Operation day
On a scheduled day I have arrived to the hospital. I have been told not to eat anything or drink anything. I was supposed to have my operation at 15:00, so my last water and food intake for supposed to be no later than 11:00. I did all that.
Upon arrival I have filled out a few forms, I have been taken upstairs to my room, which I had all for myself. It had a TV, one bed, a wardrobe with a safe for my valuables. Simple, but cosy. I have been visited by a nurse a few times, she has taken down my blood pressure details, pulse, oxygenation, she told me to change into a surgical gown, special socks, special underwear, right after a take a shower using a special hospital grade body wash, which should reduce the risk of an infection. As an FYI – infection is the biggest risk factor in the open inguinal hernia repair surgery. Infection risk is followed by an allergic reaction to the meds, anesthesia or latex (They basically give you a form that you look over and sign). Thankfully I am not allergic to anything, so I have finished all the paperwork quite quick. Apart from the nurse I have been visited by a catering lady, who asked me if I have any dietary restrictions based on the lifestyle or faith, I have been visited by my operating surgeon, anaesthesiologist, and head nurse. All of this has taken quite a long time, but I was reading a book to pass the time, so it was ok.
At around 18:00 (maybe later) my nurse came over and told me that it is time. We walked to the theatre (operation room) and I lied down on the table. At this time there were only two people in the operating room, both of them were anaesthesiologists (I think). One of them started hooking me up to the machines to monitor my vitals. The guy I spoke with previously inserted a needle into my arm. He asked me a what I like to drink, I replied – “Whisky”. He started giving me a drug that made me feel a little drunk, which was fun. Then he told me that he will start the anesthesia. My arm felt cold and I fell into the darkness – this was very sudden. One moment I was speaking to the doctor, the next moment I was out cold.
Operation
Saying that I suddenly feel asleep is a right way to put it. I have asked a few of my friends and relatives beforehand “what did it feel like to go under?” All if them replied that it felt like nothing, you simply lose time. You black out and then just wake up. I swear I had a dream. A relaxing one. I woke up feeling full of energy after the surgery, which was weird.
The nursing staff took me to my room, I looked down and I was all patched up, a little bit of blood on the gown, a little bit of this orange liquid that the surgeons use, nothing too bad. I do not know what time I was taken back into my room, there was no clock in the room and the phone was out of reach. Bending or turning to the side was out of the question at the time. I was too sore, but no real pain. I even got to eat after a lovely catering lady came over and asked if I was hungry. Considering I have not eaten for many hours I immediately said yes to the offer. I can still remember how great that ham sandwich with salad on the side was. Yum. 🙂
A nurse kept coming to my room throughout the night. She has been monitoring my vitals and kept giving me medication. I did not even ask what it was, but my guess would be that those were pain meds – two different pills. I tried sleeping as well, but only a couple of hours at a time, since I had to wake up to take the pills and allow them to measure my blood pressure, temperature, and blood oxygen levels.
The Morning After
Morning came rather fast, I felt great, I was even beginning to feel hungry again – but the food never came. Only later I have found out that they “forgot” to bring me breakfast. In any case I was itching to get home. I had a visit from the nurse, she said I can go home. In UK it is normal to get discharged same day or next day. My vitals were fine I managed to change into my clothes with no big issues, well.. except one – bending over to get the hospital socks off and get my own socks and shoes on. That took some ingenious bending. Regardless – the task was achieved, I got fully dressed. I got my discharge paperwork, a note for work, drugs to take home, extra bandages, and some hospital literature on drugs, pain management, and something else. (yeah, I did not read any of them)
I called the Uber taxi, got down to reception and decided to smoke. That was a mistake. I smoked half and decided that it is enough and I should not smoke any more. Well, that was enough.. I could feel blood draining from my head, I started feeling weak, sounds became weird, and my vision started to blur. You do not need to be a doctor to understand that this is how you feel before you pass out..
I managed to get to reception (later on the girls told me that I was as pale as milk) I remember telling them “I think I am about to pass out, do you have anything that could stop that”. The way I looked scared them, they buzzed the patient emergency alarm, told me to sit down and put my feet up. Nurses with a stretcher came over very quickly, gave me oxygen (bear in mind all of this was happening in the reception area, so that must have been an interesting sight). I remember being very sweaty, but the oxygen definitely helped. I got hooked up to a machine to take my vitals (blood pressure, pulse) and overhearing that my blood pressure was 60 over 60, which is insanely low. I was delivered back into my room, this is where the head nurse found out that I have not eaten anything, a few heads rolled and I was scolded for not mentioning it. Lesson is – under no circumstances smoke after you had a surgery, which involved anesthetics AND make sure you eat, because your body needs strength, even if you feel fine – eat!
I was kept there for additional three hours. I had a lovely hot meal, had some tea and biscuits. All of this helped get my sugar and energy levels up. They kept monitoring me and after three laps around the ward I was released again. Called the taxi again and decided not to smoke 🙂
Getting into the taxi was a challenge, but the driver was very patient and has been driving carefully, for which I am thankful. Thirty minutes later I was home in bed.
