So, this surgery seemed to go better than the last time. I woke up from anesthesia better, at least. Mr. Man came along with Mom for the day, which was nice :) We had to be at the hospital at 6:30am, and I actually went into surgery at like 7:30 - last time it was like 9:30. Chatted with all the nurses and the doctor and the anesthesiologist for a bit. Only one picture this time, because Mom forgot the camera, that Mr. Man took with his phone during his "shift" with me before surgery (I could only have one person in with me).
Mm, hospital gowns are so flattering...
So last time, the surgeon wrote "yes" and "no" on my ankles, to remind him of which foot to cut open. The surgeon… is ridiculous haha. He's rarely serious (he didn't have a Hawaiian shirt on today! I was disappointed… I think today was the first time I haven't seen him in one. And I've seen him many times since December haha). So, as a joke, my mom and I wrote "yes" in 4 different languages on my right ankle in red marker haha (he writes in black). The left foot he had to cut open to take the screws out, so we didn't know what to write, so we just left it blank. He wrote "yuppers" on my right ankle, and "also" on my left haha.
This time, they didn't knock me out in ambulatory care like last time… I was still awake when I got into the OR, and I remember them transferring me to the table from the stretcher. But not after that. Or, now that I think about it, much from the recovery room. I remember going back to ambulatory care though, because they put me in the spot of the room I was in before and after for my previous surgery, but before surgery this time I was in a different spot.
I think the white haired anesthesiologist picked the color of my cast, because I'd been talking about how I'm a dancer. I heard him talking to the doctor and all I could hear was "pink" and "dancer." Guess what color my cast is? Hot Pink. Which actually matched the writing on my dance sweatpants… And the wrapping on my left foot is pink with purple hearts. My first thought was that I would have preferred green with dinosaurs haha, but I don't know if they even had that. I asked the surgeon later if I could have green next time, which is my favorite color :)
There was some broken communication lines between the nurse and me, much to my displeasure. Anesthesia didn't make me as weepy this time as it did last time, but this almost got me crying. I asked if my mom and my boyfriend could come back in now, and she said yes… and went and sat at the desk. I kept trying to ask, but apparently no one could hear me (I have no idea how quiet my voice was, it could have been very). Another patient came in with a few people with her, and while the nurses were a little closer to my bed, I started to ask again, but only got "Can" out before they turned away again. However, one of the patient's friends saw me, and asked if I needed anything and I said that my mom and my boyfriend were in the waiting room and I wanted them to come back in if they could. So she goes and asks the nurse, they talk for a bit, the woman follows her friend and the nurse sits back down.
Nothing.
As far as I could tell, the nurse was completely ignoring the fact that I wanted them to come back in.
About five minutes later, a portable X-Ray machine was rolled in to take pictures of my foot. After, the nurse said "ok, NOW they can come back in" and immediately go gets them.
I don't think she knew that last time, they took X-Rays while I was still knocked out, and I didn't know that until my check up with the surgeon a week later.
They were in there with me (both!) for a bit and the surgeon came in to check on me. He had told me earlier that he was going to put a plate in instead of the two larger screws, so I asked him how big it was. He said about the size of a dinner plate, gesturing the size of a large one, and steel. By now, I'm getting to know his sarcasm, even though his voice stays the same. So I just said "alrighty" and then he said "well actually, it's titanium" so I said "oh good, I'll be able to lift it at least then." Haha. I forget now how big it actually is, but obviously not dinner plate sized.
We were able to leave by 1:30, two hours earlier than last time, stopped at McDonald's for lunch, then off to home. Mr. Man carried me into the house and put me on the couch and helped me get settled, then cuddled with me on the couch :)
He fell asleep before I did, and then got "mad" because I didn't wake him up when he was snoring haha. Being from much higher in altitude, he still hasn't gotten used to air so thick he can "chew" it :-P. All in all, today was a much better surgery day than last time. But I can't decide if I want the summer to go by fast or not...
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