The Surgery - In Nicole's Words

I just went back and updated myself on my own blog. My mom did a great job keeping it going! Thanks, mom. :)

But here's how the surgery day went for me...
We got to Hopkins at 5:15 and checked in and started waiting. When they separated the patients from the families half of us went to one preop room, and the others (myself included) went "straight back", to another one. One of theother patients with me said "I don't want to go 'straight back'." They gave us a stretcher (I helped move my own), closed a curtain around it, and told us to "take everything off, put it all in the bag, put on the gown with the opening the the back, and wait for a nurse." It stunk in that room. It reminded me of the smell in the science lab when dissected sharks in 6th grade - like fish and preservatives. Everyone around me was seen by a nurse, had an IV started, and was allowed to have their families with them. Finally my nurse came, and finally the phlebotomist came, and finally they let my family come. I was upset to have an IV in my hand, that already hurt, since I have good forearm veins, but was trying to be a 'good patient' and go with the flow. I was just afraid they wouldn't let me see my family before taking me back.
All the docs and everyone came through, as my mom posted. I was glad everyone else looked happy and well rested.

I think I was the first patient to leave preop for the OR. The circulating nurse and anesthesia student/fellow/whoever wheeled me back. They warned me about the cold and I was like "I know", and explained what I do.

There must have been about seven people already in the OR when I came in. I transferred to the OR table, which all kinds of pads and positioners and egg crate stuff on it. They put the arm boards on and started 100% O2. The anesthesia person with the mask said "I'm going to do some more chin tilt" and really had the mask on there. I felt like I could breathe in but not out and got scared and started to shake. I felt something tingly being rubbed on my right forearm, and a nurse holding my hand (thank goddness!), and then I was asleep.

The next thing I remember everything was dark but I heard people talking and I was coughing and coughing and couldn't stop. I remember opening my eyes in the NCCU with people all around. I felt like I was inhaling all my saliva and couldn't stop coughing, though I thought to myself "You have to stop, it's not good for your ICP (intracranial pressure)!"

I remember my family coming in and they loooked so happy and said how good I looked. I felt confused because I felt like sh*t. I told Matt I wanted to die and he said "no you don't." So I told him "well I at least wish I was having a baby." Having babies ain't no thang. I don't know about this brain surgery stuff.

I don't know if I caught bits of what people were saying or made it all up, but I started to feel like my left upper lung lobe was filling with fluid and I couldn't clear it. I thought "fluid overload!" I felt like I could barely talk but needed help, so I started grabbing at stethescopes (at least, this is how it happened in my mind), putting them on my chest saying "listen! I'm drowning!"

They did a stat chest x-ray in bed and drew arterial blood gases (this is when I asked the nurse "I have an A-line?"). They turned out not too horrible - right lower lobe atelectasis and a pH of 7.43 is all I heard. Luckily they did a neb treatment that settled down the coughing and let me go to sleep when my family left. I think I asked for throat spray and they told me no. They all must have thought I was crazy!

More later... but now you can see why it was a little traumatic for me from day one.