Surgery tomorrow

So tomorrow is surgery. We have to be there at 5:30am, and I go into the OR at 7:30am. You had better believe that I will be getting monster doses of medazalam as soon as they get that IV in me! Not that I'm a stranger to surgery, but this feels very different than all my prior minor surgeries, probably because I'm losing several feet of my colon/rectum, my uterus, and 4-6 lbs of lymph tissue.

But I'll have epidurals for the first 48 hours or so, followed by IV morphine, so hopefully I won't feel much for a while.

Today was spent mostly drinking a gallon of nuclear laxative and dealing with the effects of said gallon of nuclear laxative. I cannot believe that there is not a more pleasant way to accomplish the same effect, I mean seriously! I wish my training in any way equipped me to be able to work on a less awful solution. Because seriously, a full GALLON?! Of gunk that tastes roughly like rotten seawater, in which stinky socks have been stewing for several days. I started to gag on the third glass, and still had two thirds of a GALLON left to go. Man. But at least that's over with. Now it's just dealing with my brain that is desperately craving carbs (after a full day of nothing but clear liquids). As soon as I'm done loading my various electronic devices with sufficient amounts of entertainment material, I'm going to drug myself to sleep to avoid a) serious hunger pangs and b) ever-increasing levels of anxiety.

Greg will post something here tomorrow after I'm out of surgery to let folks know how it goes. He will also post something (perhaps the same thing) to Facebook.

I feel like I should say something profound, since there is still a small chance I won't make it out of surgery. But all I can think about are cookies. Lots and lots of cookies! So here's to no more periods ever! (I will not be sad to not have to think about that ever again.) And most importantly, NO MORE TUMOR!!!