar when I got home! We had spring rolls for dinner which were YUM, and I talked to my cousin on Facebook which was really cool, I basically just told her everything I was thinking and that really helped clear my mind, and stop me stressing! We then went back into hospital, and went up to see ICU, where I would be staying the next night, and got to talk to a nurse about what will happen there, ask questions, and even see the bed where I would be in less than 24 hours!! That was cool, and when we got back to the ward the nurse put a flat screen tv which had been donated especially to the scoliosis unit, which I loved, and thought it was absolutely amazing that it had been donated. We watched my favourite tv show, my dad said up his makeshift bed where he would sleep for the night, and I got some Iodine scrubs for my back - one for that night and one for the next morning. I then had my second last shower, not that I was really bothered, and mum scrubbed down my back with one of the scrubs. I got into my pyjamas, got one sleeping pill, just so that I got the best sleep I could, and got into bed. I think that was around 10:00pm.
I had a GREAT sleep that night!! It was really good, and despite an extremely uncomfortable bed, I slept right through (Definately due to that sleeping pill!!) and was woken at 6:00am by another nurse, who I actually liked a lot more. I got up, she gave me my theatre clothes, which consisted of pale blue boxer shorts, a much nicer and more fitting gown than the ones used for x-rays, and some knee high white stockings which I would keep on for the next week. I had another shower with the other scrub, which was fairly impossible to wash my back with a massive rib hump, and no help from my mum who was not yet at the hospital!! Then, I put my hair in plaits, and jumped back into my warm bed, which was much more familiar now I had slept in it for a night. I felt really fresh and comfortable, and at that stage didn't notice any nerves. After my sister and mum arrived, I was taken up to a waiting bay in my bed. There we were met by my anesthesiologists, who helped to pass what seemed like a billion years by just going over my details, what would happen over the next day, and just chatting. Here I got a bit more nervous, I think it must have been the waiting around. Finally, we got taken into the anesthesiology room, and after having numbing cream on my arms and wrists for an hour or so, I got iv's inserted just about everywhere!! Apparently my veins aren't that great, so IV insertion took a wee while. Then I got some sleepy juice into one of the iv's, and the last thing I remember is staring up at a fluorescent light, and the little bulbs were swirling into each other. A photo however, shows that I had a mask as well. It was really underway!!
So that is the lead up to the surgery from being admitted, I will put up the immediate post-op and ICU post sometime next week.
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