Recap part three: Jan. 14, surgery (PICTURES, too!!)

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I don't remember anything about the surgery (thank God!). As Matt posted in detail earlier, my surgery started at 8:30 a.m., not at 7:30 as we expected, and the first "hourly" update didn't happen until more than two hours later. The nurse said things had been a little "wild." Humph. They didn't tell us 'til much later what wild means, as detailed by Kelsey in her blog post.

My surgery took about six hours, longer than the three or four we were told to expect. My surgeon said this was because my spine was stiff. What's funny is I had been taking BioSil, a supplement to make my bones strong. His assistant said it was ok to take up to the week of surgery, but in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have taken it. Another reason it took so long, he said, was because they took pictures (although he didn't say it, I'm sure the "wildness" added to it!).

Ok. So I have the pictures. I want to post them, but I know it's probably about 50/50 as to whether or not everyone wants to see them. I've decided to put them in a link, so you don't have to see them if you don't want to. If you do want to, copy and paste the following links into your browser. I figured this was the safest way to avoid accidental clicks by people who don't want to see the pics. WARNING... these are GRAPHIC!:

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0147.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0148.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0153.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0154.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0155.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0156.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0158.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq187/Megsgolightly5/Scoliosis%20surgery%20Jan14%202009/IMG_0159.jpg

How do I top that?
Next thing I remember is hearing a man's voice (my anesthesiologist?) saying my name really loudly again and again, telling me to wake up. This part is very hazy. I remember bright lights and lots of people doing things around me. The voice told me to do as he said. He put his hand under my foot and told me to "push on the brakes." I had to push my legs and feet against his hands in all these different ways, but I don't remember much except the brakes. This is to check for paralysis, a risk during spinal surgery. I don't remember if they checked my arms or anything else.

Then, they moved me. I remember going in and out at first. I don't remember faces or much, just being in motion and bright lights in the hallways. And I was out again.