Sorry, there is no WiFi at the Greenbaum Surgery Center, so I've had to wait until discharge to get back in contact.
Also, this will be a cliff-hanger, describing everything up to Lights Out. But, you know how it turns out as you are reading this.
I was starting to think the hotel's toilet paper was really 1200-grit by 8 am on Tuesday. I spent Monday night in a kind of 'infant sleep' pattern -- 45 minutes out, an hour or so semi-conscious.
About 8:15 I decided to jump in the shower and clean myself up. I left a note and tip for housekeeping, and headed downstairs at about 9:25. Robin from Dr. Meltzer's office was already outside, so I stopped at the desk to make sure they knew I was keeping the room over the two nights.
Robin helped me get my roll-around into the car, and we traveled the 1-1/2 blocks to the Greenbaum Surgery Center. We had to do it the long way, though, as there had been an accident on Drinkwater right where we were supposed to turn, so we had to go two blocks out of our way.
Inside the lobby we started the paperwork and the check-in procedure. Diane came and got me and took me back to prep. First was a stop in a room where vitals, including an EKG were done, I signed another document or two, and was handed my Bair Paws paper gown and traction socks, and instructed to change into the gown and put my street clothes in the plastic bags provided.
That being finished, I was ushered to a cubicle with a gurney. The gown had a plenum built in, and they could pump in warm air. I opted out to start (later I asked to be plugged in...) We did some more questions, and then they started hooking up the IV and giving me the pills and shots Dr. Meltzer wanted me to have before surgery. I'd already taken the antibiotic that morning. I got a shot of anticoagulant.
The anesthesiologist, Dr. Best, came in, followed by Dr. Meltzer. Dr. Best bowed out and Dr. Meltzer and I went over what was to happen one last time. He asked if he had to abort on the deepening operation, did I still want the labiaplasty? I said why waist the OR time, go for the labiaplasty. I made a mental note to look for the incision on my belly when I came to.
Dr. Best came back in and asked if I'd had general before and how I fared, and I told him of the disorientation that had lasted two days after my primary SRS. He assured me this experience would be much better, then pulled a syringe of sedative out of his shirt pocket (why do anesthesiologists always keep the pre-op sedative dose there?) I wondered what it would do, as I didn't seem to have much anxiety to begin with. He pushed it, saying that it was similar to valium only more potent. After a bit, the gurney got really comfortable.
I was wheeled down a few corridors and into a smallish OR. I glimpsed the table with Dr. Meltzer's special tools on it, being prepped and covered with green OR linen. They asked me to scootch over to the OR table, then center my butt on a notch I could feel in the table (kind of a half moon scooped out of the cushioned surface.) I laid back down, and Dr. Best said he was pushing the knock-out stuff.
I waited, staring at the two big lights attached to the ceiling. After about 15 seconds, I said, "I don't feel anything yet..." "It's probably still coming down the IV like a big bolus," he said. "Okay, now I'm starting to feel it," I said....
To be continued, of course
Karen
