1:49 p.m. - 2006-09-14
Asteroids, Pt. 2
What a shitty week this has been. HAHAHAHAHA! Must be the Percoset wearing off.
Seriously, I still can't believe my ordeal. So, after we left the surgeon's office, we headed straight for the hospital. I called my mom to let her know what was going on, as well as my boss, though I didn't reveal anything more to her than "pregnancy complications" and "emergency surgery" and "see you next week."
We arrived at the hospital and the reality of what was about to happen started to set in, and I started to panic. I wanted relief in the worst way, but at what price to my almost-born baby? How was all this going to affect her? Dr. Martin and my OB's office were both ok with this surgery, though, and Joe reminded me that in this litigious society, no doctor would dare recommend any risky surgery to a 35-weeks pregnant woman.
As Joe checked me in to Outpatient Surgery, I sat (kind of) in a chair and cried. The admitting nurses noticed and took me back right away. I got changed into a gown and pretty soon, they started an IV with hydrating fluid. After just a little while, they sent Joe away and took me to Pre-Op, where I would meet with an anesthesiologist.
They wheeled me into Pre-Op, and I met with a great doctor who told me that I was probably looking at a spinal block, but that he wasn't going to be my anesthesiologist. The guy who was going to be mine came by, and after an afternoon of meeting with people who exuded confidence and professionalism, I was, for the first time, not feeling good about the person about to penetrate my spine with nerve-blocking medication. He was an older Filipino man, who I could barely understand, and who seemed distinctly unsure of what was going on here. He seemed reluctant to give me anything before he took blood first -- I actually have no idea what he was talking about, and then he started asking if I bled easily. I was like, "Well, if you stick me with a needle, then yes, I'll bleed. But otherwise, no, I don't just start bleeding." I was truly very close to requesting someone else, when the first doctor came back, apparently having read my mind, and said he'd take it from there. Oh, thank God.
This doctor said yes, we'd definitely go with a spinal block, because it was stronger than an epidural. Oh, and I'd be completely coherent -- they didn't want to give me any sort of sedation because of the baby. They wheeled me into the operating room to get started.
That was surreal. I had seen plenty of them on the Discovery channel, but none up close, and especially not when I wasn't already knocked out. There were about 8 nurses and doctors in there and they all seemed really nice and made pleasant conversation, except I couldn't reciprocate, since I was totally freaked.
They sat me up and bent me over, propped up against a nurse. They lifted the back of my gown and started swabbing me, and then the injections started. I only felt the first one, but it was rough. Then they laid me back down, and almost immediately, the lower half of my body began to get numb and tingly. And then almost as fast, I started sweating profusely and felt like I might vomit, or pass out, or both. I started gagging, but I couldn't throw up, because my numb abdomen wouldn't let me. They fanned me down and put an oxygen mask on me, and I started to feel better.
The whole operation lasted about half an hour, and while I couldn't see what was going on -- they had draped a sheet halfway across my body, like in a c-section -- but I could hear everyone, and I was still freaked. I practiced deep breathing and visualized Italy until it was over. I also kept sending "be strong" messages to Pumpkin, which was what I was most freaked about.
Ok, I hate to break this up into three postings, but the latest Percoset dosage is kicking in and I'm about to pass out. More about the rest of my ass-story later...
