Tale of Surgery

I found out on Monday that I would need to have surgery on my arm. Apparently the section of radius that I broke is considered "soft bone" and when simply set in a cast the break tends not to stay set and the bones shift back into their bad position. The date was set for Thursday.

My mom drove up Wednesday night and we arrived at the hospital at 10:30 on Thursday morning. I had to answer a bunch of questions with the nurse, take a pregnancy test, and then put on my hospital gown and slippers. I then sat in the waiting room for over an hour. I was so hungry since I hadn't been allowed to eat since the night before. Finally around noon they brought me back to the OR prep room.

Here I was placed on a gurney and met with my two doctors to discuss what they planned to do. My orthopaedic surgeon was an extremely nice older man who I hadn't met until that moment. He had a fake-n-bake tan and the pearliest porcelain veneers east of Hollywood. Odd, but he was very reassuring. My other doctor I'd met on Monday when I had my consultation. He must have been a resident or just starting his ortho training or something. He was really really good looking. Eye candy if you will.

Then a team of two anesthesiologists came over and debated on how to sedate me given my cold. General anesthesia was not an option, so they finally decided to give me a sedative and then do some local anesthesia on my arm. They put in my I.V. and then the nurse came by to take my barrette out of my hair and took my glasses.

I thought I would be partially awake and aware of things since they weren't knocking me out, but I don't remember anything after they wheeled me down the hall to the OR. Ketamine is good stuff. I slowly came to in the recovery room, feeling very loopy. Here's the funny part. Even in my fog of drug-iness, I remember flailing my legs around and shaking my head from side to side. "Kelly do you feel restless?" I'm asked. "NoooIii'mfiiinneee" I say while thrashing so much that I manage to scoot my self part way of the end of the bed. I knew how ridiculous I must look which made me laugh hysterically all the while. I could sort of hear the nurses laughing at me too.

Still very groggy, but more settled down, they moved me into another room where my mom was able to come in and sit with me. By now it was about 4:00. We sat there for a while and I dozed on and off and had a few sips of ginger ale. After about half an hour they helped me into a wheelchair, out to the car, and we were on our way home.

My cast looks ridiculous. I think I could be an extra in a WWII movie, this thing looks so archaic. It's all rough, mis-shapen, lumpy old-school plaster with betadine stains at the edges. And then there's the two Frankenstine-esque bumps where the pins are. I was disappointed at the size of it to- I think I'm going to have to wear mens' shirts until this thing comes off.

I slept most of the evening. Then around midnight I pulled off the sling and noticed that I had bled underneath the cast and the blood had soaked all the way through. Kind of freaky and also- disgusting! I'm supposed to walk around for the next 2 months looking like this? We called the hospital and they said to come back in the morning. So the next day I saw hot doctor and the cast maker (James). They said it was nothing to worry about, but did add another layer of plaster to cover the blood. So now this thing is even heavier. I go back in a couple of weeks for a follow up.

This is going to be a long two months.