Date/Time : Check-in: 2nd Sept 2013, 12:30am | Check-out: 5th Sept 2013, 12noon.
Reason : Endometriosis and PCOS
Companies : Darling husband(resident :p), mama & Shahril.
Visitors: My parents, parents in-law, Lina, Hafiz and his friend Along, Erlena(my dear housemate from uni years)
DAY 1
Date: 2nd Sept 2013
I have been advised to get myself admitted slightly after midnite on the operation day. This is to give some time for me to settle down and prepare for surgery. Honestly, I am not sure what kind of preparation will take place. I have never been so clueless before and there is nobody to ask.
To register for admission past operation hours, you will need to to go Emergency section. Honestly, I am not very fond of Emergency area. I always imagine Emergency to be very gruesome; people rushing through from accidents looking nasty with skin (if not organs) falling apart. Thanks to my super imaginative mind. Anyway, it was peaceful when I reached the hospital.
Went to the registration counter with my file and documents. Waited for about 20-30minutes (didn't time coz I was busy reading). When my name was called, the officer mentioned that I have already been assigned to a 2-person room. Since I need my husband to be with me all the time, I requested for a single room. Number of rooms were low as hospital is under renovation. The officer made few calls to arrange for my room. Luck was quite on my side. We got the room we want. :)
I signed the registration form and few other papers before going into the room. Made a mistake there. I didn't check if my name was spelled properly; they missed an N. I only noticed when the nurse wanted to put the tag onto my wrist.
Here I am. Checking out the room. The spot where I was standing is where the extra bed for Mr.Husband was placed. Yeah, he got the window.
This is me on the bed. Settling down. Before a nurse came in to check on me.
What she did was take my blood pressure reading and put on the patient tag.
My surgery was scheduled to be at 9:30am. I know there are more preparation to be done on me. At 8:30am, my parents dropped by to check on me. No news from any nurses. I grew anxious so I went to the counter on my floor to ask. The nurse mentioned that my name is on in the Operation Theater(OT). Ho noess......ah well...when I encounter situations like this, I ask myself what's the worst that could happen? Worst case, my surgery won't take place as scheduled but the following Monday and I will have to extend my leave...
When the clock struck 9am, a nurse came in with the OT gown for me to change into. She said I will have to go to the OT soon. By then, my dad has left for work so there were just my mama and husband.
Honestly, I like the gown. The material is good and feels comfy. It is also great that it is quite thick and not transparent. :)
Here's a pic of me getting wheeled out of my room to the OT. It felt odd being wheeled while you are lying down. At this point, I was still feeling fine. My room was at level 5 while the OT on level 2. Did I mention I am scared of hospitals? Read: Ghosts and dead people. Whenever I get into the elevator, I never went deep into the elevator....I stayed by the door in a position ready to exit the elevator so you can imagine how I feel when they wheel me into the elevator on the bed. My head was at the deepest end of the elevator. Since it is the staff elevator, I was alone with the 2 nurses as per pic below. sighhhh
Relieved to see my mom and husband again. This pic is taken right outside the OT. My husband is apparently very happy to take this kind or pic; we look like midgets. Thank god I was lying down.
Since this isn't my first time to enter OT, I know not to have anything on me. By nothing, I mean baby butt naked nothing. So accessories, no contact lenses, no nothing at all. This is when the nurse interrogated me with few questions.
Nurse: Is this your first time to undergo surgery?
Me: No.
Nurse: Do you have any accessories on?
Me: No.
Nurse: Do you have your contact lenses on?
Me: No.
Nurse: Any loose tooth?
Me: No.
Nurse: Are you allergic to any meds?
Me : No. Not that I know of.
She then verified my name, IC number and what kind of surgery I will undergo. I don't know all the details but I know the 2 major procedures that will be performed unto me. As you can see in the pic below, I have moved from my bed to the OT bed. OT bed has no sheets on it. I got onto it on my own coz I can still move. :p
After the little interview, I was wheeled into the OT waiting area. My husband and my mom kissed me farewell. I can't tell the time or how long I waited coz I am extremely short-sighted and having no watch on my wrist is soooo not helping. My gynae greeted me with anaesthetist. The anaesthetist introduced himself and told me I will have spinals done. He asked if I agree....what do I know? I answered, I will follow what my gynae recommended for me. Yes, I trust her that much. :)
I was only super concern if I will be conscious and feel the pain. He said no. I trust him.
After some time, I was still not wheeled into the OT. I just waited. Then I heard a little commotion between a woman and few nurses about punctuality. Surprise surprise, the woman was my gynae. hahaha I was quite nervous about her being angry and then perform surgery onto me. I was about to ask her how she was when she attempted to wheel me into the OT herself. haha 2 nurses came rushing to wheel me into the OT.
If you have been in an OT before, you would know how cold it is. Atleast for the patient it is. At this point, I was nervous about my gynae but it died when she came to me and guided me to recite prayers with her. :) I know she is calm enough for the procedure. Professionalism. I like that. :)
Then as usual, nurses came rushing to take my blood pressure, put on the heartbeat monitor and few others that need to be done to prepare me for the surgery. The painful bit is obviously with the anaesthetist. :p He first poked a vein on my wrist and turn on the IV. I hate this bit.
When someone mention spinal, it means it is done at your spine. urgh! I was told to sit up...a nurse wiped a big cold alcohol swab onto my back. A male nurse gave me a pillow and showed me a tugging action. I got it right away. It is to help me bear the pain. I only could say prayers. Was soooo scared. soobbbssss When the anaesthetist start poking my back to inject the med, it was super painfulllllllllll. I almost resisted. He told me to relax. I almost cried. Few seconds after, there are pins and needles in my left leg. The anaesthetist asked if my leg felt heavy. I said only my left leg. He came back with a needle. He showed me he has a needle and poked my left shoulder. Trust me. After so much pain, I thought he wanted to inject me again....... Guess what? He poked to let me feel the needle coz he wanted to check the effectiveness of the meds. haha He then poked my legs and asked if I felt the needle. Nope. Not a single prick. When he poked my lower abdomen, I felt it a little. He looks satisfied. I now know how paralyzed ppl feel. I think. =|
I was shivering already. My teeth were clattering.
My upper body was shaking real hard that I could almost fall of the OT bed. Someone told a nurse to bring in the blower. They placed a pole-like stand near my stomach and place a blanket on it. That way, I had no view of anything beyond my stomach. Inside the blanket is where the blower was placed. I am super thankful for it.
I can't remember when I fell asleep. Maybe I was tired. Halfway through (atleast I think it is halfway), I woke up and felt movements on my lower body. Not exact movements but just pressure. I saw pipes with liquid moving in it. I don't know if I should be thankful for my short-sightedness of not. haha I could have seen more if I weren't. For my curiousity, I would be nice. For my faint heart, it may not be good. I might freak out. lol
I knew it would be done soon when I heard my gynea said "I'm almost done here."
By end of surgery, I got wheeled out of the OT back to the waiting area. Yes, I was wide awake. My gynae told me it is successfully done. I asked if the position of my uterus has been fixed. She said "Yes. All cleared.". Phew! I don't know why I always have to ask questions after my surgery. During my last surgery, I asked the dentist has removed all 4 teeth not just 2. haha
In my head, I have decided. If it wasn't done as expected, I want them to wheel me back to the OT and get it all done. I am never coming back another time for the same surgery!
Don't know why Mr.Husband took this but here you go. :p Must be a sample for the factory or something. This must be taken while I was in OT.
While waiting, I heard how the nurses had to wake the patients under GA. They must be thankful I went under spinals; one less patient to wake :p First my mom came. Then my husband came to see me before I got wheeled back to my room. Before that, I had to go through another round of torture; move back to my bed. During this time, I still couldn't feel my legs. 2 nurses moved me. Rolled me onto the bed. The experience......*speechless*
When I reached my room, everyone was there. I reached out to my phone to inform friends that it is done. lol I went on talking like nothing has been done onto me. Odd. I still couldn't feel my legs so I asked the nurse when will I be able to feel my legs again. The meds apparently lasts for 6-7hours. I had to keep looking at the clock to ensure they are right and more importantly, my legs "come" back to me.
Lunch time passed. Dinner passed. With the IV and morphine on me, I didn't feel like I need to eat. Wasn't hungry and no appetite. I didn't want to go to toilet too soon too. Was thankful I didn't have nature calling me right after my surgery.
A nurse dropped by to give me some meds. She mentioned "Take it after meal." She also asked if I feel like vomiting. I said no. She said some ppl would throw up due to morphine. I guess I am different. Since I have to take the meds after food, I tried eating Gardenia Orange Waffle. Too bad. After the first bite, I threw up. I buzzed the nurse to tell I need to vomit but too late. I was wrong about being different too. Thank god it was just some fluid mixed with the orange waffle. Thank you Mr.Husband for helping to clean me up. Sorry you had to do that. I know you love me. Anyway, it was painful. Insides were painful so I shed a single tear. Nurse told me to press the button for meds whenever I am in pain. Thank god for morphine!
At that point, I didn't care about food anymore. I just drank a lil bit of plain water and took my meds. Sooo thankful it is in capsule form. If it is liquid, I'll juz tell them to inject it into me. haha
That night, I found out it is crazy painful to cough. I accidentally coughed while sleeping. Cried a single tear again. sighhhh Mr.Morphined helped. He took the pain away and puts me to sleep. phew! Click click click. The machine was a lil problematic coz the nurse had to down to the OT for replacement twice else the beeping sound won't stop and we all can't sleep.hahaha I was barely sleeping during the 2nd night in the hospital; in pain, nurses came in almost every 2 hours to take my blood pressure and temperature. That night, I had slight fever but felt indifferent. I took the paracetemol nevertheless.
