Monday, June 4, 2012

It all went okay

Thank you, everyone, who left comments or messaged me directly. It did make me feel better knowing that I have a wonderful group of sympathetic friends. Friday's procedure went just fine. One thing that surprised me the most was the number of people involved; so many that I'm already cringing to see what the bill will look like. I came in contact that day with no less than 10 Sparrow employees.

The anesthesiologist & his assistant were great at calming my fears about not waking up at all or waking up early.

Chuck tried a joke on the nurse that did not go over well at all. After taking my vital signs, the nurse interviewed me to determine whether I had a declared a durable power of attorney and asked me what I thought I was there for that day. I told her, "Well, I like to think of it as 'The Big Scrape'." For the record, she didn't seem to like that answer; so, I quickly replied, "I'm here for a polypectomy, hysteroscopy, and a D & C." After that answer, she said that she was impressed that I was able to tell her the correct terms and that I covered the gamut of what was planned. Chuck then asked whether we should have brought a Sharpie with us to mark me with so that I don't have to worry about waking and finding that my knee had been scoped or arm amputated. The look she gave him was classic. Icy, at best. Oh, Chuck, one would think that he truly enjoys the taste of his own foot!

The last things I remember before the operation was the anesthesiologist putting a shot of something "to calm my nerves" and being wheeled to the operating room. I woke in the recovery room and Chuck joined me there shortly after. Three hours had passed.

I was so out of it and was thankful that the ob/gyn talked with Chuck when she was done with me and gave him my prescriptions, weekend resting instructions, and a nifty picture of my polyp from the hysteroscopy. I'll post it as soon as I can because I do think it's neat.

The only side effects that I've had have been the worst hang-over headache and certain bathroom issues. As for resting up during the weekend: I tried. I really did. I got caught up on a bunch of shows that were on the DVR, went to the movies with Sylvain to see "The Chernobyl Diaries", and watched "Coriolanus" and the US version of "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo." I don't know if it was the medication or what, but I really wasn't into any of these films. "Diaries" went just as expected, and in a way, I felt like it was a ripoff of C.H.U.D.D. "Coriolanus" was one of those movies where you need to really pay attention since the dialog is still in the original Shakespeare. It isn't for everyone and I'm still digesting it. As for "Girl", I never really felt as though the Swedish version needed to be remade. If I hadn't seen the Swedish version, I likely would have enjoyed this one more, but since I have seen both, I came away from the American one thinking that it looked a little too polished. Does anyone know if the other two Millennium movies are in the works?

So Sunday, I taped many hours (5? 7?) of the BBC America coverage of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. I ended up needing to go in to work -- my study area in Alpena ended up having three days of rain, which was just the sort of condition I've been waiting for. The part that really sucks about it is that the drive is a solid four hours away, so there really isn't a 'quick drive up'. To make the work day go smoothly, I talked my student into coming into the office for an hour on Sunday to help me pack our equipment, then to do all of our driving that evening. Thankfully, my student is easy going and had no plans. (Paying her in additional vacation time also helps.)

Yes, I've been taking it easy and let my student and another of our coworkers do most of the heavy lifting. I'll just move a little slower this week and hope that I don't cause myself more harm than good.

Now, if I could get in to urgent care when I get home to look at my thumb -- I may have dislocated it a couple of weeks ago and it's still acting up...