Sick before tummy tuck

I called the surgeons office today… as long as it’s not really bad or I’m coughing a ton, surgery will continue.  And BEST news is if they REALLY DO have to postpone, they will work hard to get me in really soon (even though surgeon is booked up.)  That makes sense because they have my cash and they know people have to arrange their LIVES around this surgery.

I’m popping a lot of Zicam right now and it seems to be helping?!

Off in an hour to my primary physician pre-op.  I have lots of random documents I need to give to the anesthesiologist.

Emotions du jour

So this weekend was bad… chest heavy, near panic attack.  But today I’m pretty calm!!  I’m getting excited, letting myself fantasize about how small I will be, how clothes will become a blessing again and not a curse.  Tonight I realized I will be able to FIT into all my old clothes (and wow, what if they are too big now?!)

I’m also very anxious for my back pain to go away and I think my belly is just taking its toll over time. 

So today, peace… even with a potential cold (a NEW one, thanks to my kids.)

General Anesthesia

I must be the only person who didn’t know its true definiton.  They put you UNDER, to paralysize your body, and put a tube down you so you can breathe.

I was under the myth you got put down to sleep… I’ve now got a new horror about all this.  😛

Getting sick and therefor worried

I’m getting my kids cold (or allergies?)  UGH, I can’t be sick for the surgery!!  I sometimes get nasty bacterial infections, goes into my ears, my lungs (asthma.)

Please please please……….. I need to be healthy by April 7th!

Nervous about something going wrong

I’m nervous about the anesthesiologist, about what if something goes REALLY wrong…. I know we all worry about that. 

So I learned tonight that anesthesiologists are there to KEEP YOU ALIVE, to monitor the fool out of you – your heart, blood pressure, oxygen levels…  and they’re trained in what to DO if something goes awry.  They are DOCTORS, 100%, not what I envision to be more “tech level”.  NOT FLAMING TECHS, but I hope you know what I mean.

Plastic surgeons are trained in ALL types of surgery and know how to actually fix, say, some crazy blood flow, or deal with whatever could happen.  I somehow thought of them as super specialists that couldn’t do anything else.  I’m in an outpatient clinic which makes me more nervous than if I were in a hospital.

I guess that makes me feel better.  I knew anesthesiologists put you under but I never quite knew what their role was… and how seriously their job is vital to the patient!!  It’s not like they put you under and leave.  And I never quite realized surgeons were trained in ALL types of surgery so they could deal with something else going awry.

I’m just feeling a lot more relaxed.  I have this vision of people doing their own skill and not really knowing what to do if something bad happened.  But that couldnt’ be further from the truth…

Tummy Tuck Support from Husband

I just have to say I have a very wonderful husband.  He’s glad I’m getting the tummy tuck but not “too glad”, you know?  Like, “hey you’re freaky looking and I’m not attracted to you anymore.”  He is now starting to worry about the surgery.  Other than our two babies, which isn’t SURGERY (well, wasn’t for us), he hasn’t been through this.  There is always that low lying fear of something really bad happening.

But the other part that is getting frustrating is he does not want to hear the gorey details.  I understand but at the same time I’m THINKING nonstop about the gorey details!!  At least I have my message board and this blog to get out my emotions.  I’m sure I’m not the only one whose spouse is squishmish about all the nastiness, scaring, drainage bags, etc.

An irrational worry

My original consult was great.  The office was beatiful, they gave me great educational brochures.  The nurse was good, the doctor was *AWESOME*, and the office manager is an identical twin with the nurse so it has a real family feel.  But fast forward months when I tried to schedule the appointment, and they didn’t have the files in that location so they had to call me back the next day.  I think she ended up calling me that night, but still.  You’re nervous anyway calling to schedule a life altering surgery… you don’t want to have to call BACK the next day!!

When I scheduled she seemed very nice about how EXCITED I was.  But my worry is that I’ll feel like just another drone in the wheel of tummy tucks.  Or my questions won’t be taken seriously, or they’ll forget to tell me something important because they just forget.  I’m quite sure this will not happen, but it makes me nervous! 

I really, really, really, really love my doctor. She is the head of trauma at a local hospital and works private practice so she can earn a little more money to VOLUNTEER in third world nations.  How cool!!!  She also never wears make up, her hair is a bit of a mess, she doesn’t care about her looks, and was excited to learn one of my jobs is working on a marriage counseling website. She was excited to have a good source of referrals for her clients.  Obviously she cares!