Surgery!

The night before surgery we packed our bags and made sure we had everything ready for the next day. We were so worried that we would sleep in that we set an alarm on the iPod and the bed side clock, along with a wakeup call from the hotel. In the morning we got up and took our bags downstairs to the lobby to wait for Raul to show up. There was a woman we talked to who was going to be having surgery that same day we were.

 

It was a little confusing in the lobby because they had more than one driver showing up for people going with the different companies that use the hotel and hospital. The staff kept asking us who we were waiting for and trying to get us into the wrong cars. Eventually everyone was where they were supposed to be when the right van showed up. There were two or three other patients going with Ally and me, all of them were women.

 

When we got to the hospital we were met by one of the coordinators who escorted us to a room to wait to get blood work done. For a hospital that does a lot of weight loss surgeries I will say that the chairs need to be bigger. They called my name first to get my blood work done and things went downhill from there. Whenever I get blood drawn they have a really had time and if they don’t get it right away I tend to get faint.  The chair that they have you sit in has a table attached for your arm to rest on, unfortunately there was not enough room to lower the table so they had be rest my arm on the armrest. After I warned her about my veins she proceeded to poke and prod my arm looking for something and when she thought she found one she went in. She stayed in there poking around and moving the needle for a very long time until I was beginning to wobble in my chair. They got Ally for me and another patient fluent in Spanish translated for us, she said that they decided not to try again and that they would just get it from the IV later. Bringing up a wheelchair they insisted I get in and they wouldn’t let me out again until we got to our room, I think they were afraid that I was going to keel over on our way there. Ally had no problems getting her blood drawn so I was the only one sitting in a wheelchair feeling ridiculous.

In our room there were two beds, a small safe, a television, a complete en suit bathroom, and air conditioner. Once showed to our rooms we were left to get situated and Ally and I unpacked what we needed to into the safe. A little later they came back and gave us both IV’s with fluid to make sure that we were hydrated. They managed to get mine with the first poke this time but she did have to dig for it a little, Ally’s had to be done twice as the first time it didn’t go in so they switched hands. Leaving us again they told us that the surgeon would be in to see us soon.

 

The surgeon, Dr. Jacqueline Osuna, came in with another Dr. that she didn’t introduce but I learned later his name was Dr. Ramirez. She went over the form that we had filled out the night before with us, but from the questions she asked and the things we had to remind her of, we got the feeling that she didn’t read the more comprehensive forms that we filled in and sent while we were still in Canada. After everything had been covered we then waited for the anesthesiologist to come and talk with us. Ally has had surgery in the past and had complications from anesthetic so when we talked and told the anesthesiologist this she decided to give her a different dose and giver her longer to wake up.

 

We had specifically requested to be the first surgeries of the day so when asked who wanted to go first Ally got in before me and volunteered (we had both wanted to go first when we talked about it previously and hadn’t come to an agreement.) Having us sign a few final forms they said that surgery would take about three hours and wheeled Ally out of there in a wheelchair.

 

(Side Note: Both of us decided that we wanted to be the first surgeries of the day because we figured the surgeon would be fresher at the beginning of a new day and if someone was going to have any complications our surgery wouldn’t be pushed back.)

 

Four hours later I was still waiting for news on Ally but when I asked they said they didn’t know how long it was going to be. I had expected her to only be three or four hours so by then I was really worried. It was at least twice the expected time before they came to get me for me for my surgery. As they wheeled me into the operating room we passed Ally asleep in the recovery section. After that I remember getting on to the operating table, while trying not to flash anyone, and then nothing.

 

Ally remembers waking up in recovery and asking about me but they didn’t answer her. After a bit they took her to our room. They wheeled her stretcher right up to the bedside and then had her scoot herself over onto the bed. When they brought her in they took her to the bed closest to the door and realizing that I was still going to have to come in she took herself to the bathroom and then switched beds. She was kind of in and out after that trying to stay awake to see me.

 

I don’t remember nearly as much as Ally, only that when I woke up I was screaming about my arm. They must have given me something because the next thing I was aware of was them telling me to move myself onto the bed in our room. At that time I wasn’t able to move and they decided to just leave me on the stretcher beside the bed for the night.

 

Notes:

1. To avoid problems with them finding veins make sure you are hydrated.

2. Be sure to keep an eye on your IV line and prompt them to change it before it gets to the end or you can have blood back up into the line. When this happens and it gets coagulated in there they just flush it back in.

XOXO, Evie & Ally