I am writing from this entry from the hosptial (There is Hospital wide WiFi). Everything went very smoothly today. I arrived at the hospital at 8:30 AM and went to the admissions office. Once there, someone escorted me up 4 floors to the surgery ward. At the surgery ward I changed into a blue gown and checked in all of my belongings to be stored in a lock box during the surgery.
Once changed, I was escorted in the surgery preperation area. There were probably 8 other people in the room either waiting for surgery or having just finished with surgery. I was given a bed, asked to lie down and was told that I was second patient that Dr. Poomee would be seeing today.
I think I must have waited about an hour or so when Dr. Poomee came to the surgery prep room. He asked how I was doing and then asked me to remove the top part of my gown so that he could mark my chest for surgery. Once Dr. Poomee left the anesthesiologist arrived and introduced herself. She asked me a number of questions and said that we would be starting soon.
I was then wheeled over to the surgery room where soft music was playing. I moved to the surgery bed and my gown was replaced by a large terry cloth sheet. One of the nurses shaved my left hand and the anesthesiologist let me know that she would be injecting a local anesthetic into my hand. I felt the needle breaking my skin and the pressure from the anesthesia as she injected it into my hand. After a couple of minutes, the anestesiologist inserted the IV and thankfully I couldn't feel anything. The anesthiologist then let me know that she was injecting the general anesthesia. The last thing I remember before passing out was her asking me if I feel anything. I responded just the pressure from the injection and then bam I was out.
The next thing I knew I was in a bed in the recovery room. I could feel the pressure of the chest binding, but no pain at all. I felt like I had just woken up from a deep refreshing sleep. It took me a couple of minutes to clear my head, but after that I felt alert.
When I had a chance I looked down at my chest and all I could see was the chest binding, but no drains/bags. This made me a little concerned, because I was afraid excision wasn't performed. All of the pictures I have seen online have the drains on the outside of the chest binding. However, feeling around my chest binding, it feels as if they may be on the sides of my body underneath the binding.
A nurse then came by and took my temperature and blood pressure and I was rolled up to my private room.
Lunch was waiting for me in my room and once I changed from my blue gown to hosptial PJs (with the help of a coulpe of nurses)I had lunch and watched some TV. I have nodded in and out of sleep all day. My dinner has just arrived (choice of western, japanese, or thai dishes) and a couple of pills I need to take.
Overall, I feel very good. I can tell that the local anestethia that the doctor used during the surgery has not worn off, because my chest is still numb. It will be interesting to see how much pain I will be left with after the pain killers leave my system.
I think I might be able to take a peak at my chest tomorrow when Dr. Poomee comes to check my drains. I will update then.
Thanks for all of the support!
-Rob