The Deed Is Done!

Howdy! Well, that was pretty uneventful! At least, I don't remember anything. We got to the hospital at 10 a.m. and they asked a bunch of questions to get me registered, put the fashionable gown on and laid in a bed until 11:30...

I was wheeled to the surgical center in the hospital and prepped for the 12:30 procedure. Deb got to wait in the surgical lobby.

I was visited by Nurse Laura, Dr. Adkins, some dude doing his residency, and last, but not least, the anesthesiologist. I was told that they were going to flip me on my stomach over some thing - think of leaning over the back of a chair, that's the picture I got. So, the anesthesia dude shot some stuff into my IV that was going to relax me. I don't remember too much after that. I do remember him wheeling me to the surgery room and telling him that I was feeling ripped (not sure how I termed it, drunk, buzzed, etc). Anyway, I told him it was like a tequila drunk, not a whisky drunk! I was out after that. I vaguely remember an oxygen mask being put on because it smelled funny. Someone remarked that it was the new plastic smell in a joking way.

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I think I was trying to turn on my side or something - my leg hit the rail on the bed and the nurse jumped up to tell me I was in recovery... I think the nurse's name was Gaylord Folker... or something... he was a male nurse... (okay, that joke is for everyone who's seen Meet The Parents). I started coming to pretty quickly. I was just tired - kind of like now. No pain, just a sore... exit area...

Dr. A talked with Deb in the waiting area and told her that the surgery went really well, although it was hard to reach, he got what he needed to get. In our chat before the surgery, Dr. A said that we'll just wait for the pathologist report to come back and prove our hypothesis of no cancer spread.

After regaining my senses (well, the abnormal ones I have, anyway) I was wheeled to yet another recovery room where Deb was able to come in and see me and give me the Dr. Adkins debrief. The nurse gave me a vicodin so I wasn't in pain on the ride home - it's about a 45 min drive.

So, that's where we are. I'm not quite awake enough to play soccer tonight, so I'll have to give it a miss. Then again, if I feel better in the next 2 hours... hmmm...

Tomorrow we have the Merit Badge Clinic for the Troop. I offered to do the cycling merit badge (it's an eagle one, you know). Lucky for me, I don't have to really ride a bike to do what we need to do. It's just maintenance related and safety tips. The rides come later. Get this, to complete this merit badge, the boys have to complete two 10 mile rides, two 25 mile rides, and a 50 miler! And they have to plan the routes! Damn! Luckily for them, this is a great place for cycling. We also have 2 perimeter rides in Tucson. The El Tour de Tucson in November and the Tour of Tucson Mountains in April (just missed it). Both races have smaller rides associated with them if the boys are psyched to do the rides. I think it'd be cool to have a group of boy scouts on the rides.

We're also doing the aviation badge tomorrow. One of our assistant scoutmasters is a retired Naval Aviator. That means, he used to fly his belly button! Ha! He's probably going to be able to knock out his badge tomorrow. What a cool merit badge. That one should be fun.

Until next time, out here.