MORNING of PAO Surgery

I went in on Monday for my PAO surgery. I had to be there at 10:30a and was so nervous all morning. I took my last shower and made sure to soak in the feeling of it since I wouldn't be showering for awhile. I got everything ready and headed out the door with my boyfriend and sister there to calm me down. However, they seem to make you try and forget about how nervous you are by making you as uncomfortable as possible that morning. I couldn't eat, drink, chew gum, or go to the bathroom before I got to the hospital. My stomach was growling, my mouth was dry, and I had to pee SOOO bad. Luckily, as soon as I got to the check-in desk she let me go pee. They finally called me back to get ready for surgery. My family was not allowed back with me at the time and it made me really anxious. Usually, they would distract me from my thoughts but instead I was sitting in a little room all by myself worrying. They let me get changed and by the time they were about to put in the IV my mom and boyfriend sneaked back into the room. They know me well, they knew I needed them there. I'm glad they were there too because the woman could not get the vein for the IV and brought me to tears from the pain. My hand is still bruised. Luckily, her second try in my arm worked and didn't hurt as bad. However, after I stressed about that all the anxiety started flowing out of me. I finally calmed myself down when the doctors came in to tell me everything was ready to go. They wheeled me back into the operating room. The first thing they did was to put in the epidural. IT HURT! Now, I'm very good with pain. I have a very high pain tolerance. Putting the epidural in my back was probably one of the worst experiences of my life...and they had to do it twice because the first time didn't work. As soon as that was over, they laid me down and put the mask on me. The last thing I remember is the anesthesiologist saying its going to smell like plastic.