Pre-op and Surgery

As promised, I said I would recount my experiences of my bypass surgery. I'll try to break it down into stages, or days I was in the hospital. Here goes:

We arrived at the surgery center a little before 6am, and proceeded to register at the registration desk. There were already other patients ahead of me. Some were being called by a nurse where they were escorted into the pre-op area. My turn came soon after, as I was summoned by one of the nurses, holding a sheet of paper.

She led us to a rather plain room that contained a bed, a couple of chairs and a bathroom separated by a curtain containing a toilet and a sink. I was given a hospital gown and asked to strip and change into it. Not much later my vitals were taken: blood pressure, temperature, and was injected a sedative. I was also given a packet of sterile wipes and asked to cleanse my chest area and legs (the medical team would retrieve a vein from one of my legs, from which they would use for grafting purposes). I cleansed myself as best I could, trying to keep my composure. Probably too late to walk out now. Relax, I thought to myself. Another woman came by and offered to read a prayer. She read it out loud from a card she kept with her. This was it, I thought. I imagine the drugs pretty much took over as my memory of events beyond that is vague. I don't recall ever being wheeled into the OR (operating room), but one of the last things I recall was a kindly priest with a gentle voice - the hospital chaplain - whispering in my left ear, saying who he was and not to worry, that God loves me and all my sins are forgiven. He said a brief prayer, we said the "Our Father" together, and then anointed my forehead and chest with the sign of the cross.

That's all I remember of Monday, March 4th.

(The following addendum was provided to me by my wife, who apparently took notes for herself while in the waiting room. While she only showed this to me after several days of being discharged, chronologically it belongs here):

March 4, 2013
7:30am –Barbara escorts me to waiting room on 2nd floor, and tells me my sweater is inside out

8:00am – Dr D’Orazio stops in to say hello, Chaplain also stops by to chat.  Susan stays for about 40 minutes

9:40am – first call from OR – Dr has just made chest incision

10:52am – on by-pass machine, starting grafts

12:26pm – did 4 by passes, should be off by-pass machine in 30 minutes

1:23pm – 4th call – closing, everything went well, should be in ICU 30 min, I’ll see him in 90 minutes.

1:40pm – Dr D’Orazio came in, all done, 4 by-pass, no issues

2:05pm – call on way from OR to ICU

2:07pm – just wheeled past with 4 people in attendance, lots . One guy was manually pumping the air bag

3:00pm – back in ICU, took a picture so you can see all the tubes.