With my dear friend, Debra Wiley, we arrived at Duke University Hospital at 5:15 for check in for surgery, which was scheduled for 7:30 am. It was quite a walk from the parking garage to the third floor of the hospital, but I made it slowly, but surely. After checking in, we were instructed to wait in the lounge until being called.
They started calling names at around 5:30; this would be for the initial intake. They asked Deb to wait outside; once I was in surgical prep should could join me. The intake nurse weighed me, took my height, and checked all of my vital signs. I passed the first step. The next encounter was with the intake for anesthesia. She asked a lot of questions about my health and a few about my family's. Have I ever had an adverse reaction to anesthesia? heart problems? She measured my neck, and after about 10 minutes she said I was good to go.
The next step was surgical prep, with room after room of hospital beds behind curtains. At this point they allowed Deb to come back with me. I was hooked up to a monitor which checked my blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen. They let me keep my gel nail polish on since it was clear and the oxygen could still be picked up. Another nurse came by to hook up my IV. That was followed with a check of some medical history.
Around 6:00 am Dr. Nunley stepped in. My heart was racing now because stupid me shaved the previous day and I nicked myself right at the ankle joint. I was warned that any cuts or wounds on my ankle might be a cause for infection, and when Dr. Nunley asked if I had any, I could feel my heart race. I had to tell the truth, and you might imagine my relief when the surgeon said that razor nick was not a problem. Warning: either don't shave your legs too close to the surgery or do so very carefully! Dr. Nunley told me that he would be teaching an orthopedic surgeon how to perform the Vantage Ankle Replacement during my surgery, so I figured he would do a slow and careful job!
After that things moved very quickly. The anesthesiologist came in to explain what would be happening. He was witty, personable, and, according to the nurses, he "wrote the book on regional anesthesia" -- literally. Dr. Stuart Grant had a rich Scottish accent, forcing me to listen even more closely to understand what he was saying. I would have a light general anesthesia as well as a nerve block that would last abut 14 hours. In addition to that, he would place two catheters in my leg --a popliteal catheter in the back of my knee and adductor canal catheter in my thigh. These will deliver a nerve blocker directly to the foot, although not as well as the surgical nerve blocker. Dr. Grant is the head of the Duke Medical School Department of Anesthesiology, so I knew I was in good hands.
The next thing I knew I was in recovery feeling quite good. Just a few minutes after I woke up Deb was with me in recovery and soon after we were being wheeled up to our room on the 6th floor. According to Dr. Nunley, everything went very well and I should be able to go home tomorrow.
They started calling names at around 5:30; this would be for the initial intake. They asked Deb to wait outside; once I was in surgical prep should could join me. The intake nurse weighed me, took my height, and checked all of my vital signs. I passed the first step. The next encounter was with the intake for anesthesia. She asked a lot of questions about my health and a few about my family's. Have I ever had an adverse reaction to anesthesia? heart problems? She measured my neck, and after about 10 minutes she said I was good to go.
The next step was surgical prep, with room after room of hospital beds behind curtains. At this point they allowed Deb to come back with me. I was hooked up to a monitor which checked my blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen. They let me keep my gel nail polish on since it was clear and the oxygen could still be picked up. Another nurse came by to hook up my IV. That was followed with a check of some medical history.
Around 6:00 am Dr. Nunley stepped in. My heart was racing now because stupid me shaved the previous day and I nicked myself right at the ankle joint. I was warned that any cuts or wounds on my ankle might be a cause for infection, and when Dr. Nunley asked if I had any, I could feel my heart race. I had to tell the truth, and you might imagine my relief when the surgeon said that razor nick was not a problem. Warning: either don't shave your legs too close to the surgery or do so very carefully! Dr. Nunley told me that he would be teaching an orthopedic surgeon how to perform the Vantage Ankle Replacement during my surgery, so I figured he would do a slow and careful job!
After that things moved very quickly. The anesthesiologist came in to explain what would be happening. He was witty, personable, and, according to the nurses, he "wrote the book on regional anesthesia" -- literally. Dr. Stuart Grant had a rich Scottish accent, forcing me to listen even more closely to understand what he was saying. I would have a light general anesthesia as well as a nerve block that would last abut 14 hours. In addition to that, he would place two catheters in my leg --a popliteal catheter in the back of my knee and adductor canal catheter in my thigh. These will deliver a nerve blocker directly to the foot, although not as well as the surgical nerve blocker. Dr. Grant is the head of the Duke Medical School Department of Anesthesiology, so I knew I was in good hands.
The next thing I knew I was in recovery feeling quite good. Just a few minutes after I woke up Deb was with me in recovery and soon after we were being wheeled up to our room on the 6th floor. According to Dr. Nunley, everything went very well and I should be able to go home tomorrow.
Comments
Post a Comment