Current mood:	okay
Current music:	Mom playing on Chinese Harp

Surgery Update
Quote of the week: "Don't worry; they didn't leave the scissors in. I checked… twice."
-Mike Yang

Man, it must have been months, if not years since I've signed on and written in my live journal. Sometimes I even wonder if I should even keep it. But back to the story at hand and that concerns my surgery.

First off I want everybody to know that I'm fine right now and everything is great... kinda sorta. I'm just taking it easy like I have for the last three days.

I got into the hospital at about 8:30 a.m. on Friday morning and got dressed (well...undressed) for surgery at about 10:00 a.m... The doctors and nurses all asked me questions to make sure I was indeed Mike Yang and making sure that I was going to have the proper procedure operated on my groin area. It would kinda suck if I woke up with a missing leg, would you think?

I remember the anesthesiologist telling me, "Okay, I’m going to add your (???) to the IV." (Maybe a few of you future pharmacists can inform us on what kind of medication ??? was?) As he did, I saw two small air bubbles flowing down the line onto my arm. My first thought was the rats at work. Sometimes a rat would die because we would accidentally inject a small air bubble into the blood stream along with the medication which caused a stroke. The rat would lose mobility on his right back leg and die a few hours later. Intentionally or unintentionally my two air bubbles were caught at a link somewhere in the line and it never got to my arm.
"Okay, you should start feeling the effects now."
Almost immediately I felt as though I had a huge buzz. My peripheral vision was blurry and I felt very relaxed but I was still alert and comprehendible (at least I think I was). As I was pushed to the operation room, I asked the anesthesiologist: "So how long have you worked here?" and he said, "blah blah grumble mumble years blah haha blah blah"

I heard what he said. I just don't remember any of it.

I do however, remember lying in front of the doctor and nurses in the operation room. The anesthesiologist placed a mask around my mouth and nose and asked me to breathe in deeply. I took a deep breath, and the anesthesiologist loosened his grip on my mask. Someone was tapping me on the shoulder.

"Wake up; your parents are coming here to take you home." Wow, I knew I wouldn’t remember any of it but still feels weird missing a few hours of your life by of course deep sleep does this to you every night too.

As I was got in my wheel chair, I thanked the older nurse or volunteer for wheeling me out.

"Oh you're welcome! So are you going to miss some time off from your summer job?"
A summer job? Only students have sum... "Yes. But it's not a summer job. I'm working now."
"Oh. So when are you going back to school?"
"I graduated already, back in 2003."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-four." Well, 24 3/4 actually but who's counting.
"Oh, I'm retiring on Tuesday so everybody looks the same age to me."
"Wow, congratulations." Yes, I have a case of Asian youth and I've just learned to accept it.

Since I didn’t have a watch with me my mom told me that surgery started at 11:00 a.m. and I was out at noon. I slept in the resting area until 1:00 before they woke me up and discharged me. At home I slept for a few hours, woke up for a few before sleeping again and this continued about six to eight times throughout the night. Not fun as you can imagine. I also woke up with a sore throat which lasted about two days because the doctors put a tube down my throat just to make sure I would breathe properly throughout the procedure.

So how am I now? Well, I feel a lot better than I did that dreadful first day. I’m awake, alert, and my appetite is back (although it was never really gone). I’m sitting up for an extended period of time for the first time and I can walk a bit better than before. It still feels heavy when I walk but at this rate I should be able to walk with little difficulty by tomorrow morning. Maybe I can even go back to work.

Doctor said I can perform light activities as tolerated, which include walking, watching movies, and video games but we’re going to leave the strenuous activities at the door for a month. Yes, that means no weight lifting, no hockey, and no running. And of course this also includes no sexual activities (::cough:: ladies, Chris, and Jon ::cough::).

Thanks for your well wishes or slick damnations. I will cherish them both.