The day before my surgery (Sept. 8th)...
My boyfriends amazing parents drove me down to Tampa. My Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, and Dad drove from Miami area to Tampa. My brother flew in from California. My sister flew down from New York. Basically, the whole gang was there... for me. I remember being so nervous just thinking of the unknown, but also a little excited to get my now named mass, Bertha, out of me.
During the day I had to drink two bottles of ClearFast PreOp which were ordered by my doctor to pick up at the Publix Pharmacy at Moffitt Cancer Center. Why drink ClearFast before surgery?
Lowers the risk of surgical site infections
Reduces post-op nausea and vomiting
Reduces post-op recovery time
Minimizes the risk of post-op complications
Hydrates veins for easier, less painful IV “sticks”
For dinner we all met up and had some amazing seafood. I really needed that time with my family and Sid's parents to put my mind at ease.
No one or nothing prepared me at the age of 23 to discuss advance directives and fill out forms establishing my sister as my Health Care Surrogate. I hated putting that extra stress on my sister, but she was the only one I really talked about this kind of stuff with and knew she would abide by my wishes. That night we made a voice recording of her asking me the hard questions... the ones no one wants to think of and answer. I wanted to make sure she wouldn't forget what I had told her, but also I did want anyone in my family to argue/disagree with her since it would be my wishes. For example, what if something was to go wrong during surgery and I was placed in a medically induced coma, how long would I be on life support? What if I was brain dead, how long would I want to stay on life support? What if the mass was cancerous and had spread, would I agree to getting a full hysterectomy and whatever else that was required with that? It was a lot to think about and discuss the night before my surgery, but it's so important and had to be done.
Before I went to bed I had to shower with this special liquid soap called Chlorhexidine Gluconate, I got the brand Hibiclens at Walgreens. The whole process for showering the night before and day of my surgery seemed intense, I literally had the packet of papers next to me while showering just to make sure I was doing everything correct. But once that was done, I laid in bed and had a restless night of sleep... my mind would not shut off.
The day of my surgery (Sept. 9th)...
I had to wake up around 4:30 am, because we had to be there at the Pre-Op and Surgery Waiting area by 5:15 am. I once again had to shower with Hibiclens and then got ready. Once we got to Moffitt Cancer Center I was taken to Pre-Op holding. Here I changed out of my normal clothes and put on a hospital gown, which just wasn't any normal gown. It hooked up to this warming device that literally blew warm air into my gown! Ooo so cozy. Me being cold natured (swear I resemble a cold blooded reptile) I had that sucker turned all the way up, because that Pre-Op room was like a meat locker. Anyways next came getting an IV. I don't know what was wrong with my veins that morning, but they all decided they wanted to hide so I got stuck 3 times (twice in the hand...ouch). They finallyyyy got an IV in and started to run fluids, so now I was just waiting to meet with my anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, and operating room nurse. Just a bunch of people coming in and out and asking a bunch of the same questions. But I was thankful during my whole Pre-Op time my family could come in two's to see me.
One specific moment I remembered was when Sid's parents were in the little room with me. My doctor popped in to see how I was doing (probably 10 minutes before I was wheeled back) and then said he wanted to run something by me. He then said something along the lines of me being 23 and not wanting to leave me with a long scar that goes from my pubic bone to the bottom of my sternum, how would I feel about getting a c-section type scar? My jaw dropped... I didn't think that was even a possibility, I mean that would definitely be more cosmetically appealing. I immediately looked at Sid's parents and was like, "what do you guys think I should do?" Their response, "I don't know baby, its your body, your decision." I was not ready to make anymore big decisions. So I started to really think about it and asked my doctor, "how many times have you done this type of surgery with that type of incision, what do you feel most comfortable with?" His response was him saying he has only done a handful of surgeries with a c-section type scar, but a bunch with the vertical type scar. He then added that if it were to be cancerous then he would still have to make a vertical incision in order to test the lymph nodes in my upper abdominal area... so I would ultimately end up with a T type incision that would take longer to heal because of the decreased blood flow at the junction. Well that made up my mind there, he felt more comfortable with removing the mass with the vertical incision and there wouldn't be the possibility of have a T type incision... vertical incision it is.
Soon after that my anesthesiologist came back. He took one look at my vitals on the machine above me and looked at my sister and said "well she's hiding it well". I looked back thinking what is he talking about? Oh... my heart rate is 140 bpm, oops haha. So he then gave me versed and let me tell you that hit me like a ton of bricks. They started to wheel me away on the stretcher and I remember my sister following behind me. The anesthesiologist asked me "so where are we going on vacation today", my response "I want to get eloped in Wyoming". The doctor looks back at my sister and was like " well that's not the typical answer I hear, I hope she has someone in mind", and my sister laughing, shaking her head was like "yeah she does".
Bye, bye Bertha!