A Means to an End

November 16, 2010/ 10:45 PM

POSTED BY BRITTANY CURRAN

A SENIOR AT STEPHENS COLLEGE

As the day of surgery gets closer, I get more terrified. Since, Monday I have been on a roller coaster of emotions. One minute, I am fine and understanding of what needs to be done and why and the very next minute I could be hysterically crying because of the journey I am about to embark on.

I go into surgery at Barnes Jewish Hospital on Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 7:30 in the morning. I am not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before and I must arrive at the hospital at 6:30 to get checked in and prepped. I have already been pre-opped for surgery, which included having my blood typed and cross matched and being educated on how to prepare my body for the surgery and the day’s events that will take place tomorrow.

The entire surgery will take about three hours. It is General Surgery, so I will be put to sleep and intubated. After the surgery is over, I will be placed in a room in Dr. Thompson’s version of ICU so that my family can stay with me. For two to three days I will have a Nasal Gastric Tube going down into my belly, to keep it empty while my digestive tract returns to normal. Once the tube is taken out I will slowly work my way back up to solid foods, starting with liquids. I should be released one week after surgery, which would be Thanksgiving Day. I will then go home and my parents will take care of me until I am ready to go back to my apartment. Dr. Thompson said that I should be able to go back to classes 10 days to two weeks after surgery. While I will be able to attend my classes, and get back to somewhat of a normal routine, my body will still be recovering for the next three months.

Writing this blog has made me relive the emotions I have been going through for the past 36 hours. At the same time, I have also understood more of what is going to be happening to me, whereas on Monday I was more stressed about that one word, surgery.