And Here We GoAt 8:15 Kendra rode with me back to HC Hospital in the FacialTeam cab. She'd walk back to the hotel after I was in surgery.
At 8:30 I checked in with Isabel, she showed me to my room, and I got undressed and put on the stylish blue paper gown. They checked whether the temperature in the room was okay, but I should have had them turn it down to 15C, because I worked up a sweat getting into the cute but really tight compression stockings they make you wear. As @SassyCassie put it, "They don't want want you playing the thrombone in the operating room."
At 9:00 the hair transplant specialist came in (I'm embarrassed that I didn't write down her name) and drew a treasure map on my head.
With hugs all around, I was put into bed and rolled down the hall. We managed to avoid a major collision with a cleaning cart on the first chicane.
Into the operating theater, a needle in the back of the hand, a pushed plunger, and nighty night.
I heard someone calling my name after what I've been told was seven hours. I was tilted up at what I think was about 45 degrees, and I was shaking uncontrollably. I don't remember being cold but it took a long time to stop shaking. Eventually things calmed down, and I experienced what Kendra told me she had when she'd had her procedure done. Simultaneously, as there seemed to be no time passing, I was thinking, "this is taking forever!" I was in a twilight state, and could feel the two doctors pushing things into my skin, but only occasionally could I feel a slight sting. It was much less painful than hair removal. The only real pain was coming from the back of my head, and I wished they'd bring me a pillow so my head wasn't resting against a burning line across the back. It was, of course, the area they'd sutured together after removing the strip of scalp for the donor follicles.
After an eternity of no time passing, the movement stopped, the lights dimmed, and I started waking up. I helped as best I could to move from the operating table to my wheeled bed, and off we went to brave the dangers of the hallways back to my room again.
The back of my head burned, it was hard to close my eyes, and my nose was completely stuffed up, and numb as a block of wood. I tried to arrange the pillow and the angle of the bed so I wouldn't rest on the incision, but not a lot helped. They connected a feeder line to me, made me as comfortable as possible, and let me be for a bit. I took a picture as soon as I could work a phone.
Kendra showed up and kept me company, and a little later they came in and started a painkiller drip - paracetamol, as it turned out. It also turned out that I'm apparently allergic to it. I got very sick - cold sweats, shakes, nausea, panting. Kendra called the nurse and they came in and stopped the drip. It took a while, but I finally got calmed down, and they resorted to just ibuprofen for the pain. Good enough. The reaction was much worse than the pain, so no more of the paracetamol, please.
As I dozed the rest of the afternoon, various doctors stopped by to see how I was doing, and finally about 9:00pm they brought me something to drink, followed at 9:30 with dinner, which I was able to eat all of. Kendra thought it was funny that after all I'd been through that day, my biggest complaint is that they'd brought me unflavored yogurt. Bleh. Still, I was ready for food and coffee!
After Kendra made sure I was doing okay, she headed back to the hotel to get dinner before the restaurant closed at 11:00pm. I did a little online communication and after some eye drops and a sleeping pill, had them dim the lights. That was enough for one day.
Stephanie