This afternoon I had the excisional biopsy surgery. After the consultation with Dr. Koch yesterday I was comfortable that this would be a routine, quick procedure. And it was just that.
Jen and I arrived right on time and checked in. We were seated in the outer waiting room for a minute at most when a member of the surgery center staff asked me to finish my registration in preparation for heading back to a second waiting area. At the same time, another staff member sat down with Jen to explain how the day was going to progress for her and what she should expect. After another 5 minutes we were both seated in a second waiting room after which we were taken to my pre-op room. From arrival at the surgery center to sitting in my pre-op bed took 15 minutes.
The pre-op routine then started. Change into a gown including compression socks, start an IV, and meet the surgery team.The JHU Surgery Center was bustling today and it would take another two hours before an operating room was available, so we settled in.
The A-Team included:
- Dr. Wayne Koch, Director of the JHU Head and Neck Center
- Dr. Sofia Lyford-Pike, chief resident (UM Terp and JHU Medical School)
- Dr. Adam Sapirstein, Anesthesiologist
- Dr. Clark (visiting from the UK)
- Jacob (Jake or Kupe?) Kuperstock, a local guy and current Stanford Medical student, and W&M '09 grad (BS Chemistry, Phi Beta Kappa, and a member of the baseball team until he broke his hand) - I like this guy!
- Martha Nakamura, Anesthesia/CRNA
Around 2:30pm the nurse/anesthesiologist started my drip. I asked for a light dose and wanted to be awake for the procedure. And around 3pm I was wheeled in to the operating room. Dr. Koch led the procedure and was as cool as the underside of a down pillow. A little humor here and there, some discusson of pro football and just like that we were done. in about 30 minutes. I got a look at the offending lymph node once it was removed and it didn’t look like much – a small (1-inch long) pinkish/red fleshy mass. After a couple more hours of post-op recovery we were on our way. the incision was closed with surgical glue and it looks like it's not going to leave much of a scar at all.
The only hiccup during the entire day was the traffic. This was due to the Orioles businessmen's special game against the Rays that started at 12:30pm and ended around 5:30pm - as we were driving into town and leaving.
The day went so smoothly that I made it to my department picnic in time for a Friday night beer - after getting the OK from the doctor.
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