Getting Rid of Wilbur: And so it begins...

Oy Vey!! It's been six months since I found out about Wilbur!!

But somehow, it seems like it's been A LOT longer than six months since WD-Day (I'm referring to Wilbur's Discovery Day -- August 26, 2013, like that's not a date that's forever etched in my memory!). It's less than 48 hours until I have to check into the University of Utah Hospital bright and early. I'm ready and calm and yet at the same time anxious and terrified which really just results in my head spinning out of control. I am SOOO ready to have this done and over with, pass GO and collect $200! But there's still a lot of fear of the unknown about what things are going to be like when I wake up on Monday. So for now I'm just trying to concentrate on what I do know and what I can control.

SO.....

I found out yesterday that I have the first OR spot. I have to check-in at 5:45 a.m. and will head into surgery at about 7:30 a.m. Before they knock me out, I'll have to have one last MRI for the Doc to compare with my MRI results from December. Yesterday I went into the neurosciences surgical center and answered all the pre-op questions and got the bloodwork handled. I'm going to be participating in the Tylenol study (which you're probably like "What? Tylenol isn't new!") but a couple of years ago the FDA approved basically a liquid form of the drug which has been used in neurosurgery patients. The rest of the cocktail of drugs I'm going to be on will apparently make me wonky but they've seen results where neurosurgery patients given this liquid Tylenol for the first 48 hours after surgery see a lot of benefits from better pain management to being up and walking around a lot quicker. So they are testing to see if these effects are occurring and can be attributed to the drug. So I'm going to a guinea pig. It's a double-blind study so no one including the surgical resident overseeing the study will know who received what treatment for another couple of months. I either will receive the Tylenol with the other drug cocktail or I will not. Either way, I BETTER not be feeling too much of anything!! But it would be nice to be more aware sooner (which is something that may happen with the Tylenol addition). I told Wally, the resident, that I just wanted to know after the fact what I'd actually gotten and that I was interested in the results of the study. Gosh, I'm such a Geek!! That was my one question for him "Can I please receive a copy of the results of the study afterwards?" (I find the whole thing kind of fascinating, is that weird?)

While I was there I got my pre-op bloodwork taken care and can I just say I want that guy to put in my IV when I'm admitted. Holy Cow!! I think that's the quickest that someone's been able get blood from me with such little effort. I mean it took three different people to get the IV in me when I went to the ER and this guy just went about his business quick and efficient while I was answering the nurse's questions. I know it may sound weird to sing the praises of someone's ability to collect blood but I've been donating blood since high school and I've always had to mentally prepare myself for what the technicians always have had to do to take my blood, it's always been such a process. I've ended up with my entire inner elbow purple and stiff more times than I care to talk about.

I also asked about my most important question that has of course been weighing on my mind since WD-Day. What are they going to be doing to my hair? The resident made it clear that Dr. S prefers to shave the whole area he's working with. I've read and seen online where sometimes surgeons only end up shaving a small patch about and inch wide for the actual incision and the rest of the hair is left alone. So like I thought, half my head will be shaved. But seen I wanted pictures of the process and was finally told that I'd already be out cold when they went to cut my hair. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and control the situation. I know they may end up having to take more hair on the day, but I could at least get the photos I wanted that will let me feel in control of something!

Here goes nothing!!