Hey everyone! Today was the longest day ever! I left this morning at 430am and got to San Diego at 1030 (but it was really 130pm my time). I had to wait forever for my bags but they eventually came and I was off to Mexicali. It was a two hr drive. I had my pre-op testing so all I could have was water. By this time I am HUNGRY! I got to the hosp and had my blood drawn, EKG, chest x-ray and urine test. Everything looked good, thank God. Then I met with several people. An intake person, Dr. Garcia the anesthesiologist and finally Dr. Aceves the surgeon. Tomorrow I meet with Dr. Campos the nutritionist. I finally got to eat something at 5pm (remind you 8pm my time!). I walked to a pharmacy with a lady I met on the ride over. All in all a good day but just busy. Everyone is just as nice as I've heard. Tomorrow is the big day. I'm first on the schedule so I'm glad about that. Say a prayer for me please!

I hope you have an uneventful, normal surgery--good luck!

I'm so excited for you! I still remember your posts from before you had a surgery date and how you were on eggshells about that. Now, here you are the night before surgery. You'll be sleeved and sipping gently in no time. Let us know how you're doing after surgery if you can. Congratulations!!! :thumbup:

YAY, it's finally here. I am really happy for you and you will be in my prayers. Best of luck for a speedy recovery and safe trip home.

good to hear you're doing fine.... i wish you the best of luck....you are in the best hands and best care.....please keep us posted. Godbless.

Good luck. I'll be in your shoes in less than 2 weeks! I'll be sure to check out your blog for post-op updates.

Good luck Skye. Good your surgery is first thing in the morning. The doc should be very alert. Lol. I'll keep you in my prayers. God bless baby girl.

Deb

Good luck Skye, we will shift up on the Losers Bench for you.

Jane x

You sure brought back memories of my Mexicali trip! I even know where the pharmacy is! I hope you have a uneventful surgery. Keep us posted!

Thank you so much everyone. I appreciate your well wishes. I look to you all as support because I haven't told anyone I'm having it done here. A few friends know where I am but not my family...yet. Will tell them when I get back and they can see that I'm doing just fine.

I am here in the hospital room waiting for them to take me back. Nerves get crazy about every 10mins or so but for the most part I am okay. I had a minor freakout last night but I took an Ativan and was able to calm down and sleep. My next post should be post op in a few hours but I'll keep it in this thread.

Just wanted to say good luck! Dr Aceves and his staff are great, and the nurses during recovery are very good also. You are in good hands there. Best of luck. Let us know how it went when you have a chance tomorrow...or when ever you feel up to it.

Well I'm post op!!! I am feeling just fine. Sleepy of course but no pain. I have a million thoughts running through my head so bear with me!

I don't remember what time they came to get me but 20min before that, they gave me Versed with 2 tablespoons of water (in the little medicine cup and i savored every drop lol). So they wheel me back and start my IV. They asked had the Versed started working and it really hadn't. Now let me sidetrack.

I had posted that I didn't want the spinal but after talking to Dr. Garcia I opted in. He told me that there would not be a catheter. Just a one time shot to my spine of Morphine. He also said I would already be asleep when he did this. So this morning another Dr. came in and said he would be working with Garcia with my spinal. He said he liked to do it while the pt is awake and that I wouldn't feel/remember it. Wrong! I felt it and obviously I remember it. I know that I kept flinching and he was telling me not to move but is was a reflex. I could't help it. But he finally got it in. Then they ace wrapped my legs and gave me something that really burned going into my IV put the mask on and at first I told them I couldn't breathe but I could feel my self drifting already from the IV med (scary because I didn't know if they heard me). They quickly took the mask off hit a button, replaced it and I didn't even have to countdown because I was already waking up asking if everything was ok (in a very raspy voice).

It was just that quick. Everyone assured me I was ok and just to breathe normally. I couldn't move my legs at first. I could wiggle my toes but I was like they were asleep.

The nurse in me was breaking my neck to see the monitor to look at my stats. I could see that my BP was low (I think it was 88/64) and my oxygen kept fluctuating so that made me take deep breaths. I keep looking and everytime it got down to 92, I was on it. They took vitals every 15 mins and kept asking me to bend my knees. About 30 min later I was able to bend my right knee and 15 after that the left decided to cooperate.

They then returned me to my room and I scooted over to my bed. BP was high after this 173 over something and temp was a little low. I relaxed, did some breathing exercises and next time they checked BP and temp was normal.

Within the hour I had to use the bathroom but couldn't go. They gave me some med in my IV that stung just a bit and a few minutes later I had my personal Niagra Falls going on lol! Since I was up I took the opportunity to use the Colgate wisps. Felt good to have something in that dry desert called my mouth.

At that point Dr. Aceves came to check on my and said everything went well during surgery. No surprises.

Laid back down for a little bit then nurse got me up for first official walk down the hall. Came back took a swig of water to rinse my mouth. I REALLY wanted to swallow it but of course I couldn't!

The rest of the day I have been watching t.v., doing breathing exercises and took one more walk. I meet Patti's husband and he took me to her room and we chatted for a bit. Great person. We shared our experience and I was able to ask some questions as well. I then went to check on my buddy that rode here with me but she had just gotten back so I didn't stay. She was doing ok with her band to sleeve revision.

I think I've captured my entire day in a nutshell (sort of lol). I must mention that this entire time I haven't had any pain. Tomorrow I may experience some because the spinal will have worn off but I'm praying for the best!

PS. I so excited my phone is within range and I don't need to pay roaming charges!

that's great....im glad you had a great experience

I went and dug up your earlier post in the tell your story forum earlier to wish you luck with your surgery and to say I hope it all went well.

I didn't even see this thread!

So glad everything went smoothly and that you're doing well!

Welcome to the other side!

Congratulations! I was there in June. It's amazing how little pain there is with a spinal isn't it? Never had a surgery like that with no pain. Although the difficulty peeing was a little weird.

Your new life is ahead of you!

Such an exciting story. I hope mine goes as well next week in TX!