Work Up! Physical! Pre-op Admissions! 26 days to go!

I had my first HUGE pre-op appointment on Monday. The appointment went from 8am-around 1:30ish. It was a super long day and I'm glad it's over and done with.

I took the train in, which wasn't too bad. I grabbed the T at the green-line Woodland stop and took it all the way to Charles/MGH. It took about an hour and wasn't a bad ride at all. I got off the train at MGH and thought to myself, "I could maybe do this everyday... This wouldn't be so bad if I had to work in the city..." As I exited the station, the stench of fresh piss hit my nostrils and all I could think of was "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE." Haha, thinking back on it now it was too funny how quickly my mind changed in that instance. Also, I have a terrible poker face and I'm sure my disgust was plain to see. LOL!

The worst part of the day was the first appointment which was the work-up portion of the appointment. I had to do 12 impressions (6 uppers, 6 lowers), 4 bite impressions, x-rays, and photos. My jaw was a little sore after but not too bad. We discovered that my face isn't symmetrical. I mean, I know that no one's face is perfect but looking at pictures with me straight ahead it was so obvious. One of my eyes is way funky. And not like, lazy funky. Like, one of my eyes is physically lower than the other one. It took awhile for the tech and surgical resident to map out my face correctly. Jeez! Way to give a girl a complex.

After that, I had a pre-op physical which was pretty routine. They did it right in the same office as the work up so I didn't have to go anywhere which was nice. The appointment was super easy, just had to answer a bunch of questions. The nurse practitioner who did the appointment with me was kind of ditzy but we got through it together, haha. She did give me a packet with information about a blender-based diet (yaaaaaaay. can you hear the excitement?!). There are a few no-brainer recipes on there but a few I hadn't thought about. I bought peanut protein powder from amazon to go into shakes and stuff. Hopefully that'll help. They also recommended to give baby food a go (bleh) but maybe I can find some interesting recipes on pinterest.

After the physical, I had a meeting with a member of the anesthesia staff. She was a CRNA and super nice. Once she realized that I worked in a hospital OR, the appointment went by in a breeze. She was so fun and easy to talk to. It's obvious why she's a nurse cause she was very personable. If you have to go to pre-op admissions and get to talk to "Christina", she's the best. Super nice and very helpful! She answered a bunch of questions I had and even gave me some answers to things I hadn't thought of. I'll definitely be updating the Questions part of the blog soon (if not tonight).

Other than that, I'm good until my final pre-op with doctor keith in 3 weeks. WOW. Time sure does fly.

Too slow, too fast!

Well,  these last few days have been quite hectic! I was booked for a pre-op appointment and spoke with Mary (insurance coordinator) within 1 day of finding out I was ready for surgery. It all seemed to be happening so fast, definitely way faster than last time.

The day before my pre-op appointment I got a phone call from Mary. It turns out there was some sort of miscommunication and I am not ready for a pre-op appointment since I haven't done any pre-op work or anything yet. (Which I initially questioned when we first spoke but she assured me that there'd be no issues. Uh huh. Should have known!)

Anyway, when I was talking to Mary, I asked her about Dr Keith's surgery schedule and when they thought they'd be able to book me. She said if my insurance comes back soon then they could probably book me for surgery at the end of July.

Holy shit balls.  Not what I was expecting at all. Usually surgeons are booked well in advance, especially for complex surgeries like my own. I couldn't believe that they'd be able to fit me in so quickly. I had such a difficult time getting a date last time that it blew my mind that I could have one within 4-6 weeks. Yikes! It's hilarious because I was so gung-ho about having this done as soon as possible and now here I am postponing the surgery. If someone had told me I would post-pone my surgery, I'd have laughed in their faces. 

I told Mary on the phone that I honestly had expected to be going through surgery sometime in October. She seemed surprised and advised me to get in contact with Dr Klein because my waiting could derail/ruin her plan for me.

Great, just great.

Thusly freaked out,  I sent her a quick email asking about a surgery time line and if she'd be ok if I waited until October for the surgery. I figured that she would email me back with a yes or no answer but she surprised me with a phone call that evening.  I was working and couldn't answer but she left such a nice and reassuring voice mail. She assured me that waiting wouldn't harm my teeth nor my progress and said she would call back tomorrow to personally talk to me. 
You have no idea how much I appreciated that phone call.  I've never really had a doctor personally call me before just to check in so it was just so nice. We talked the next morning and she told me that I have nothing to worry about. Any time that I am ready for surgery is good with her. I'm really glad that we talked.  She really allieved a lot of my concerns. So it looks like I will be having surgery after Columbus Day.

I've already told my boss that he can expect me to be out anytime after Columbus Day for 6-10ish weeks. I will come back when I feel up to working again. I've been told that I may feel ok but my energy levels will be extremely low since I'll be on liquids for awhile.  My job can be quite strenuous so I don't think I'll be able to perform my job in the OR until I'm 100% again. I walk a lot, carry and lift heavy items, and I talk all day to other doctors and nurses. So we shall see.

No photos this time because nothing has changed since last time. But I do have another appointment with Dr Klein in July. If I hear from Mary before my next appointment, I will certainly post about it!

EDIT: I got a phone call from Mary on Friday in the late morning but of course I missed her phone call. Left her a voicemail not 10 minutes after she left one for me on my cell. Never got a call back (and it was like 11:30am). Too good to be true? Hahaha. At this point, I'm not worried so it's not a big deal. Hopefully I'll get in touch with her next week. Maybe my insurance already came back with a yes for surgery (doubtful but you never know!)