Revision Surgery (Part 2): Surgery Day

The morning of my surgery, I woke up around 9:30 AM to find my husband hovering over me, smiling and smelling like syrup. I was surprised that I had slept so well given the circumstances and that his noisy morning routine did not wake me. I was grateful he had let me sleep in because I do not think I would have been able to stand watching two people eat while I was not allowed to eat or drink anything until after my surgery that evening (if I would even hungry). The smell of syrup on my husband was already making me grouchy.

When I hopped into the shower, I think my brain finally began to wake up. Holy Crap! I was getting surgery today! For a moment, an overwhelming sense of anxiety hit me hard, and my stomach began to tie itself into a thousand little knots. I think what concerned me most was what my recovery would be like. The only knowledge I had was of what I had experienced after the initial surgery, which was absolutely the most horrible, painful, and miserable experience of my life. I know that sounds a bit dramatic but its true. It literally was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in MY life. Was I ready to go through that again? Could I handle going through that again? I wasn't sure.

We arrived at the surgery center around 10:30 AM. My surgery was scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM. When we arrived, I signed some consent forms and was then taken into the back to go through some additional paperwork that I had not been able to complete over the phone the day before. While we were going through this, I made sure to let her know how sick and nauseous I had been after my initial surgery in hopes that she would give me a little something to prevent this from happening again. The nurse left me to change into a lovely hospital gown while she checked with the anesthesiologist to see what they would be able to do for me. I was grateful to learn that the nurse would be able to give me some medicine to prevent nausea; however, she did mention that there was still a possibility that I would be sick again like last time as nausea and vomiting is a very common reaction to anesthesia for young females getting ear surgery. At this point, I was willing try anything so that I could at least say I was proactive and tried.

The nurse hooked me up to an IV, gave me an anti-nausea pill to swallow, and also added a anti-nausea meds to my IV that was given to me in a couple of doses every 10-15 minutes. After the first dose, the nurse finally went to get my husband so that he would be able to sit and wait with me before they took me back. I was getting nervous that I would not have any time with him before surgery, and when he walked into the room, his eyes filled with tears, and I could tell he had been thinking the exact same thing. 

A couple of minutes after my husband was brought back, they notified me that the first surgery of the day had concluded and that they would need to clean the room before my surgery would begin. This took about a half hour and during this time we got a couple of visits. 

First, we met and spoke briefly with the Anesthesiologist who would be taking care of me during the surgery. Since the nurse had already given me the anti-nausea meds, there was not much to do or for us discuss. 


A little bit later, Dr. Murray popped his head into my room to see how everything was and to let me know they were almost ready for me. When he walked into the room, his near presence gave me the excited adrenalin boost that I needed that morning. It was the same excited and hopeful spark that I felt before my first surgery. I really like Dr. Murray and more importantly, I trusted him as my doctor and surgeon. I knew I was in good hands and if my hearing was able to be fixed in any way, he would be the guy who could do it. For the first time that day, I felt very confident and sure. I was ready to take this on! Again! Whatever my fate may be!

Shortly after Dr. Murray’s visit, a new nurse that I hadn't met yet informed me that they were ready for me. I gave my husband a big hug and kiss and told him I would be waiting for him on the other side (in recovery that is). The nurse grabbed my IV and, together, we began walking down the hallway to my final destination. As I lied down on the operating table, they had me untie the back of my gown and spread my arms to either side so they would rest on these wing like attachments to the operating table. 

I have to admit that this process was a bit nerve wrecking for me. Prior to my initial surgery, the nurse had given me what they like to call “3 Margaritas” to take the edge off so that when I was wheeled in the operating room, I was already pretty out of it; I barely remember a thing from my first surgery! This time I was wide awake. As I tried to calm myself down, I remember staring up to find these huge over sized operating lamps above my head. As I looked from left to right, there were a couple of nurses scurrying around me to get everything ready. Looking back it was sort of cool that I got to see what a surgery room looked like; however, in this moment I was feeling a tad bit overwhelmed. 

Next thing I know, an oxygen-like mask was placed over my face and I start to freak out a little bit. I was having trouble inhaling and felt like I couldn't breath very well. I remember actually grabbing the mask and looking around to see what the heck was going on. The mask was removed and when I looked up behind me I saw the anesthesiologist. Oh. Right. He smiled and told me to relax, close my eyes, and take a deep breath. So I did.

When I opened my eyes, the surgery was over and there were two nurses on either side of my bed. I vaguely remember looking to the nurse on my right and telling her how beautiful she was. When I started to become a little more conscious, they brought my husband back and gave me a little something to eat and drink. I remember having terrible dry mouth and it being very difficult to eat the crackers because they kept sticking to the side of my mouth. I also remember being extremely thirsty. BUT most importantly, I did not feel sick or nauseous one bit, so whatever the doctors had given me before the surgery worked like a charm.

After I had gotten a little something in my stomach, the nurse asked about my pain levels. I said it was about a 5 on a scale from 1-10. The area around my ear and neck was sore, for sure, but the pain was nothing near what I had experienced with my first surgery, and for that I was VERY grateful. In order to discharge me, they wanted my pain levels to be at about a 2-3, so they gave me a Percocet to speed up the process.

The Ride Home from Surgery

When they gave me the okay, my husband helped me get dressed and boy, was that an interesting process. I had worn a button down, black leggings, and UGG boots that morning. We definitely had some difficulty getting the leggings on to say the least. Note to Self: Do not wear fitted clothing to surgery. Comfortable? Yes. Convenient? Not so much. 

Once I got myself together, they put me in a wheelchair and Fraser wheeled me out the back door where Lydia was waiting for us. I was definitely feeling out of it on the ride home as you can probably see from the picture.

Skyping with my Parents

We arrived back at the hotel around 5:30 PM that evening. I watched a little TV, ate some yogurt and crackers, Skyped with my parents, and then went straight to bed. I was so so exhausted and could not wait to go to sleep. My pain felt manageable and I could actually move my neck this time so sleeping was somewhat comfortable; even with the big helmet on my head!

Although I was very tired when going to bed, I did not sleep very well throughout that first night. My husband was worried about my pain management as this had been something that he had not done a great job regulating after my initial surgery. So, during my recovery he had me on a timer in order to avoid letting my pain get ahead of me. However, the timer was not completely necessary as I would start to feel pain about every 3-4 hours, and, naturally, my body would wake itself up. I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep until my next does, so in order to kill time, we would watch a little TV, have a little snack, and by the time I was able to get the food down, it would be time for my next dose! Then, it would be back to bed to start the whole process all over again...and again...and again...