I survived yesterday. Friday was the big hernia operation. The procedure was supposed to take about 45 minutes and was supposed to be done laparoscopically, but it ended up tasking 5 1/2 hours and was done "openly" due to some unforeseen issues in my body.

I get to St. Mary's Medical Center at about 6:20 am to check in for my 6:30 appointment. At about 6:35 am, the nurse calls my name and I say, "Oh boy here we go." Lynn followed me to my pre and post op room. And as I've mentioned in the past I have never been put under and this being my first operation, so I'm totally freaking out.

I'm asked the whole routine of questions, some just for confirmation and security reasons and some about my medical history. They did the usual checks, lungs, heart, blood pressure, throat, etc. After everything was "good" the nurse put Novocain in my hand then proceeded to hook up the IV for the hydrating fluid. Then I had some kind of air pumping blood pressure type bands put on my legs. They told me it was to prevent blood clots while remaining still during the procedure. It's now about 7:30 am and I really getting scared. I met with the anesthesiologist, he basically went through how and when the medications would be applied and used. I then met with Dr. Osborne, the doctor doing the operation. By now, I'm getting very worried. The nurse asked me if I wanted something to take the edge off, I said, "yes." She came back with a "squirt syringe" filled with this cherry flavored liquid. Not sure what it was but that did help with the anxiety.

Soon after, I'm wheeled into the operating room and before I know it I was out. Next thing I know it's about 3:30 pm and I'm eating toast and drinking coffee. Honestly, I can see why Michael Jackson used Propofol. Aside from the obvious discomfort from the incisions, I woke up refreshed, with a seemingly clear head and no nausea or headache.

Now that the hernia fix is done along with another issue/s the doctor found after he opened me up I'm in some pain. I don't like pain pills but this is too much for me. So I am taking them sparingly. One 5/325 mg Hydro-condone per 4-6 hours. As far as I can tell, one alleviates the pain just as well as two and with one pill you don't feel so loopy. I did take two last night before I went to sleep but they just make me feel wonky. I can take one or two as directed on the bottle.

The biggest and almost as annoying part of post-op is that I'm peeing literally every 30 minutes to an hour. I hope this subsides soon. Moving my body isn't the easiest thing right now. As I write this everything does seem to be getting more normal at 10 am as I write this.

I was told I went through about 5 bags of that saline solution or whatever it is hospitals use to keep patients hydrated.

St. Mary's did ask if I wanted to stay overnight but I declined the offer as I didn't bring clothes and didn't have a laptop or tablet. I am recovering at home and will be off next week.

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