Pre-Op/Day of Operation

In a little more than 12 hours, I’m going into surgery. When I put it like that, it sounds daunting and absolutely frightening. I’ve tried not to think about it, avoiding the idea like a summer cold. The less I think about it, the less I’ll be afraid of that time – that’s been my train of thought thus far. 

This is an entry from my journal for Aug. 9. Looking back, so much of what I wrote was a colossal mistake. For one, I should have fully researched everything that comes with jaw surgery. If I could do it again, here are the things I would've done:

1. Get myself started on a dose of anti-depressants. I'm really shocked at how crazy your mood swings can be post-op. 
2. Read about other people's experiences with the liquid diet. I knew that this was a part of the healing process, but I don't think I fully understood what this meant. Reading liquid diet for 6 weeks is one thing, but really experiencing is another thing altogether.
3. Read about other people's experiences with pain. I braced myself for a certain amount of pain, but the discomfort is OVERWHELMING. More than the pain itself, it's annoying to not be able to talk, sleep vertically, eat your favorite foods, have a throat the size of a golf ball, cheeks like a chipmunk for WEEKS... 
4. Talk to other people who have had the surgery, preferably people who are undergoing the healing process or going through the same stages as you. There are tons of forums out there which provide really great support groups. 
5. Buy acne cream, or stock up on your usual facial regime. Some people are lucky enough to have reactions from the steroids and meds they pump into you post-op, and get really fantastic breakouts of pimples. As if you didn't feel like a teenager with the braces, nature decided to send you another reminder.

My pre-op experience basically came to this. I arrived at the hospital at 6:30am and changed into hospital clothes. I was put into a room with five beds. All five were occupied when I arrived. In total, there were around 10 people who went into surgery with me that day. There were more, I realized later on, but I just never saw them. This is the scale of operations this hospital performs on a daily basis. My own doctor had two surgeries that day. I was the second. The first girl was done in less than 2.5 hours.

I remember walking into a freezing cold operation room. I laid down on the bed, shivering from the cold. The anesthesiologist put something over my mouth and told me to take deep breaths. That was it. Apparently, I woke up post-op and tried to talk to my mother, but I don't remember that at all. The next memory I have is waking up in the ICU (this was a basic requirement of the hospital stay, NOT because something went wrong) and watching the girl next to me puke blood into a plastic bucket.