Carol365

Friday, November 20, 2009

Carol's Surgery Adventure

Fashion Plate Gown, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Thursday, November 19

After a trip to see Dr. Tsai at Samaritan Orthopedic on Monday, he scheduled me for surgery today.

They have new gowns since my angiogram! You connect it up to the blue device with the white hose, and it keeps you warm the whole time you wait. In this case, we had to wait 3 hours and 45 minutes before the surgery because Dr. Tsai had a morning emergency surgery that bumped everyone back. No worries, see what I did with the time below.

Pre-Op Waiting

Pre-Op Waiting, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

The long wait allowed me to read my new favorite book: Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank C. Laubach. It is about a man's experiment to live in a conscious moment-by-moment communion with God! Perfect for someone facing surgery!

(George is always taking pictures of me reading - I really need to make a book of all the photos he has taken over the years)

I also listened to Shakespeare's classic comedy, As You Like It, as I waited. I had only 8 minutes to go when the anesthesiologist came to call. He said I could finish but then the operating room nurse, Ruth Ann (I had a good friend named that growing up so I remembered), came in to prep me.

I was able to finish within one minute after surgery and before I was discharged, and finished it when I got home!

Any day I can finish a book is a good day!

Assurance It is the RIGHT Foot!

Assurance It is the RIGHT Foot!, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Results of Surgery

Results, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

He got the RIGHT foot. It has a pin in it to hold the tendon together.

Apparently, I didn't say anything incriminating under anesthetic other than, "I hope I don't say anything weird." Then, I was out. I woke up out of dream where we were discussing As You Like It with the people in the OR, but no one was interested in discussing it when I actually woke up. Go figure.

The OR recovery nurses were talking about a recent Oprah show, and I chimed right in (very disturbing topic so I watched it on Tuesday). I popped right out of the grogginess, unlike last time I went under.