I ended up sleeping my way through pre-op --- all part of the grand plan: all my work was done, projects hemmed up, house clean, nothing else to worry about.
I insisted on no general anaesthesia, no pain meds, only a nerve block to my leg. I've seen it done to cattle, why not me!?! Took some convincing, but I won.
If you can call that winning!
It was the most intense and surreal hour of my life. The anesthesiologist and I hit it off, since he had less to do than a normal surgery, our conversations went all over the place. Got to see pictures of his adopted greyhounds...
All the while I could feel the carving on my foot. Let's just say the nerve block doesn't catch all the nerves. The doctor called those 'hot spots' and the hammering and chiseling on my bones, felt that too. Weird, deep pain.
The disintegrating foot bone was chiseled out, then they cut into my heel and removed bone tissue from there to 'grow' into the vacant spot. All the more reason he said I couldn't even bump the foot because of the chance that the fusing material would alter its shape.
I have a greater appreciation now for what goes into a surgery. On top of the three nurses I saw during pre-OP, there were 5 doctors and nurses in the OR.
Stellar staff, the nurses afterwards treated my foot like a priceless Ming vase, to the point of getting into my driver's car to load me in the back seat. Huge thanks by the way to the best medical chauffeur: Cheryl.
E.T. go home.
Oh, the reception I received!!
Drs. Micah and Dax were the first on scene.
Bored, they left and were replaced by dependable Nurse Garrett.
Dr. Micah returned to share my peanut butter and provide comic relief.
Not looking forward to the nerve block wearing off soon, so I'm going to get some sleep while I can. 365 days and counting until I can try out my new foot on the trails!
