25 May 2023
Well, I can’t drink for 12 hour nor drive for 24. Not sure what that means that it’s OK to drink sooner than it is to drive.
Tom picked me up at the house at 8:15 am and strangely, I-95 was pretty clear sailing. The result was we had time to kill. We walked to the Holy Cross cafeteria and Tom got a coffee. Alas, I was on no food nor drink after midnight the day before. As time neared to head up to check in for the port insertion, Tom thought he had left his phone in the cafeteria. By the time he made it to the waiting room, I was already admitted and taken back to the prep room.
As an aside, Tom and I rode up together before he forgot his phone and then we shared the elevator with the nurse who eventually admitted me. He was carrying three coffees and I asked if one was for me. He laughed and said “see you later.”
When they took me back, Brandon, the nurse with the coffee, and I were constantly chirping about coffee and how I had none and he had one. Then we were off on how he didn’t seem to have time to drink his but I did have time to drink his.
Monique (now known as Monique I) inserted an IV and told me the good stuff was coming. One of the operating room nurses, Rosemary, continued prepping me and around 10:15 I was wheeled into the operating room and met Monique II. Monique II was the surgical nurse and Rosemary was the attending nurse who monitored my blood pressure, EKG, and pulse rate.
The operating table was very narrow and they had to put up guards to either side to keep me on the table and to have a place to lay my arms during the procedure. Absolutely nothing happened for quite a while with me just laying on the table and the nurses chattering. Monique II eventually wiped me down with an antiseptic and let that dry and then applied another antiseptic and let that dry. The covered my body with sterile drapes and then my face. I had to keep my face turned to the left so they could access the right internal jugular.
Eventually, Dr. Rush came in and introduced himself (he peeked in under the drape) and said he would take good care of me. I assume they had already dosed me with fentanyl and versed.
Fentanyl is an opioid used as an anesthetic and as pain relief. Versed is a benzodiazepine used as a relaxant during surgery. To be honest, I couldn’t tell the effect of either of those.
Dr. Rush then numbed the two incision areas. You can see the YouTube video on port insertion here. The worst part was the injection of the lidocaine to numb the areas. That actually hurt. The team used both an ultrasound and x-ray to follow the path of the catheter and to check on the location of the port.
I could feel the insertion of the catheter into the internal jugular but it didn’t hurt. It was pretty much the feeling of pushing something through a tube. When he inserted the port, there was the feeling of more pushing but that was it. I knew when he did the few stitches to the port incision but that was pretty much it. He probably didn’t spend more than 10 minutes on the entire procedure.
I asked Monique II and Rosemary to take a couple of photos for me.
I was wheeled back to the prep room and looked at the time and it was 11:15 am. Rosemary said I could be released by noon. They wanted to observe me to make sure there was no bleeding and the anesthesia was wearing off. That was when she told me no drinking for 12 hours and no driving for 24. When she said the bit about no drinking, she raised her eyebrows and hands and said “I have to tell you that, regardless.” Monique I removed the IV and I was taken by wheel chair to the reception room, gathered Tom, and wheeled to the entrance of the hospital where the valet brought Tom’s car.
I’m under orders of no heavy lifting with that side of my body for the first few days. I’ve been encouraged to take a day off from work – no problem there. In three days, I’ll be able to remove the bandage, take baths and swim. I cannot remove the steristrips – they have to fall off on their own.
The nursing staff were great. The doctor was so quick, I had no real impression of him other than him telling me I did great and his work looked great. Rosemary told me before being wheeled in that Dr. Rush was indeed, very, very good.
The two most painful parts of the entire process was the insertion of the IV – it hurt like hell – and the lidocaine injections – not nearly as bad as the IV. Otherwise, it was a breeze. Just lay there and do what they tell you to do.
Next up is June 5th and my first chemotherapy infusion.
Stay tuned!