Dday........

so this is how it went (or how ive chosen to remeber it anyway?) -

sunday night was a last super as i had to starve from 530 am and there was no way i was getting up that early just to eat.......
monday morning was spent with william which was good as he calmed my nerves - whilst yvette moved all sorts of bits and pieces to her mums as she had decided to stay with the boys whilst i was in the hospital....

set of to the hospital at 11 ish and go there and shown to my room where yvette, william and sat and waited.... not for long though then it was a constant flow of people - Nurse to book me in, anaesthetist guy to discuss options, physio to talk post op, pharmacist to discuss meds and finally the surgeon to draw an arrow on my leg and get me to sign my life away......somewhere in all that yvette and william left and i shed a tear or two - as i wont lie i was scared to death and after weeks of scary dreams leading to this point i wasnt convinced all would go well :(

moments after the surgeon left i was walking to theatre in a backless gown showing my ginger cheeks to the world - into a little pre op room where i chatted and chatted and chatted - nerves i guess - whilst numerous peeps started to prepare me for sugery - canula in, spinal administered (this deserves a paragraph of its own) and finally some fluid going in...

so the spinal - i knew what to expect after discussing it earlier but i had no idea how uncomfortable it would actually be or how quick it would act! - sit on edge of bed with feet on stool and curve your spine please Mr W then first my back was sprayed with the coldest thing in the world "fuck thats cold i say" to a round of giggles - then small amount of local applied to the area with the obligatory message only a scratch "you lying so and so that hurt" i say another giggle or two more local this time deeper in my back with you may feel a scratch thrown in for good measure "a scratch it feels like youve got a carving knife steady on" at this point the anaesthetist  has no idea if im joking or not and has to ask to which i reply "never felt a thing mate" - now he is sure im ok he does the spinal and starts with the cold pray again to determine it block is working and sure enough we are good to go...

into theatre and im basically fastened to the table with various clamps and supports whilst my new anaesthetist buddy chats away and give me a bit of sedative and things get underway listening to coldplay and thinking im sure ill sleep soon, im sure ill sleep soon THEN the smell of burning flesh gets me and i have a coughing fit - my buddy looks in again and says "oh are you not sleeping - ill give you a tad more" - so more sedative applied now coldplay is not really my cup of tea but i could have coped with it louder as the next thing to drift through my ears was "im going to need some help i cant dislocate the bloody thing hes go legs like a bull" - needless to say more sedative needed and given - never really went to sleep i did hear everything and felt the sensations of the hammer the drill etc etc but i never felt a thing - just continued to have a bit of crack with my buddy..........
then its all over and im been moved to recovery at wich point i throw a bit of a shit fit and go into shock - so nice warm air blacket and a shot of something and im back in the room!

laid in recovery for half an hr or so having a bit of crack with the male nurse and then back up to my room - where finally the sedative kicked in!! and i slept a bit...........shortly after yvette and the boys arrived with balloons and gifts/cards a plenty and ive never been so pleased to see anyone!

the rest of the evening had a regular pattern of dozing and visitors (mum and dad) and drugs and more dozing and of course my obs done everytime i dropped off! at some point i ate a sandwich and drank water/coffee and around 10pm i woke once again and felt kind of normal but with loads of pain because the spinal had worn off so more drugs more sandwichs and more coffee and i was fine......

now to try and sleep the night.......... not easy i had calf pumps fitted that basically gave my calfs a good squeeze every 45 secs or so which doesnt sound too bad BUT when your trying to doze the bloody things make you jump!! left leg not too much of an issue - operated leg bloody hell that hurts!

but thats how the night went i drifted in and out of sleep had more drugs, more coffee and to be fair felt fairly good

dday+1 - 3 to follow

sng