Organ Donation Chronicle - D plus 4 (1)

I'm out! Out of the hospital and starting to feel the return to Terra Normale though I'm still weak and with a lot of pain. There is so much to write about covering the surgery day and the days in the hospital that I'm going to break them into two or three posts.

My Trip Through Surgery and Recovery

I didn’t sleep very well the night before the surgery. Wife and I decided that logistically it made sense to make use of some rooms that the hospital sets aside for family of patients - nice logistically but absolutely minimalist from a creature comfort standpoint. The bed was so small I ended up sleeping on the couch. Between that and the general excitement, it wasn’t much of a night’s sleep.

We were up at 5:15. You have to scrub yourself down with this special soap for five minutes prior to the surgery. Then it was walk the couple of blocks to the hospital and to the pre-op registration. Here begins the transformation from civilian to patient. I’m sure that many of you have had your hospital experiences but this is the first time that I have ever gone in for major surgery. I’ve commented previously on my frustrations with the hospital’s bureaucracy however, I have nothing but good things to say about the staff that prepared us for the operation. Quick, efficient, calming, caring, they had all the aspects one would hope for when entrusting your life into an organization’s hands. Wife was with me through out and was a rock of calmness.

On my own part I was amazingly calm. In fact I was almost buoyant. After getting rid of my clothes and getting in the hospital gown and having given all the facts and figures to the appropriate people you’re waiting in the hospital bed. I had my iPod and was listening to mantra chanting. Before long I was sitting in a meditation posture on the gurney and getting into a very solid state. My surgeon came in. He and I had talked about meditation at our visit on Friday. He is a very calming soul as well and told me he’d be seeing me in the operating room. The anesthesiologist came by to brief me. My sister was across the room and I had a chance to give her some upbeat words.

Then came two operating room nurses, one of whom I will call my operating room angel, Irene. Angel Irene asked me what I was listening to. When I did she asked if she could listen for a moment. Then she asked me about some other yogic mantras that she found very beautiful. We were ready to go. I was handing my iPod and headphones to Wife and Angel Irene told me not to, that I could keep them on until we got into surgery and that she would personally make sure that they stayed with me. I said goodbye to Wife and we rolled a very short way into operating room (I think unless they had a pre-operating room). They put the IV into my arm and that was the last thing that I remembered until I was in the recovery room.

In the recovery room my first contact was with another sweet soul, John, who let me know that the surgery had been successful for both my sister and I and that I would be taking awhile to be coming out of the anesthetic. When John talked to me I realized that I still had my headphones on and they were still playing the mantra chant as when I entered into the OR. This recording is only 45 minutes long and is not set for repetitive play. So I don’t know what my Angel did in turns of turning it off and turning it on when things were over but I can’t think of a kinder expression of caring.

The pain wasn’t too bad in the recovery room but we were there for quite some time. At one point John came by and told me that my blood oxygen level wasn’t coming up high enough and they were making adjustments. I was pretty fuzzy. What I didn’t know was that outside in the waiting area Wife and my Brother were in deep anxiety. The surgeon had come out right after the surgery and found them in the hospital lobby to let them know that the surgery was successful and that I should be up in another hour to hour and a half. Hours go by with out a word. My sister’s husband has been called into the recovery room to see her but all Wife and brother get is a word that I’m having trouble with my oxygen level. Brother the doctor knows that types of things that can go wrong and Wife knows that I’ve had this type of thing before. It is over 4 hours after the surgery before I’m wheeled up to the floor where I will be staying. I’m still very fuzzy at this point and don’t pick up at all on the anxiety level of Wife and brother. It’s almost 6 PM by this time and it has been a long, long day for Wife and she wants to let go of the stress and I’m out of it anyway.