Into the Operating Room I Went

The following morning I was brought down to have the surgery to figure out just how deep this wound really was. I was not thrilled with the prospect of having surgery but this was by no means the first time I had been in an operating room, so I sort of knew what to expect, or so I thought.

Typically before a surgery, the doctor will come in and talk to you and answer any last minute questions that you may have. I was just outside the operating room and had met a couple of the nurses that would be with me during the procedure and also the anestethesiologist. It was getting closer and closer to the time they were going to bring me into the operating room and the surgeon still hadn't shown up to speak with me. Finally, I requested to see her before the procedure. Talk about weird, never in all of the surgeries I've had, have I ever had to ask to see a doctor prior to a procedure. Word got to the doctor that I wanted to see her and she showed up. When she appeared it was like she was there as a favor to me. I found that to be completely unprofessional and it set off another set of warning bells, though I didn't choose to open my mouth and say I had a problem with it at all.

We went on with the procedure as scheduled and I woke up about an hour later, feeling spectacular. I was brought back to my room and was given lunch and was just told to stay on my side as much as possible. Although, the wound vac was supposed to be set up during the surgery itself, something had gotten screwed up with its delivery and so we would have to do that the next day in my room. I was okay with that being that I was told that hooking up the vac shouldn't be an uncomfortable experience.

Later, that afternoon the surgeon came to see how I was feeling and also to tell me that the wound wasn't as deep as she had first suspected.  To say that I was relieved would be an understatement. That is when she told me that she wanted me to get a special mattress to sleep on. I freaked out, I am one that loves her sleep and to tell me that the way I was used to sleeping was going to have to change did not go over well in the least. She chose that moment to sit down and actually talk to me face to face, for the first time ever. She explained that the best way for the wound to heal would be if along with the vac for me to agree to get an alternating pressure mattress. Which while keeping pressure off the wound would also help to increase circulation. She explained that the special mattress wouldn't need to be forever just until the wound healed, I reluctantly agreed.

The following day, the wound vac was delivered and a bunch of nurses came into the room to put it on and also to explain to me and my family members what to do if it started making alarm noises once I was discharged. Putting it on, although time consuming, was not painful at all so again I wasn't too worried about having to use it. "Temporarily" was the word that I kept repeating to myself every time I remotely got upset about either the vac or the new mattress that by that point was already on the way to my house and being set up.

I was discharged from the hospital the following afternoon. I thought okay at least we now know that the wound is not as deep as we originally thought and now with the wound vac on it and a special mattress that it would heal relatively soon and I could move on with my life. When I got home and saw the monstrosity that was taking over my room I nearly lost my mind. I have a relatively small bedroom and the bed, oh yes it's a bed not just a mattress. was taking up a ton more space than my regular full sized bed had used before. I climbed onto the bed and as I did I immediately noticed that it was heated. I was not at all pleased with this information being that it was probably August at this point. The other thing that happened when I first climbed from my wheelchair to the bed was that the wound vac chose that moment to start alarming. If only that would be the one time my family and I would hear that sound.