Surgery complete...

For the days leading up to the surgery, I was begging Tamar NOT to stay overnight in the hospital with me. I was most concerned that she would be exhausted and be stretched to the limits when I got home between the kids and me.

Well, am I sure glad she was there. I was wrong (again). She was the greatest medical advocate one could hope for.

The day began at 11am when we checked in to the Surgery Center. Eventually, we made our way back to the waiting area where I disrobed and put on a hospital gown. Not any hospital gown, mind you, one called Bair Paws. I LOVED it. Why? For two reasons....first of all, there was a socket where you could attach a hose the blew either hot/cold air out and surrounded your body with the temperature you wanted. It was pretty neat.

I also loved it because it was a great example of teh razor/blade business model. Each gown costs $10 and is only good for one use. Since there is the special socket, the hospital can only buy replacement gowns from the one company. Talk about lock-in!

We had plenty of time there so I was reading (a great book that Tamar got me on Fatherhood for Father's DAy) and listening to classic CD titles like: What's New in Internet Explorer 7; How to Sell Windows Vista; The Top Benefits of Microsoft MapPoint (no joke) and of course, we were chatting about life, etc.

The surgery was scheduled for 2pm, but things were running late and I was still in the OR prep room at 2pm. I was the only patient there and heard the nurses at the station saying something about Excel. I turned to Tamar, "duty calls," and I went over to fix their problem as best I could.

Georgetown is a teaching hospital so I got a lot of attention from medical students and residents, some with great bedside manner, others where some attention needs to be paid.

The anesthesiologists came in and did their work and I was out. Next thing I know (sort of) I am in recovery and EVERY TIME I swallow, I am in a world of hurt (they intubated me) and I feel nauseous. I have no idea what time it is and for the next 12 hours, I'm getting pricked and prodded for blood ever 3 hours or so, I think.

Poor Tamar is sleeping in the chair and she looks most uncomfortable, but she was right there by my side if I tried to get out of bed (which I had to do since my room was like a sauna--the maintenance guy came in at 2am to no avail) and pushing the nurses for water, ice, and blood test results.

The water was a mixed blessing because it was (and continues to be) such a chore to swallow.

The key factor they were watching was my calcium levels because there is an organ called the para-thyroid behind the thyroid that regulates calcium and which can be injured during surgery. If your calcium levels are too low (as mine were and continue to be), there is a risk of heart arrythmia and tingling. The calcium issue was ultimately the cause of the delay in leaving the hospital (we didn't leave until 5pm and there was talk I'd have to stay another day).

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. I'd received some morphine because my back was spasming since I'd been lying on it for 15 hours straight and my neck (I'm constantly in a position where my chin is basically touching my chest). I'm also on Percoset. Sometimes I'm lucid and sometimes lethargic. It's really tough for me to talk so I can't return the number of very thoughtful calls I've received inquiring about my status. I really appreciate it, of course.

OK, Tamar is calling for me from upstairs (I'm supposed to be in bed, but had to blog :-)...more later.

Bottom line: I'm home, my wife is amazing, my neck is killing me, I'm devoid of energy and there's still a long road ahead of me (they also found a bizarre looking lymphnode which was sent to pathology so let's hope it's nothing serious) and I have no thyroid but a ton of medication.