Safe and Sound!

Well, safe for sure, but sound . . . check back in a few days (I am a little dizzy still and can't wait to have this, um, tube out of my body).  :0) Hi y'all! Thanks for your prayers!

  I woke up at 6:30 this morning resolved to my fate. I really did not feel nervous, maybe concerned. How could I feel scared when I knew that the God of the Universe held me in His arms? Woefully, I kept myself from my favorite meal of the day, breakfast, and avoided drinking anything as I had to have an empty stomach for the procedure. My dad and I arrived at the drive-through "chop shop" (A.K.A. out-patient surgery place) at around 8:45. Twenty minutes later I was dressed in my little hospital gown (might as well have been naked in my opinion) and lying in my allotted bed with an IV attached to my hand as the nurse rattled off what was going to take place in the next few minutes. I took this all in stride, grinning even. Okay, maybe I was thinking you're gonna do what! inwardly and grew a little pale. But I tried hard not to let it show.

 Moments later I was rolled into the operating room and transported to the "cutting board" like one big fish waiting to be filleted. My crew quickly got to work. After strapping me down (now why did they have to do that?), they put some little cord-like things on my neck and side and clamped an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth. Then the Anesthesiologist  at my side gave a vague nod and released a drug down my IV. The operating room suddenly seemed to shrink, and consciousness bid me a fond farewell.

The next thing I knew I was looking around, blurry-eyed, from a strange room. This was rather shocking, cuz' last I remembered, I was in the operating room. I asked the nurse before me if I was in a dream as I slowly came to. She assured me that I wasn't, but I couldn't believe it. I turned to see my dad at my side, and I asked him if he was real, twice. I just couldn't believe that it was over already. I barely remember my dad talking on the cell phone, assuring my mom that I had come through the operation great. When asked, my dad said that I was fine but that though I didn't know it, I was still pretty "loopy". I offered a weak protest to this statement; I just knew I had full control of my senses! Feeling a little indignant, I turned to find a little board with a snack bag of goldfish crackers and cup of juice before me. I stared blankly at them, then remembered.

 Good! I thought. The doctor promised that he would give me juice and crackers after the surgery to break my fast. I managed a lopsided grin and fell to eating my vitals. Strangely, the cup of juice was nearly empty and my cracker goldfish were all but consumed. Weird. Why would they give me such a meager fare? It never occurred to me at the time that I had been sub-consciously eating and drinking. And here I was thinking that I wasn't the slightest bit loopy still. Rrriiight. :0)

After getting back in my clothes and being instructed in how to deal with my catheter for the next few days (and growing an intense longing for the day I can take it off), I was told that I could go! I was asked if I needed a wheelchair to get me out to the car, and I promptly refused of course. I am a strapping sixteen year old, after all. Tottering to my feet, my dad supported me as we began a precarious dance to the door. I made it about ten steps, started feeling really dizzy, and mumbled something to my dad as I promptly passed out. Gosh darn it, Papa, I must have inherited your "passing-out" genes.

The next thing I knew, two worried nurses were hovering over me as I was firmly seated in a wheelchair. Pride comes before the fall, does it not? Thankfully, I had managed to give my dad enough of a warning, and he had stepped behind me and kept me from falling, holding  190+ pounds of dead weight upright till a wheelchair could be fetched (cue the superman music and applause!). 

I am happy to report that without further accident, I am seated in my living room with very little discomfort. On Friday, my catheter can come out and I can resume my "normal" life. Thank you all again for your prayers! The operation went well, and I have high hopes that I will make a full recovery!

P.S. If you are wondering if this light-hearted post is a result of me still being a little loopy, you are wrong (well, I think). I am just so relieved that this is over!