Pre-Op

Now that both of my sister have been discharged for a little while I'll go back and go through pre-op and the days following the surgery.

Pre-op started the day before the surgery. We had to show up first thing in the morning to get blood drawn, another EKG, get a special soap and meet with an anesthesiologist, our surgeons, and our coordinator. I found out during this time that my original surgeon was out of town and met the actual surgeon who would be performing my nephrectomy. He also realized that no one had asked me my opinion on the type of  incision and he went over the two. The one I was told I was having was with an incision across my belly button. This one is a little harder to recover from and is a little more painful, however it is safer as they do not have to reach as far for the kidney. The other option was an incision along the bikini line which doesn't cut through as much of the abdominal muscles thus easier to recover from, and although both are safe, this one is slightly riskier as they have to reach up from the bottom to get to the kidney. I decided to stay with the belly button incision. After this my sister went to dialysis one last time and we were given tentative surgery times of 7:30am for me and 8:30 for my sister. We had to call and confirm that night to make sure a higher priority surgery didn't come up to push our times back, but nothing did so I was required to show up at 6am and my sister 7am. 

The next morning we all woke up at 5am and my sister and I grabbed another shower with the soap they had given us (we had to use it the night before too). Then we went and checked in at the hospital. Pretty much as soon as we got there I was taken back to have some last minute blood drawn (I believe a final pregnancy test which was taken at pretty much every step) and to have one last urine sample (which is difficult when I hadn't been allowed to drink the night before). After that they took me into a curtained room and had me change into a hospital gown and get into a bed. Two people were allowed to be there with me but my mom and dad just traded places after a while so both my sister and I would have someone. Then the nurses came in to give my an IV and that's when things got a little scary for a moment. I am not afraid of needles or blood but I have been known to pass out occasionally. So after they placed the needle and catheter in my hand I let them know that I wasn't feeling so well. I sat back and the next thing I know I was waking up from a dream with a lot of people around. I guessed I had passed out, started to shake, and had stopped breathing. Needless to say my mom was a little freaked out too. They said it was a "vagal"reaction that some girls have although the shaking and not breathing wasn't normal. Luckily it didn't alter anything for the surgery. My surgeons came in next and let me know they were altering the procedure and I would actually have the bikini line incisions as I am "so small and compact" and they decided that the other incision wouldn't be as safe on me. Last person to visit was the anesthesiologist who explained some things and had me sign some forms and then I was wheeled off. 

I had elected not to have anesthesia before leaving the curtained room so I could see the OR. There was a ton of people walking there with me especially since this was a teaching hospital and several students were watching as well. Along the way one of the doctors was quizzing them on the procedure. Once in the room they had me transfer to the operating table and started there pre surgery checks. I didn't understand a lot of it but I know he asked someone what kind and how much antibiotics were on hand and the same thing for blood. It seemed like each answer came from a new person responsible for monitoring only one thing. In the middle of this one of the students covered my mouth with an oxygen mask and after a few moments they started giving me the anesthesia. Then I was out.