Day 0 - Surgery Day Retrospective - 1 of 2

D-Day for surgery was Tuesday, August 30th. Just for fun, my insurance pre-authorization didn't actually come through until Friday, August 26th, when I resorted to arriving at the student health insurance office before it opened and sitting there until the case manager saw me personally. The delay was, in part, due to the fact that my academically-based health insurance begins its coverage year on August 15th and, in part, due to the fact that I had been authorized for the surgery during a previous coverage period. The case manager had submitted the authorization as a renewal, and hadn't realized that the maximum time between renewals had elapsed -- it needed to submitted as a new pre-authorization.

Surgery was scheduled for 8:45 am at Stanford University Hospital, and I was asked to arrive two hours ahead of schedule - which meant an early morning from the East Bay. I'd received three calls from the hospital the day before.

The first was to preregister me for surgery, which would shorten the amount of time I'd have to spend on paperwork in the morning. The man I spoke to (Jack) was incredibly helpful and quickly had me set up with my emergency contacts and general information.

The second call was from a nurse with some instructions for surgery (i.e. No eating or drinking after midnight prior to surgery, reminding me when and where to arrive, etc.)

The third call was from my anesthesiologist, which I hadn't expected, but was actually quite reassuring. Anesthesiologists aren't people you think of seeing much of (since their job is to keep you unconscious), but then again you're putting a considerable amount of trust in their hands (their job is to keep you unconscious...) My anesthesiologist (whose name I will look up), was incredibly personable over the phone, asked a bunch of questions about my previous experience with anesthesia (wisdom teeth) and told me a little bit about what to expect the following morning.

All in all, I arrived at Stanford University Hospital feeling pretty confident about things.

Upon arrival, I checked in. It was a pretty fast and painless process. I signed some waivers (yes, letting someone pump you with anesthesia and then muck around with your jaw carries some risks), assigned someone (my mom) to make medical decisions for me in case I couldn't make them for myself, gave them numbers to call for surgery updates, and got ID and allergy bracelets.

This is a good place to mention that I was incredibly impressed with the hospital facilities and staff from beginning to end. Everyone and everything was comfortable, friendly, warm, and professional, with a mind to reduce the stress inherent in the process for patients and family alike.

In the waiting area, there is a patient update screen where every patient is listed by number with their current status (e.g. Patient in the Facilities, In Surgery, Surgery Completed, etc). Soon enough, my status changed from Patient in the Facilities to Pre-Op, and I was escorted to the Pre-Op area to exchange my clothes for hospital gear. Then an overview of my health history with the nurse (they make you confirm your name and date of birth about every three seconds which, while somewhat repetitive, at least made me feel like they were unlikely to accidentally amputate a foot.)

My parents and boyfriend were allowed to come wait with me after that. Dr. Li came to check in with me and answer any last minute questions and then the anesthesiologist arrived to prep my IV. Cue sedatives, at which point things begin to blur a bit around the edges... but I remember waving goodbye to Costa and my parents and being wheeled off to the operating room. The last thing I remember is being lifted onto the operating table.