"It's always something!"

Last September I had carpel tunnel surgery on my right wrist. I had to call the surgery center the day before to confirm the time for the surgery which was to be in the early afternoon. The surgery center nurse said that I should dress in loose comfortable clothing and bring my C-pap machine just in case I needed it, and that I could eat something light for breakfast. So when I got up at 5:30 in the morning to help Cassie get Kristin off to school I had my usual 2 yogurts and coffee.During the pre-surgical interview the nurse asked if I had anything to eat or drink and what it was, I was told that there was no problem with what I ate and then I was then sedated for the procedure. The surgery went flawlessly and my hand is doing very well.

Yesterday I had the same procedure on my left wrist. I went through the same drill; Called the day before, was told the surgery would be at 11:15 AM, don't eat or drink anything after midnight...

I woke up at 5:30 AM to help Cassie get Kristin off to school and completely forgot the "don't eat or drink anything after midnight rule!" I had my usual 2 yogurts and 2 cups of coffee. Then I prepared an Irish beef stew in the crock pot before I got dressed in my "loose comfortable clothing" and packed up my C-pap machine and left the house. When Cassie and I got to the surgery center I went through the same drill. Remove clothes, put on a gown and paper hat, then started to go through the pre-surgical interview with the nurse. Everything came to a screeching halt when I told the nurse I had 2 yogurts and 2 cups of coffee. After consultation with the doctors, the anesthesiologist and nurses, they all agreed that they could not sedate me. I shouldn't eat at least 8 hours before being sedated, for my safety. They gave me two options; reschedule or using a local anesthetic. Well it is a little bit more than an hour to the surgery center from our house and Cassie and I have so many appointments I said to go ahead with the local.

Having the surgery wide awake was a very interesting experience. Not terribly bad, but I was very nervous. The nurses placed a drape over me so I couldn't see what was going on, (they said so that I didn't flinch when the doctor did the cutting, which I'm very glad they did!) Doctor Aita then numbed me up good and went to work! The procedure took about 8 minutes and then another 10 minutes to stitch me up and clean and dress the wound and then I was done. I went back to recovery where they monitored me for another 20 minutes, I then got dressed and walked out to where Cassie was waiting for me and Cassie drove us home. We were about 10 minutes from home when I looked in the back behind the seat and realized that I had left my C-pap machine in the waiting room! Oh no! I called the surgery center to make sure that my C-pap was still there and find out what time they closed, we were both hungry and I had to go to the bathroom, so we continued home. We had lunch and waited for Kristin to get home from school then went back to the surgery center and got my C-pap. It was a long day by the time we were finally home for the day. Cassie and I were so happy that we didn't have to cook. The stew was done and delicious.

It is after 3:00 in the morning and I'm wide awake from the throbbing pain in my hand, I am waiting for the percocet I took to kick in so I can get back to sleep. That's what I mean when I say; "It's always something!"