The Big Day

I can't believe it's here - tomorrow I'm having open heart surgery...

So I met with my surgeon today. He's a man with a very commanding presence, very confident, bordering on arrogant (he's one of the world's best heart surgeons - why shouldn't he be?), and very nice. Plus, he kind of looks like Stanly Tucci.

I asked him how many pulmonary valve replacements he has done. His answer: "More than anyone in the world." Woah. So I asked him about how many that was, and he said, "Somewhere between 1500-2000." Okay. I think I see the reason behind the confidence. I'm also very glad that he's my surgeon.

Guess what?! They're giving me a sedative when I check in so I don't care as much and am not so nervous. Guess what else?! They have a numbing ointment that they will put on my skin before poking me with any needles!

Speaking of ointments...here's an odd thing. I have antibacterial ointment that I have to put in my NOSE. Yep. My nose! I know! But, as my suegeon said, you breathe through your nose and right onto your chest. This will get rid of all of the bacteria that gets breathed onto my chest. Gross, huh? So I need to squirt it in there tonight before I go to bed and tomorrow morning before we leave. (I already had to squirt some of this stuff in when I left the hospital. It burns.)

Here's another strange thing - I have to wash from my chin to my knees with this surgical soap - twice (10 minutes each time). Once tonight and once tomorrow morning.

After surgery tomorrow, I will be in the ICU until sometime on Saturday. Then I'll be moved to the "Intermediate Care Unit" and will have my own private room with built in shelves, a built in cot (for whomever would want to spend the night in my room), a TV and a DVD player, and all of the other things you would expect to see in a hospital room. There will also be computers on the floor for patients to use, so I'll try tp post when I'm all looped up on pain meds. It should be a fun post!

I'm nervous, but not frightened. I'm in the best hands at one of the best facilities in the world. Everything will be fine. (That's my new mantra.)

RobbieMax will be posting on my blog sometime by Saturday morning with an update. (Let's hope I remember my password!)

And now, I'm going to finish my Dairy Queen Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard and close with a quote from the song, "Closing Time" by Semisonic. I think this quote aptly describes how I'm viewing my surgery and recovery:

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."