It is finally here, SURGERY DAY! Last night you had the last solid food that you will get to enjoy for the next two weeks, and maybe even longer, depending on how well you tolerate with the surgery. Who thought how good the food tasted at Cracker Barrel. Since I was getting my hernia repaired, I had two surgeons working on me. The amazing thing about modern day surgery is how much that they can do through a few laparoscopic incision sites. I can’t believe that they removed over half my stomach and fixed my hernia with so little cutting being involved.

My day began with me being transported to the surgery center by a driver. Everybody was nice in the pre-operation room. They quickly prepared me for the surgery by shaving my chest and hooking up Intravenous Fluids to me. The anesthesiologist and one of the surgeons came in to ask me if I understood the surgery and if I had any questions. Since I had seen all the videos, I was pretty comfortable with everything, so I said I was good. My wife was not allowed in the pre-op room, but she was allowed in the post-op room once I woke up.

I was the second person in the surgery que, so I did not have to wait very long before I was taken to the operating room. I must admit I was a little apprehensive. However, everyone behaved in a professional manner and my fears were soon allayed. They quickly started covering my body with a sterile drape to isolate the surgical site. The next thing I know I was feeling very groggy. The rest was just history. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room.

Unfortunately, my anesthesiologist did not take into account that I do not drink or even take pain medicine of any kind, so he gave me a little more sedation than I really needed. I was, therefore, in recovery a lot longer than I should have been. They said I was out at least an hour more than normal. Finally I was able to carry on a conversation and my wife was allowed in to see me. What a sight for sore eyes she was. You don’t realize how much you love someone until you see them after a surgical procedure.

The next thing I knew they were getting me up to walk. After I was finally able to walk the hallway without any assistance, they shipped me back to my room. Now the fun was to begin. Since I still had some sedation in my system, I initially was not feeling any real pain. One thing I was surprised is that they did not give me an incentive spirometer to exercise my lungs. They said since I would be walking every hour for the next 10 hours, I really did not need it. The more I walked the better. They had to pump air into my stomach to make sure that there was no leaking. The excess air was the cause of most of the immediate post operative discomfort that you experienced.