Surgery Day

The day started early on Monday, July 18th.  Five a.m. to be exact.  It wasn't too bad though since we are up at that time many mornings.  Rising early seems to be a side effect of aging--you just wake up, even though you don't want to.  We were at the hospital a little before six and took our spot in the waiting room with all the others scheduled for outpatient surgery that day.  I brought along a limited supply of reading materials, so I looked around for a good magazine to read.  Who ever stocks the waiting room with magazines must have something to do with horses.  There was "Western Horseman" and "The Quarter Horse Journal" and that was about it.  I picked up the "Quarter Horse Journal" remembering the fun pictures in the Pioneer Woman cookbook about the Miss Mustang beauty contest ( http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2010/02/miss_mustang_2010/),  thinking there might be some great horse photos in there.  I was right--there were tons of great horse pictures and I learned a lot of important things like styling the horses' bangs to fit its personality.  There was the spit curl, the ponytail, the braid, the pigtails, and just plain bangs.  These all had photos so you could fix your horses' bangs just like those pictured.  Who knew that a horses's bangs were so important.  I learned about mosquito repellent, parasite control, and the importance of the quality of the colostrum for the foal.  Colostrum is the first lacteal secretion before a mother's milk comes in.  It was termed, "mother nature's best kept secret" because it helps keep the baby from getting diseases or allergies.  I did not know there was poor, good, and excellent grades.  There are even colostrum banks.  There are cute hoof and ankle wear for the horses, beautiful, bright saddle blankets and halters, and very ornate saddles.  I think in my second life, I would like to live on a ranch.  I love wearing boots, and have always wanted a horse of my own.  I did not make it to the "Western Horseman" magazine because we were called back to prep Warren for his surgery.
     Being the first on the surgery schedule was great because that meant we did not have to wait very long before they took him up.

Waiting for time to leave.  He looks pretty relaxed.

The hospital wardrobe.  Always the best in fashion.

He's a good sport for laughing at my jokes.

He can't believe I am taking so many pictures.

He went up and I waited, and waited, and waited.  Finally, he came back to outpatient at 11:30.  He looked pretty miserable, was shaking like an earthquake, and had a towel over his head that made him look like  a biblical character with his beard and all--probably an angel because everything was white.  I am sure the towel was supposed to help retain his body heat since you can loose 40 times more through the head.  He has that little bald spot, so I could just envision all the heat escaping through there.  I did my best to cheer him up, but he was not appreciative of my efforts.  I decided to go have lunch in the cafeteria to give him more time to come around.  I ran into my old chief tech that I used to work for in the lab.  He offered me a job.  It was nice to know I could have job security if I wanted it.  I finished lunch and went back to help Warren recover.  He wasn't recovering very well, and I really wanted him to, because that place was freezing.  I had on a sweatshirt and they brought me a blanket, but they did little to fight off the cold.  Warren had an air warmer for one of the blankets, so I tucked my feet in next to him hoping not to touch him and put him into shock because of my of ice cube feet.  Around two in the afternoon, he was showing signs of life--he had to go to the bathroom.  I thought, "oh good, we will be going home soon, and I can thaw out."  That little walk down the hall made him nauseated.  "Groan, we are going to be here longer."   They gave him some medicine for the nausea and said the doctor was coming down to see him.  Now when they say something like that, I expect the doctor to show up in the next 15-20 minutes, but he did not show.  I went to ask  where he was, and they said he had about another hour on his next case and then would be down.  I did not think I was going to make it that long. I was going to be dead with hypothermia by that time.  I was truly a popsicle.  I began in earnest to get Warren awake so we could step outside in the 100 degree weather and thaw.  At 4:30,  I experienced warmth...we were going home.  Oh, it was soooo good.  I was still wearing my sweatshirt when I went to my Pilate class at 6:30 and I was just beginning to feel warm.  A word, to the wise if you have to wait at the hospital... wear your long johns and take your winter coat.

We are in our third day of post-op.  His leg is still bothering him, but not in the same way.  We are hoping and praying it is only due to the trauma of the surgery.  My friend, Marge, brought us a wonderful dinner of soup, salad, homemade whole wheat bread, apricot cobbler, and Blue Bell ice cream last night.  Thank you, Marge, it saved my day which is another story that I will tell on a later date.