Surgery Day

K is now officially without a gallbladder. Nurse Julie, having no gallbladder herself, reassured him by saying, "You're not gonna miss that sucker one bit!" K was a total champ at everything, especially considering his HUGE dislike for medical nouns (persons, places, and things). It's really interesting to watch your spouse submit to something which goes against every fiber in his being. Here's to hoping K feels well soon and can say that surgery was the best choice for him.

I just want to record a thing or two about the humorous behaviors I noticed while K was recovering and emerging from all of those lovely napping drugs.

He winked at me! K never winks at me. It was all I could do to not laugh heartily, but it was just the funniest uncharacteristic thing--I knew it was the drugs. Actually, I wonder if he winked at anybody else today. K also kept asking me the same things repeatedly. It's amusing because you know you just answered the question and you know their brain is waking up, but still, it seems funny. The surgery was over by 4:00 p.m. and the doctor told me everything went well. They called me back into the recovery room at 5:00 p.m. and K's eyes were opened. He said, "Sweetie." Then he said, "You didn't leave me. You're still here. Thank you SOOO much for being here."

Then he asked me what time it was. I told him it was 5:00 p.m. About thirty seconds later, he asked, "So what time is it?" I told him again that it was 5:00 p.m. Then, shortly thereafter, K asked, "So, is it about 5:00 p.m. then?" I patiently replied, "Yeah, it's 5:00 p.m." I told K that the surgeon spoke with me and told me everything went very well. After a minute or two, K asked, "Did the surgeon say anything about how everything went?" And that's pretty much our rockin' recovery room conversation for two hours, between small sips of water and then juice.

Rewind a moment to Saturday. Before I went to the store, I asked him if he wanted any juice for after surgery and K said, "Pretty much anything except apple. Don't get apple." Fast forward to the recovery room. Nurse Becky rattled off a list of various juices and K chose apple! The real kicker for me was when the nurse came back and K said, "Thanks so much for the apple juice. It tastes SO good!"

So, here's the timeline of today:
10:15--our original report-to-the-hospital time, we started planning another travel trip and ordered maps from AAA
12:15--our updated report-to-the-hospital time, Doc was doing emergency surgery
2:00--our final report-to-the-hospital time, good thing we live just 3 miles or 10 minutes away
3:00--they wheeled K away in cap and gown with IV and funky slippers
4:00--doc found me in waiting room and said all was well and that they would call me back into recovery in a half an hour
5:00--they finally called me back into recovery, K was still in a gown, but no cap, K requested that I hold his hand, even complimented me that my hand felt so nice and warm, and soon after requested that I stop holding his hand, we caught the 6:00 news
7:00--K sat up in bed, got shaky and cold, but calmed down with a warm blanket, made the requisite and successful visit to the restroom as we held hands all ten steps there and all ten steps back, and then I helped him dress
7:30--K got a wheel chair ride, requested crushed ice and Powerade on the way home
7:40--turned on electric blanket, helped K change to pajamas, headed to pharmacy
8:30--pain meds were $0.63, I was starving so I ate before I called K's mom
10:00--time to make K eat, take meds, and walk around--says he has it narrowed down to two choices: oatmeal or Lipton cup of soup

One last thing...because they kept delaying the surgery, they gave us a $25 gift certificate for Outback Steakhouse! When I called K's mom, I asked if he wanted to say "Hi." He said "No." I then asked if he just wanted to listen to the conversation. He said "No." As I left the room, he said, "Be sure to tell my mom they gave me a $25 gift certificate!!!" Oh, K, I love you so, SO much! In sickness and in health...