This is what was inside me for the past two years:
Getting blood drawn before even checking into surgery, the lab tech missed the vein in my arm. Of course. I’ve lost count how many times that’s happened to me now. And so after trying to wiggle things around while I started getting pale, he decided to take it out, get a pediatric needle and draw out of the vein in my hand instead.
Once changing into my hospital gown, my nurse started my IV in my other arm with no problem. We only waited around a minute before being wheeled down to the small surgery room. After having to rearrange the equipment in the small room when they realized my port was on my left side unlike most cases, they cranked up the sedatives, but a cover over me to seal off the work area, and the team of three got to work.
For all the other surgeries I’ve had, I was put completely under. Partially due to the more complex natures of them, but being awake for the duration of a surgery sure was different. Not that I was particularly lucid or felt any pain, but I definitely wasn’t asleep. I felt a little tugging and pulling, and I could tell the moment went they actually pulled my port out, along with a couple times when a small trail of blood rolled down the side of my torso.
I was talking again before they even wheeled me out of the surgery room. Back in my recovery room, I was unsure of whether to laugh or cry. They had hold me for an hour before they could release me, but I was up and walking without problem, and didn’t have a hint of nausea either. In total, I was in the hospital for less than 3 hours. And just like that, I’m all done for real this time. This feels a lot better than when I finished radiation treatments.
I’m still sore and waiting for the wound to heal, but it’s getting better by the day. I can’t wait to comfortably do all the things I’ve had to avoid for the past two years:
-Wearing a seat belt on the left side of a car without constantly shifting position in my seat
-Wearing my messenger bags so they fall to my right side again
-Draping my camera strap across my chest so that it’s handy for right-handed operation
-Storing anything in the breast pocket of a button down shirt or my jackets/sweaters that have chest zip pockets
-Being able to go running without the unpleasant tight lump always making in awkward twist or turn or bounce too much
-And maybe most of all, since I’m a stomach sleeper, being able to lie flat in my bed again each night when I turn off the lights
It’s been a hell of a couple years.