2013/03/12 Tuesday: Gallbladder Removal

I was not nervous for the surgery, really at all.  Nick was on a jury, but didn't have to be in court until 11:00, so that was really a blessing.   Because of jury duty, we played a sort of musical chairs.  Nick took me to the hospital and stayed with me until they took my back to the pre-op area and then he left for court.  In pre-op, I had a little interview with the anesthesiologist, to which I answered "no" to a lot of questions, with the only yes being that I do have a dental crown.  I later heard the interview with the patient next to me (as the curtains don't stop noise), who answered yes to every question, so his interview took much longer.  Highlights included when asked about drinking, he said he didn't drink much anymore.  When asked what that meant, it just meant he hadn't had a lot to drink since Friday.  He also was trying to ask if his surgery would cause impotence, but wasn't speaking about it directly.  I knew where he was going because I've had so many patients ask indirectly before, but it took the doctor a painfully long time to catch on.
When I woke up in the same bed, I knew I hurt, but couldn't remember being taken to surgery (it has since come back to me), so I was confused why I was in pain.  Then I was given a lot of a narcotic painkiller.  I was very, very drugged.  Then I was sent back to same day surgery (at about 1:00).  None of this pain was worse than any one of the gallbladder attacks I've had.

  During this time my mom watched my kids, and at 10:40 my friend Mandi came over to watch the kids so my mom could come to the hospital.  My mom pulled out of my garage, and realized the van had a flat tire.  Mandi then graciously offered my mom her own car.  My mom was given instructions that the passenger door could only be opened from one side, but because my mom isn't great at listening to instructions, she couldn't remember if it was the interior or the exterior.  So when we left the hospital, my mom opened the door from the interior and I got in.  But then the door wouldn't latch.  I would go to shut it, and the door would just bounce open.  So then I pushed down on the lock, and the door shut and stayed shut.

On the way home we picked up my prescription.  Then we pulled up in front of the house.  But there was a problem- I couldn't get the door open.  I couldn't unlock the car door.  I tried to pull up on the lock, but it wouldn't budge.  The interior door handle still hadn't returned to "rest position."  I was stuck.  My mom couldn't get the door open.  Eventually Mandi came out and tried and she couldn't get the door open.  I recognized the situation as humorous at the time, but was so drugged it was like I was watching happen to someone else.  Eventually we gave up on the door and I was able to gently slide onto the driver's seat, and then get out of the car.
So the moral of the story is you should listen to instructions.