Well I am finishing the last few minutes of 6 days left. I had my Pre-op with Dr. Downer today and I really do love him. He is so polite and encouraging but at the same time he weighs all the risks and really explains everything in doctor-speak and in terms you can understand. He takes all the time you need and answers everything you need to know. Anyone who lives in Washington state and needs a PAO, I suggest checking him out. I have his link on the left side of this blog. He is highly recommended and does this surgery a lot. A minimum of once a week. Yesterday he did a THR and 2 PAO in one day! Busy guy!!! I was a little nervous counting down the time and we talked about a few things. He put me more at ease.
In one post I wrote about my traumatic experience with a spinal anesthetic. He explained the difference between pregnancy spinals and a controlled surgery spinal. During pregnancy blood is tripled and there is a lot of swelling which causes the markers of where the needle should go in to be off. During a PAO everything is routine and planned out and there is lot less stress and pressure to get things moving quickly. He also told me that in even as little as 5 years, the needles are so minimal now compared to what might have been used 5 yrs ago. So he really put me at ease. Which I am very happy about!
I asked him about how long will it take since I have heard 3-5 hrs. He
made a "GAH!" sound and literally said: "No way. I never see why they
spend so much time in there. I don't like to play around. Get in, get
out. Start the healing. I did one yesterday and it took one hour and
fifteen minutes. Should be no more than an hour and a half."
I asked him about the numb patches that many people end up having. He explained how and why it happens. He said that he makes the incision on the more outer part of the hip for the specific reason that there is a nerve patch that runs down the front of the hip and branches out right where many PAOs are done. He does his incision more out to avoid hitting these nerves. He said his patients experiencing numb patches is really low. When I explained to him that I had one from my c-section he let me know that I may be at a higher chance to have it again. I have been dealing with it for 5 years, so I mean, if he fixes my hip but I have a numb patch, I can deal with that!
One great thing he amazed me with is the fact that he noticed I lost weight and I haven't seen him in 4 months! They did not even weigh me either! That was great :)
After I saw Dr. Downer I drove over to Swedish in Ballard to get the nose swab for MRSA and get 2 vials of blood drawn so they can do a type and cross match and order blood from the Seattle Blood Supply (Puget Sound Blood bank) in case I need a transfusion. The nurse went over all the great stuff: No jewelry, metal, lotion, conditioner, oils, etc. Don't bring valuables, however there is free wi-fi and outlets in the room lol. I will be getting my own room WHOOHOO!! haha
The pre-admit nurse Tess and I were talking about some things. She told me not to shave from here until I get home and feel up to it. She said that the micro abrasions from the razor may cause micro-infections and we don't want to add the chance of post-op infections. Good thing I trimmed up all the girlie places recently! She also told me that Swedish in Ballard has gone over 2 years with NO post-op infections. I don't know what that record is compared to other places, but I think that sounds good. Tess told me also my insurance does not cover stupidity so if I need to go pee, CALL THE NURSE. Don't think I can do it on my own.
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