I (obviously) made it back from my surgery. DAMN, my arm hurts, though!!
Let’s see. First of all, we got all kinds of snow the night before, so the drive there went slower than normal, and we got there a little later than expected.
Now I thought I remembered being told to go to J1. If you’re not familiar with the Cleveland Clinic, I think there’s a way to get a map on their website. I was told to go to J1. But, at J1, I was told to go to P20, which I think is one of the new sections. So, off I went, to P20. There, the check-in routine was pretty normal.
Then, for my experience in the prep room. As I sort of expected, the hardest part involved the needles. First there was a needle to get the IV going. The nurse had to try that one twice because the first time, my arm was too tense (gee…wonder why). I am NOT a needle person…so that’s ALWAYS the hardest part of medical procedures for me. But in spite of that, I was finally ready to go to the O.R. I thought I asked to be sedated so that I’d be awake but not care what was going on, but the doctor apparently thought it would be best if I was put to sleep---so I was. I guess that was a good thing…except that when I woke up, my throat was so scratchy (from the breathing tube) that it was on fire. Know what I learned helps that? Ice. (hmmmmm….almost reminds me of my favorite perfume—“Fire and Ice”.)
This surgery that was supposed to take 3 hours…took more like 8 hours altogether! I checked in at 7:43AM, and got out of there at about 5pm. Everything seemed to take so long. Then, just as I had one foot out the door, the nurse had to be sure the graft sounded normal. Sorry; I’m still not sure how that works.
So I now have an AV graft in my right arm, which is slightly swollen and bruised. The doctor told me the brusing and swelling will clear up in a couple weeks. But, here I am. I’m lucky to be typing! I was told that I could type, as long as I keep my arm relatively flat and elevated…and not too active.
If you were to ask me a question about how it went, I could probably give you an answer…but since I was under anesthetic, and then took two Percocets for pain, I’m a little too loopy to remember much, other than how much of a challenge it was to stick me with the needles.
With that, I’ll close for now.
By the way..Friday, around 7-ish, we have to take my cat Muppet to the vet, so she can have a root pulled. Somehow, she apparently lost a tooth, and all that's left is the root. The vet recommended that the root be taken out, as it's a good source of infection. Poor little Mup! Well...like I told her...if I can do it, she can do it. She can go through with her surgery, just as I went through mine. Now if only I could get her to take her tapeworm med.!!
And with that, I'll close for now.
