A Swell Vacation!

         To go somewhere for the purpose of having part of your body removed is not an especially nice thought. On Thursday morning Dad, Tiffy, and I headed to the hospital for that purpose – to have my wisdom teeth pulled. We went early so that Dad and I could get our ears cleaned before I had to check in. Before 1:00 we were able to get our ears cleaned and eat lunch. Then a nurse showed us to my room and I started to organize my stuff. To summarize what I did most of the three days and a half days I was in the hospital, I waited, rested, ate, talked, smiled, and followed directions.


A huge beautiful rainbow out the window on Thursday

         On Thursday, we had quite a bit of waiting time. Tiffy and I started to memorize Psalms 23 in Japanese and chatted together, while Dad drove home to get me a pillow. During the time he was gone, I got an x-ray and talked to the anesthesiologist. I had such favor with the doctors and nurses while I was there. Everyone was really patient with me as I learned new vocabulary and several of them even tried to use their English. When Dad returned, we set up to watch Pirates of the Caribbean on his laptop in the lobby area. With a sound output splitter, all three of us were set up with an earphone to enjoy the movie. Unfortunately we only got halfway through before I had to talk to the assistant doctor about the surgery. By the time we got back it was almost 6:00 which was when I would eat dinner. We decided to save the rest of the movie for another time. Saying goodbye to Dad and Tiffy, they left. 

            Alone, I organized my things a bit more, went in the lobby to read my book, and then ate dinner. After dinner I bought some ice-cream as a treat and watched a movie in bed. Fun! My doctor came in that evening and talked for a bit. I felt like Oko-sensei was a really good doctor. He usually tried to mostly use English when talking to me and seemed very skilled at what he did. After he left, I finished my movie, took a stroll around the first floor, then went to bed.

I didn’t sleep especially well that night. The lights never went off all the way and I woke up every two hours because nurses would walk by or be checking on something. By 5:30 AM I was awake and knew I wouldn’t be going back to sleep. I wasn’t supposed to eat or drink anything from 9:00 on Thursday night, so I resisted my water bottle in my cabinet. After listening to a message in the morning and having my blood pressure and temperature checked, I put on the kimono hospital outfit the nurse gave me and waited for the assistant doctor to arrive to hook me to an IV.

He arrived just after 8:00 and tried to find a blood vein in my arm, but he simply could not find one. He called in Oko-sensei who also could not find one in either arm (despite the hot towels, squeezing, and stroking). Finally they called in the professional nurse who was able to find a vein fairly quickly and injected the needle. Ouch! The IV was definitely the thing that made me feel the most limited in my mobility. Because I had a needle in my arm from Friday morning until Sunday morning, I couldn’t use one arm for two and a half days. Despite being left-handed, I had to have the IV in my left arm at first. It was switched several times during my stay. Ouch! Walking around while pushing the stand for the IV and being connected to tubes made me feel like I must be sick or old, when in reality I was totally healthy. I walked down to the first floor pushing my IV stand. A nurse cleaned my teeth, then sent me back upstairs.

Returning to my room, I decided to use the last two and a half hours before my surgery to watch a movie. I had just started into it, when around the corner of my curtained bed space popped a familiar face – Dad. It was nice to see him! He let me keep watching my movie while he worked in the lobby area. About 1:30 I stopped the DVD with only 30 minutes left on it, and visited Dad in the lobby to wait out the remaining time before my operation. Just before 1:00 the nurse got us and we walked to the elevator (IV stand and all). As we waited for the elevator, Dad and I joked that these were the last few minutes of normal consciousness. The elevator doors opened, we went down one floor, and walked to the operating room. They led me into the room and I don’t think I even said goodbye to Dad before the doors closed between us. I laid down on the operating bed as they hooked me up to all kinds of monitors and machines. I saw my doctor and his assistant in their surgeon gowns. The friendly looking anesthesiologist was there as well. A mask was slipped over my face and I was told to breathe (as if I wasn’t already =P). Thus I breathed in and out, in and out. I remember thinking “Sorry guys, this might take a while, this doesn’t seem to be working!” All the doctors and nurses were standing around watching as I breathed. I vaguely remember things going out of focus and thinking that it was kind of similar to how they portray going unconscious in the movies. Then I was out.

 *     *     *    *

The next thing I remember was hearing voices. They were talking. I began to feel things on my arm. There was something attached to my finger. Also I realized that they had switched the IV to my right wrist. I felt them shove me onto my bed. It felt kind of weird. On the one hand I knew it was me they were pushing, while on the other I felt so limp that it didn’t seem like me. Then I could feel that I was moving. The nurses were still talking. I heard the nurse say something to Dad. My eyes fluttered open. Dad bent his head forward and smiled. My eyes closed again. It was a weird feeling to be half asleep and half awake. Certain things stood out in my memory while others completely got lost. My eyes would open and close. Sometimes I would know I was awake and sometimes I was sure I had just been sleeping. The nurse asked me if it hurt and all I could do was point to my throat. My numb fingers thumped against my numb neck and I remember feeling very clumsy. Initially I could not get any sound to come out of my mouth. My throat felt raw and my mouth was dry and numb. I wasn’t even sure it I could move my mouth. The nurse understood my action and confirmed what I had tried to communicate. She said something and Dad told me that they had put a tube down my throat during the surgery. Slowly my voice started coming back and my mouth and throat began to get moisturized. I could feel that my right arm was tired and achy. The nurse said it might have been from the blood pressure machine that had been squeezing periodically throughout the surgery. My left arm flailed out and patted my cabinet. Dad opened it up. Somehow I squeaked out ‘Pen and pencil’. He found them and I scribbled something out on the paper. I was having a hard time staying awake and yet I could not quite go to sleep. Dad suggested that he go home and make dinner and do some exercise while I got some rest. That seemed reasonable to me.

It was about 3:30 when Dad left. It was strange because I was switched between being asleep and awake so much that it’s hard to remember what happened and how long things took. The 2 hours I was unconscious disappeared. It would be interesting to know what kind of reflexes an unconscious person has. (I wonder if I squirmed or bit the doctor during the surgery.) The time between 3:00 and 5:30 also seemed to slip by. At first I was so uncomfortable that I scribbled ‘iPod’ and ‘earphones’ in English on my notepad and then pushed the nurse call button. The nurse came and I pointed to the note. She read it. Then I pointed to the drawers in my cabinet and she found them for me. I turned on some peaceful reasonably loud music in order to drown out the variety of conversations buzzing around me. I don’t think I fell asleep, but I might have. At some point a nurse gave me some pain medicine through the intravenous.

When Mom popped her head around the curtain and looked at me around 5:30, I was already feeling much better. The nurse let me drink a little bit of water and I was regaining feeling in all parts of my body. The pain killer had obviously taken effect and I was feeling quite happy. We talked and Mom massaged my feet. I told her about what I remembered from before and after the surgery, and related some of what had happened on the day before. The time seemed to pass quickly. My lower jaw was a bit swollen and aching, but not very badly. My doctor came by and talked for a while in English. 

 I'm laughing about something in the picture on the left! =)

Around 6:00 or 6:30 Dad came back with a surprise. Tiffy and Jenny! It was nice to see them in my little bed area. They visited for a short bit, but seeing that I was doing well they didn’t stay for too long. After they left, I finished the half hour on my movie and I rested for bit. Friday night seemed really long! I only slept in short increments and was always bothered by the brightness of the room (not too mention my roommate next to me snored really loudly!). When 4:00 AM rolled around, I was ready to stop trying to sleep. I listened to some peaceful worship music and rested some more. On Saturday morning, I was able to eat some breakfast and drink some juice. (Yay, food!) I listened to the audio version of At Home in Mitford by Focus on the Family all throughout Saturday. Mom arrived at the hospital around 10:30 and brought welcomed flowers, food, movies, and requested clothes. Despite my swollen jaw we talked until noon when I was called to lunch. It made the time pass quickly having Mom there to talk to. The nurse had just finished switching which arm my IV was on when she arrived. Unfortunately the nurse had tried twice and couldn’t seem to find my vein. Ouch! Another nurse tried on my left arm and was able to find in on the first try! Relief!

It has come in handy to be fairly ambidextrous. On Friday morning until my surgery, the IV was in my left arm (they couldn't find a vein for anything in my right!). So I had to use my right hand in the morning. It wasn’t very hard though since I wasn’t able to eat anything and I didn’t really have to write anything either. When I was knocked out my doctor moved it to my right arm, so I was able to eat comfortably with my left on Friday evening until Saturday morning. Then my wrist started to hurt where the needle was injected, so the nurse switched it too my left arm again. Nice that I was able to eat with my right hand. I’m even getting the hang of chopsticks with my right!!! =P

After lunch and a shower, I went down to get checked by my doctor. He said I was looking good (swelling was not that bad compared to what it could be I guess, and my cuts were healing quite well). I made a reservation for when to get the stitches removed (next Monday) and then returned to my room for a doughnut and some journaling time. The rest of the day I mostly listened to the Mitford story. Mom visited me again in the afternoon, and I was able to eat lunch and dinner. Tiffy had sent along an airplane eye mask with Mom, which helped a lot for sleeping on Saturday night! I mostly slept straight through until about 6:00 AM! Compared to the two nights before I thought that was a major improvement!

 From this camera angle you can't even tell that my jaw is swollen!

                At 6:30 the lights flicked on and the nurses started checking on the patients. I felt happy. I was refreshed after a good long sleep and was thankful that I would be able to go home in a few hours. I pulled out my journal and wrote in it for a little bit, before reading some of the encouraging words from God I have written in it. I got happier. I began to read a bit in the Bible and listened to some worship music. Before I knew it, I heard the call for breakfast so I marched down to the lobby area and fetched my tray. I substituted the watery rice for a banana (not overly fond of watery rice =P). My doctor dropped by after breakfast and chatted for a bit. Then a nurse came to connect my last two IV bags. About 10:15, Mom, Jenny and Tiffy arrived, cheering up my bed area. We talked as we watched the intravenous fluid drip down the tube and Mom gathered my remaining stuff and put them in bags. We laughed and weren’t very careful with how loudly we talked, so a nurse had to ask us to be a little quieter. Oops! By 11:00 the nurse pulled out the needle from my arm and after receiving some more pain medicine, we were free to go. I changed out of my hospital clothes and put on a nice mask to hide the swelling. Grabbing my stuff and saying thanks and goodbye to the nurses, we headed down the elevator and out of the hospital!

Maybe my face is a little swollen!

 Having lots of fun taking chipmunk pictures in honor of getting my wisdom teeth pulled! Haha!

At home Mom and the girls had set up several Welcome Home signs to greet me when I opened the door. A sign was strung across the entryway. In the doorway of our room dangled a little heart. On the window Tiffy had posted letters saying “I missed you”. And at the foot of my bed I later discovered a little sign by Jenny. Family is so wonderful! I’m glad I have such a great family! It was so nice to see familiar faces and talk freely in English whenever Mom, Dad, or the girls visited me. I enjoyed my little vacation at the hospital, but now I’m glad I’m home.