Pituitary-Part III

I went to the hospital at 5:30 am. I had asked to be the first patient of the day, and hoped that all the people who were going to be cutting my head open that morning had enjoyed a restfull night's sleep. I was also hoping that nobody was going through any relationship break-ups or emotional issues. I made sure I was nice to EVERYONE and spoke with them pleasently. I believed these were important things to remember when walking into Brain Surgery!

Everyone was very nice and spoke quietly. My Anesthesiologist was from Sweden and was a kind and gentle man. He was also very tall. While in the Pre-Op room, I met a lady in her 40's.

"What are you in here for?"

(I felt for a second like I was in a prison movie.) "Uh, Pituitary Tumor."

"Hey! I had one of those! I'm in here for a hip replacement."

She was obviously young for a new hip, so my mind raced back to Dr Reichman's comment about Pituitary Tumors and "Osteoporosis". I tried to clear my mind and relax, but it wasn't going to happen.

It was finally my turn. Dr. "Sweden" came in and walked next to my bed as it rolled down to the surgical room.

The Surgical room was VERY cold. I looked around and saw half-a-dozen busy people wearing greenish-blue scrubs. I saw TV monitors and tables full of stainless steel implements with sharp edges, lined up like soldiers. They moved me over onto the cold metal table and started strapping me down. Then, they wrapped linen blankets around my body from the neck down. Suddenly, Dr. Reichman appeared by my head and I knew for sure that I was in the right place.

In a moment of controlled panic, my mind got a little irrational and I asked, "You're going to put me out for this, right?"

I think they realized then, that eventhough this was an everyday thing for them, it was a new experience for ME and I didn't want to see the pointy implements or feel the freezing cold metal table on my back anymore. Dr. Sweden started the juice into my I.V. I laughed as the room spun. My voice sounded like a third-grader as I playfully proclaimed, "I'm going to keep my eyes open for as long as I can!"

Dr. Sweden grinned behind his mask. His voice sang, "You can fight it, but you won't wi-in."

I TRIED to say, "I know, but I'm going to try," but unfortunately it sounded more like, "I....."

They made the inscision inside my mouth, under my top lip. They went through my sinuses, so when I woke up I had a mouth full of stitches, a face full of bruises, and 12 feet of gauze packed into my sinus cavity.

I also learned that they clamped my head down, because I woke up with scabs on my scalp. I'm SO glad I wasn't conscious for that part!

The worst part of recovery was not being able to close my mouth (You can't breath AT ALL when you have 12 feet of gauze packed in your sinus cavity), AND I could only drink a certain amount of liquids a day after surgery. I have never before been so thirsty or had my thoughts completely consumed by when I could take my next mouthfull of ice chips. (I had to ration my ice chips since they counted as liquid.) I have never felt the same about a glass of water since.