Operation day!

On my operation day, I got up early in the morning, (I was nil-by-mouth from 12am in the morning) and got ready to go.

My Dad drove me there and my boyfriend met us there.

I got to Leicester Royal Infirmary at 7.15.
We had to be there for admission at 7.30.

After we met my boyfriend, we went to the admission ward and sat and waited.

First a nurse came and saw me and after confirming my name, address, DOB etc, asked me questions about my health. She also took my blood pressure and read my temperature from my ear.

Later the anaesthetist came to see me and after confirming my name, address, DOB etc, she asked me some questions. She asked for me to explain in my own words what they are doing today. I said I am having jaw surgery, she said okay, that's fine, she also asked if it would be okay to use a suppository painkiller up my back passage.

I hesitantly agreed, then I asked if I could have numbing cream applied to my wrists as I hate needles (it should stop me from feeling the needle going in) and she said I can have it later after I have showered.
My Dad questioned this as I'm only having surgery to my face, but they said everyone has to shower with a special gel to stop the spread of MRSA.

Then a guy from the surgical team came and saw me and explained to me what they were going to do.
He said I was second in line, (eek!) and should go down about half 9.
He talked me through what they would do again and said my hip will be the most sore compared to my face. He said I'll have stitches and a scar.
He asked which hip, I didn't know so he said the right hip as the monitoring equipment is on the left so it's easier for them.

He said I should be in theatre for 2 hours and then in recovery for a few hours so should be back at my ward for 4pm.

The nurse came back about 9 and said it's time for me to shower, she asked if I had a dressing gown, I said yes, so I grabbed my dressing gown and slippers and followed her to get showered.

She supplied me with a bag for my belongings, a hospital gown, towel and showed me how to use the shower room. She said I need to use the gel all over, but I can leave my hair. She showed the shower control saying this way is for cold, and this way is for luke warm, it doesn't get hot.

I asked if I need to remove my bra, she said yes and I asked if I needed to remove my pants explaining about the suppository painkiller. She said she'd get me some paper pants.

She said once I've showered put the hospital gown on and my slippers and dressing gown.

After she'd given me the paper pants and gone, I locked the door and turned the shower on, it was cold not luke warm.
I washed myself as quickly as I could, it was a bit hard doing my back as my hair wasn't tied up. I struggled using one hand to hold my hair, and one to rub my back, then switched hands.
After I was done I dried myself off with the towel and got dressed into the hospital gown and paper pants.
I couldn't do the back of the gown up so rang the bell for help and a nurse came and tied it up for me. I put on my dressing gown, picked up my belongings and went to wait again shivering because of the cold shower.

Later the nurse came again to put the numbing cream called EMLA on my arms. She applied two patches to the top of my hands, and two on my wrists. She also put some stockings on my legs, these are to stop blood clots from developing and are similar to flight socks.

About 10 mins later they said it was time for me to go down, so my Dad, my boyfriend and I went down with the nurse to the waiting bit for the surgery.

We waited a few mins there and then a nurse came and took me away to talk to. She just asked for me to confirm my details again and whether I was ready.
I said kinda, then we went back, got my Dad and my boyfriend and I hugged them both as it was time for me to go.

They left and I went to the bit before you go into the operating theatre.
I was told to remove my slippers and dressing gown and get on the bed.

My surgeon Mr O said hello and asked how I was, he did a quick check of my teeth, he asked which hip, I said right (as advised by the guy on the team earlier).
There was a whole team around the bed, a nurse got me to lie down and loosened the ties on the back of my hospital gown.
She then attached the monitoring equipment to my chest.
The anaesthetist came and said hello then she got an assistant to remove the cream from my arms.

They then put the drip in on my left hand (it hurt! it wasn't numbed at all) and talked to me about what I do etc to try and relax me.

She asked if I was feeling sleepy, I said yes and I remember slow blinking and opening and closing one eye for a while and then I was gone.

Next thing I remember is the anaesthetist calling my name and me taking a while to gain consciousness in the recovery room.

My mouth was all wired up and I could feel I was swollen.
I also had two tubes in my nose (one in each nostril).
One went into my stomach, The other was to allow the suction pipe to get to my throat.
I wondered where my boyfriend and Dad were.

I was in recovery from about 2 - 7pm!!
All I can remember is waking up and choking on my blood and spit.
I had an oxygen mask on which kept steaming up my glasses so I left them off.
I also had a dressing on my right hip covering up my stitches.

They managed to work out that sucking the blood out straight from my stomach helped sometimes, but I also needed blood sucking from my mouth too.
I was also given a pen and paper to communicate with them when I needed to.

I had a nurse left in charge of me, but she wasn't always there.
I slept most of the time I was there in between waking up and coughing up blood.
I remember once waking up and coughing lots of blood out which I was spitting out as I didn't want to swallow it and it dripped all on my hospital gown, down my chest and settled to dry on my stomach. I was looking at other nurses around, but none of them came to help me and I felt helpless.

Later when they decided it was time to get rid of me, they came and cleaned me up. They didn't do a great job though as they didn't clean up the dry blood on my stomach.
They did give me a new gown though and cleaned up my face.

Two nurses came from my new ward and took my bed up to the ward where my anxious parents and boyfriend were waiting.

I got to spend some time with them and it was nice to see them. My mum had come to the hospital from work and they were all worried sick as I wasn't out of recovery for a long time.

The first night wasn't great.
I kept coughing up more blood from my stomach and my parents and boyfriend were worried. They kept holding me up.

The nurses later came to clean me up (after asking my parents and boyfriend to vacate the room).

I tried to tell them about the dry blood on my stomach and after a few attempts at speaking I showed them and accidentally exposed myself as the paper pants had been cut on the right side so they could take some bone and so I wasn't covered up.

Two nurses gave me a bed bath. (The younger nurse joked with me "it's like preparing for old age" as she could probably see I was embarrassed).
They took the pants off me and gave me a hospital nightie instead of a hospital gown.

Later I told the nurse I needed a wee and she asked if I wanted a bed pan or commode.
I said bed pan, she brought it back for me but I couldn't use it as I'm bladder shy so she got the commode. The commode is basically a wheelchair with a removable seat which has a hole and bed pan set in the centre.

I got helped onto it (because of my hip) and while I was on it they changed my bed sheets.

When I was done I got back into bed and my parents and boyfriend came back into the room to sit with me.

Later the nurse came to give me painkillers in my drip and when she was putting it in she could see it was causing me pain. She said it would have to be removed and a new one put in.

At 11pm my parents and boyfriend were asked to leave and they didn't want to go as they knew I hated drips etc. My Mum was reluctant to go as she was worried about me over night.

By this time I had my own sucker tool so I could suck out blood/spit buildup from my mouth myself.

They reluctantly left and my Dad and my boyfriend (they both have the week off) said they'd be in around 11 when visiting hours start.

After they went I had a nurse come and try to find a vein for a new drip, she put a new one on my right hand.

Forgot to add that during the night (before and after my parents and boyfriend left), the nurses kept checking my blood pressure and temperature regularly and I eventually got rid of the oxygen mask so I could put my glasses on and see!

I then went to sleep (or at least tried to...)

Photos my boyfriend took will follow soon..