Dad's shoulder surgery

So, I had my shoulder surgery. Big deal.



It was the morning of the 25th, 0445est. It was to be a five to seven hour timeless event for me since I would be ‘put to sleep’. My neighbor, Billy, was taking me to the hospital for surgery that day since it was not plausible for me to have Kris and the kids drop me off. Nice neighbors we have! Having to get the kids up just to take a 15 minute ride to drop me off wasn’t very smart. We opt to them sleep. It would pay off for us in the long run.

So there we were, the neighbor and I in the waiting room looking to get this over. Well, Billy found the game "Funky Monkey" and he was set. I got some paper work to fill out and I was done. Billy split shortly after that. At 0615est, they took me into my closet of a room and told me to change into the fabulous hospital gown, but this one had a twist. I was to put on these weird nylon hose. No, not panty hose! No, I'm good I told the nurse. Like that was going to work. Nice picture so far eh? 6’2”, 225lbs, hospital gown, and these great hose. NICE! The only thing great so far is that I’m the first patient of the day. So I get wheeled in to the anesthesia room for a shoulder block. I’m not really sure what that was. As I lay there, they sit me up too high on the chair, I thought. But I was told not to move. That was to keep me from sliding off. WTF?!? What am I doing here? I though I was getting a shoulder block. Well, apparently I was to be put under for that too! Next thing I knew, I was waking up in my closet room. It was 20 minutes from the last time I looked before they wheeled me out. I was trying to keep track. When I awoke, my wife was there. That was cool. I was thinking the whole time I might have made a bad decision about having my neighbor take me this morning because I’d get to miss my wife. It might sounds trivial, but I wanted to see her before I went under before the surgery. So it was calming to see her there. As we talked, I noticed my left arm getting heavier and heavier. I could hardly move it. This was unfamiliar to me. At 0715est, it was time to go into the surgery room. My wife and I parted and I heard he say she loves me and I gave her the “I love you” sign. It was the best I could do. Once in the surgery room, I cracked a few jokes and then I heard someone say, “We’ve got the green light to go.” On went the mask and out I went. I was out! No drowsiness, nothing. I woke up later taking to a nurse. I looked around and saw that I was back in my closet room, but closed my eyes. I chatted for about another 15 minutes and was moved to a recliner to get my results and direction for therapy. For some reason I was a bit irritable. I’m not sure where it came from, but I was uncomfortable. I wanted to be home. My wife came and took me home. My arm is banged and in a sling. At the time, I couldn’t even feel my arm. It was numb. Not like you have the pins and needles effect, numb as in no feeling. Other then my own visual clues, I had no idea what orientation my arm was in. It was the weirdest thing ever. We got into the truck and headed home. My wife’s twin watched the kids. It was good to me home again. I had to learn not to use the arm for anything, which was rather easy since I couldn’t move it or even feel it. At one point, I did not properly put the sling together and my arm fell out. I didn’t feel it move at all! I heard the Velcro rip apart and I looked down expecting my arm to be across my stomach and it wasn’t! I freaked out! I thought my arm had just fallen off! It was gone. Last thing I remembered was that my arm was in the sling across my stomach and it is gone now. I glanced over to my left hip area and saw my arm just hanging there. Total out of body experience. I didn’t feel it at all. Hopefully my doctor, Dr. D'Alessandro, is not reading this. It was a trip! But all is good and the arm is numb. However, I do have a little tingling in my pinky finger. So we ought to see how this turns out.