My surgery on October 13th went smoothly. It started at 7:30am, but I had to arrive at the surgery center at 6:00am. With nothing in my belly and a horrible caffeine headache, I got naked. The nurse tied me up in the back and had nice warm blankets for me get cozy. The anesthesiologist started an IV and talked me through what I would be experiencing. The most uncomfortable part would be the nerve block of my right arm. This process is interesting because the needle the is giving the injection also sends pulses of electricity. Based on how my arm jumps to each pulse tells them if they have the right nerve. The sedative took care of any pain of them digging around for the right area, however, the pulses were pretty strong and painful.

Once my arm was completely absent of feeling they wheeled me into the operating room. I was a little nervous about being put under. The anesthesiologist placed the mask over my face and said, "take four deep breaths." I took them and wondered to myself, "should I continue breathing deep or should I breath regularly"... Then I woke up in the recovery room.

I asked the nurse, "what time is it?" She told me 9:30am. I shaking from the anesthesia, so she gave me a shot of Demerol. I was feeling pretty good and if it was normal for me to be this alert. She responded, "Some people are, but you probably remember talking to me." (HA... I remember!) Asked if I could see my arm. I don't know what I expected to see, but I couldn't feel anything. Maybe I just wanted to see that it was there. It was already in the sling, no feeling what-so-ever. I could have had someone else's arm attached to me.

I had to go to the bathroom. I was wheeled to the bathroom and walked in myself. It was pretty odd that I was so unsteady. Not dizzy, but weak, like I was an old man. They put me in a chair (the recliner on wheels) and wheeled me back to my recovery room. Renee came in and greeted me with a kiss. She commented on how clear I seemed to be.

We waited for me to be discharged. The nurse discovered that my "pain pump 2000" (a catheter pumps a lidocaine-type fluid directly on the joint) had leaked. So they tried to refill it, but it leaked out again. They decided that I would be okay without it, so they pulled the catheter. They assured me I would be fine with the pain pills.

We left the hospital and headed to the pharmacy. I was doing great, but once we arrived there, the Demerol started to wear off. I was getting shaky. We left after the prescription was filled and went about 5 miles and I told Renee to pull over, I was getting sick. She crossed 3 lanes of traffic as I started to open the door to get out and puke. I quickly realized that I wasn't getting sick, but I was going to pass out. I stayed in the car, leaned the seat all the way back and put my feet on the dash board. Breathing quick and shallow, I started to clear. I told Renee, "just to get me home."

We made it home and I laid down on the recliner, took two Vicodin and lapsed into zombie land. I stayed on top of the pain pretty well. I watched movies, ate very little and continued to take my pain pills. After the second day, I was feeling much better, still sore, but better.

More tomorrow (or tonight). This is enough to read for now.