Last Wednesday I had my third and final pre-op, this time with Dr. FixIt.  This one was the most practical one, as Dr. FixIt is the “closer.”  He’ll be the one to release me, and all the post-op meds are prescribed by him. And my goodness, there are a lot of meds.

They swabbed my nose to see if I’m carrying any kind of bacteria, and took “before” photos.  They handed me a booklet to read through, all about when to stop eating/drinking, etc.  The nurse reviewed all the meds with me, both prescribed and OTC.  It was a wee bit overwhelming.  They also explained all about the drain(s) – I will have at least one and will learn to empty it while I’m in the hospital.

On Friday I did my best to wrap things up at work (I MANAGED TO AVOID USING ALL CAPS ALL DAY).  On my way home, I spent about two hours at two different CVS pharmacies to get all the scripts filled – the good stuff is hard to find.  There is so much to keep track of that I thought about buying one of those weekly pill boxes, but there is just too much variability.  They all start and end at different times, or are only for a short burst, or are “as needed,” or are not actually in pill form.  So instead I made post-its for each med and lined them up in rows like little soldiers.

On Friday evening, after my neighborhood CVS tour, Tad and I got a babysitter and took “the girls” out for one last night on the town.  I spent the weekend getting ready for Paige’s birthday party and generally getting everything in place so that I could turn into a couch potato for a little while. The best part of the weekend was opening care packages and cards!  So many of my friends have given me little tokens and small presents to let me know they’re thinking of me.  It’s been great.  Of course early on in this whole thing I told Elisabeth that I had high expectations for a care package from her and she did not disappoint!

I am now all packed for tomorrow. I will need to remove all jewelry, rings, piercings, barrettes, etc., and cannot wear any lotions, not even facial moisturizer (they may need to tape something to my face). I have a very small bag packed with only a few minor essentials. Check in is at 9am, surgery starts at 10am, and they expect it to take 2-3 hours. Most people have no memory of the recovery room, where I’ll be for an hour and a half or so. After that I’m told to expect to be too groggy to focus on a book, but I’ll bring one just in case. I’ll get to leave midday on Tuesday.