The Big Day

Relieved doesn't begin to describe it! Dr. Nelson said, "you will be asleep the whole time." Really? The only thing I knew about brain surgery is the patient is awake--seeing it all, hearing it all, smelling...all while answering questions. Ugh. But for trans-sphenoidal surgery, you're OUT! Hallelujah.

I was to arrive at 5:30am for a 7:30am surgery. Two hours of prep, sort of.

Of course nothing to eat or drink after midnight, so the night before we went to our current favorite restaurant, Saffron Cafe. It's a lovely little Moroccan spot downtown. We had a geriatric-hour dinner at 4:30 so we could get to bed by 8:00. Oh and a free baklava for mentioning, "hey this is where I came for my 'last meal'."

In comfy clothes and freshly showered, Brian and I walked out of the parking garage and met mom at the hospital. Registration and then downstairs to surgery. They gave me all the usual stuff, except for what I asked for. All I wanted was a little something to check my nerves. I had never been put under before, never even been in the hospital before. "Nope, not for neuro patients."

In fact, I walked into the operating room with a surgical nurse! Completely lucid and not hooked up to anything. Maybe that's the way they do it, but I was surprised. The nurse introduced me to a room full of people. They clapped. I curtsied. They lay me down on the table. The anesthesiologist and resident I had met before were there. The resident started to work on an IV in my right hand as the anesthesiologist gave me a mask. He said, "just some oxygen for you." Lights out! I suspect he was lying :)

The next day in ICU my sister, Christine, who owns two salons, came to visit me. She brought me some waterless shampoo and lovely face washing stuff. She was going through my hair and said, "what is THIS?" Thinking she was referring to a lump I've always had in that spot, she said "How could I have missed that?" She has been shampooing and cutting my hair for over 20 years. She starts feeling around and there are three more just like it...in a pattern. They were scabs.

Evidently, there was much more prep to my surgery than I knew about. My head had been clamped down in a halo, tight enough to draw blood. Makes sense. Wouldn't want me moving around.
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This is where I link to a video of what a trans-sphenoidal surgery looks like. It's clean, not too gooey. And fascinating! The tumor comes our of your nose. The only stitches are inside the nose itself! It's a short YouTube video, if you care to look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyOeLl4adSA
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It took about 3 hours total. I remember waking up in recovery, hearing a nurse ask, "No bed for Adams yet?" "No." So I went back to sleep. I do remember being wheeled to the Neuro-ICU and hoisted onto the bed. Then out again...but not for long...

Sarah