Today started very early for us, at 4 a.m. to be exact! Thankfully we had packed most of our gear last night, so it was really only a matter of getting dressed and out the door. I think dad shaved too, for good measure.
We got to the hospital at 5:15 per our instructions and went to the surgical check-in area on the second floor. It was already quite busy. Some people were wrapped in sleeping bags or blankets and looked as though they might have been there all night.
While we waited we reviewed some paperwork. I have to say that Stanford is pretty amazing. They give you a pamphlet with surgery day guidelines which reviews all of the steps they take to prevent anything from going wrong. And it's not in a way that makes the reader feel like a peon, it's in a way that makes you feel as though they really care about you and your outcome. My senior project for the honors program at UAH was about some legislation designed to regulate the number of hours that fellows and residents (doctors that have graduated medical school, but who are still in training) are allowed to work. There are rules in place, but lots of times they aren't followed. The legislation, which ultimately didn't pass, would have cut funding for teaching hospitals that failed to comply with the rules. Anyhow, recent reports by the World Health Organization have recommended in addition to further curtailing hours, that checklists be used in all phases of hospital care to prevent error. And low and behold, here was Stanford printing out their checklists! For their patients to review! Truly amazing. All hospitals tell you that you have rights and responsibilities as a patient, but here they are telling you exactly what should happen so that you know beforehand that if at any step someobody forgets to ask you what part of your body they are operating on or what you are allergic to, that you should speak up. I had a whole conversation abou this later on with an operating room tech. Everyone here is so passionate about what they do.
Eventually somebody came to take dad back to the pre-op area to change and get settled in. When mom and I were allowed to rejoin dad a phone frenzy had started. Everyone was calling or texting to wish him good luck one more time. He loved that. He also got a call about inpsecting a house which he had to turn down of coursse. He didn't love that. It's the third house he has had to turn down since we got here. It was about 6 a.m. by then and we waited and waited for anesthesia to come. Then somebody from the doctor's team came by and said that there had been an emergency case that morning and we would be delayed for a little bit. Now in my mind a little bit means maybe 30 minutes. But then another person came by and said that hopefully they would be ready at 10:30 or 11 a.m. Ouch. It's not that my mom or I minded waiting at all, but you can imagine what that is like for a patient who has been dreading this day since we got here. They get you all hyped up and ready to go and then...you wait. Dad took a nap and mom and I got coffee and took care of a few things.
One of the things we did was attend the "So you're loved one is having surgery today..." talk in the surgery waiting room. Does it sound like I'm making it up? Because I'm not. Stanford has stations which cheerful workers in matching suits all over the hospital. They can help you with anything you might need, and if they can't, well, they will find someone who can. And the waiting room is no different. After you check-in your patient you must check-in yourself. There is a very nice lady who works up there and her job is to make sure that you are up-to-date and informed on your patient's progress and that you are taking care of yourself. They have a monitoring system identical to the one in the cath lab and you can use your patient's ID number to track where they are in their surgery. They also have coffee, computers, and free wi-fi. She told us a lot about guest services, such as art therapy and therapy pets, which is available for not only patients but their family as well. I might have to take them up on that. I really miss Winnie.
Eventually at about 10:00 a.m. a nice young (cute) Indian doctor came in. He's a third year anesthesia resident and after running through the checklist started dad's IV. They had to use his hand, which I know he hates. But at least the doctor numbed it. The the attending anesthesiologist came in. He was relly nice and really funny. I can't quite put my finger on who he reminds me of. Maybe those muppet guys - Statler and Waldorf. He talked to mom and dad about the procedure while I chatted it up with the other doctor. He asked me if I was a med student or a practicing physician. I told him no and I don't play one on TV either. He was really enocuraging and said I should reapply again.
Finally it was time for dad to go and we asked the attending to take a photo and he blinded me with the camera. "Why are you laughing so hard?" he asked. "Because I wanted a group photo!" I answered. So mom and I kind of huddle around the bed and and we're still laughing. "I don't know, Tom," says the attending. "I would be worried if I was having surgery and my family was smiling and laughing like this." And then we all laughed even harder. So, Mr. Attending Anesthesiologist, thanks for making a tough morning a little easier.
After dad was taken to the O.R., mom and I checked out with the waiting room lady, and headed down to the cafeteria where there is a little bit more room. We got grilled cheese sandwhiches and tomato soup. Which I promptly spilled on my white tee. As if I didn't already look rough today. At least it was yummy. Mom went back to grab some cookies while I was talking to dad's friend Pete (Hi Pete!) and came back yelling about something. It turns out dad's surgeon is in the cafeteria - about 1 p.m. our time. That means they haven't actually started the surgery part yet - which is about 2 1/2 or 3 hours long. There is a lot, a lot, a lot of prep work with this operation.
In the meanwhile there is a French folk music concert going on in the Bing Atrium. Have I mentioned how much I love this place? I have a short video clip of it, but I can't seem to get it to upload. Sigh.
Oh, mom just got back from the waiting area. They started the actual operation part at 12:11 p.m. But the head honcho was in the cafeteria at 1 p.m. So we're still guessing as to what that means. Eh, the system isn't perfect and the counting is hard. We'll probably head upstairs soon because as soon as he is done with his part of the surgery, the revascularization, he will come out and talk to us.
Talk to you guys later.
Love,
Rocketgirl
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