Pre-Pre-op

I donated my 2nd bag of blood, and met w/the internist, anesthesiologist, and two other doctors this afternoon for details on my surgery day.

It will be an all day event, check in 6:00am at the Kaiser hospital @ 4867 Sunset Blvd. They will wheel me into recovery after the surgery is over, then monitor me in the Intensive Care Unit until I get my room for the next 5 days. They will keep me unconscious the first night because
of pain and swelling after the reconstructive surgery.

I will have a private room w/cable TV (Comedy Central, yes; HBO, no). My Blackberry is allowed, so I can e-mail and blog from my hospital bed.

Everyone I spoke to said something about how surprised they are to see someone as young and healthy as I am for this type of surgery (hey, imagine my surprise!). Like: "Are you sure you don't smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish, and suffer from high blood pressure or some
kind of heart disease???" Yeah, I've been getting that a lot. If I had a nickel for every time someone raised a ruckus over my blood pressure...

Worst-case-scenario paragraph starts now:
I may have a tracheotomy hole on my throat, and a titanium jaw when I wake up. They may even need to keep me unconscious for two nights after surgery. In that case, I won't be able to eat or drink for 2 weeks. Then I will have a feeding tube hole on my belly.

I'm going to silently freak-out now, then do about a half hour of yoga. Thankfully, I won't be talking to another doctor until my pre-op w/Dr. McNicoll next Wednesday.

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