Monday, July 27, 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009
Rainfall from 3 PM yesterday, until this morning was just a little under 2 inches, and most of that fell in under an hour. I was up at 6:30 to finish drinking the prep and then went back to bed and tried to sleep until my alarm went off at 8:30.
Knowing I couldn’t have anything by mouth, meant no coffee, so I only needed to get dressed and go, so I did. Zack wasn’t at all happy to see me leave without him, and whined until I was in the car and leaving.
The road was a mess and slippery from all the rain, but I didn’t have any problems getting to Cowboy Harry’s by 9:45. We visited while he finished his coffee and then he drove me to the hospital. I checked in and then waited in for the prep nurse to take me in.
I was put in a room with instructions to remove all my clothes and put on a gown, opening to the back, duh. I then laid in bed and waited another 15 minutes until another nurse came in to take all my vital statistics. Due to not having taken my medications, my blood pressure was 176/106. An IV was inserted and I waited in bed for another 20 minutes. I was finally wheeled in to the procedure room at 12:25 for my 11:45 scheduled time. I only mention the wait because this doctor does these all day long and I am sure some take longer than other.
They hooked me up to a monitor and had me turn onto my left side. A different nurse put a plastic mouthpiece, to protect my teeth from the instruments, and told me to gently bite down. I mumbled that I’d seen those on television and didn’t swing that way. That was the last thing I remember. I watched a movie and then woke up to a nurse removing my IV and telling me I was done. I couldn’t believe her, but I was done and don’t remember a single thing, except the movie was a really good action thriller, that I dreamed and may have been triggered by music that was piped into the room.
I was disconnected from all the monitors and wheeled back into my recovery room, served my choice of drinks - coffee - and then told I could get dressed and leave when I felt ready. I got dressed and Harry was coming down the hall looking for me. He was concerned that I hadn’t called him and thought maybe something had gone wrong. The nurse had me sign a release form and Harry had to sign that he was the designated driver. It was only then that Harry told me he had actually forgot about me and was half way home before he remembered he needed to pick me up.
I offered to take him out to lunch, even though it was approaching two O’clock, but he had already eaten, so we drove straight back to Marysville and I drove home. I was a bit foggy and light headed, but attribute it to a lack of food. I played with Zack to help him calm down and get over his separation anxiety, and then fixed myself something to eat. My stomach had shrunk and I was told to have something soft and light for my first meal. I don’t know why, but biscuits and honey sounded good, so I baked some and enjoyed my coffee and some orange juice.
I spent the rest of the day just relaxing and trying to get back into my daily routine. By the time I was feeling half way back to normal, it was 5 O’clock. I never got to a real dinner, and just nibbled until an early bedtime.
Now, back to the results of my examine (guess what? They give you photos of your insides, but I ain’t going to show them, as they are X rated). I have an esophageal web that forms a ring at the opening to my stomach. This is what has been causing some of my swallowing problems. The doctor dilated it and took a biopsy, telling me that it should stay expanded and give me some relief, but not from my acid reflux, or air swallowing, but I shouldn’t be gagging when I swallow food. As for my lower extremities, I have diverticulitis, still, and they gave me reading material on diet and eating more fibers. Other than that, he wants to see me again in ten years and do it again.
Now that I have experienced the procedure with the new drug, propofol, I wouldn’t mind going through it on a regular basis, except for the prep part of it. If they could make that quick and painless, I am sure more people would have it done annually, but wait, under Obama’s new Health Care Plan, us older people probably wouldn’t qualify for it.