Surgery Has Been Scheduled!

So my surgery has been scheduled for Tuesday January 3 at 7:00 (I have to be there at 6). There is nothing like have your surgeon well rested from Christmas break!! :) It will take about 3 hours from the time they wheel me back until I'm in recovery.  About an hour of that is prep - you know knocking me out, positioning, and since I will have a chest tube for breathing (uh those of you who know me know they better have me asleep before they put that in me, cause that scares me more than cutting into my skull).  I won't be in ICU, but will be on the neuro floor at University Hospital.  I was told I could be released late in the afternoon the next day or the following day (this is all very good, b/c I had read 2 days in ICU and up to 5 in the hospital).  I would prefer to recover at home.  And they send you home with good drugs!! :)  Apparently, from I've read I won't have much of a memory of the first day, so I will be giving my family instructions to take pictures and tell me what happened.

The recovery at home will be about 4-6 weeks.  The first 2 weeks will be a 5 lb weight restriction, the following two weeks will be 20 lb weight restriction and then weight restrictions lifted.  No really a problem, except for two pint sized boys that want mommy to pick them up.  So there will be some adjustments there.

My principal knows and she has been great.  I was so worried about my students and she told me we didn't have to be specific.  This is exactly what I needed to hear.  It's not that I don't want to talk about it, but how do you tell 10 and 11 year olds your teacher is having brain surgery, but she'll be fine - oh and Happy Holidays.  I just can't do that.  So it has been decided that we aren't revealing the details.  When I return - I will gladly go into the details, because they will see I'm okay.  I sent out a letter to my Hopewell family today - it of course had some humor in it, because I can't be somber about this.  I don't feel badly about this.  I've accept this is what needs to happen and I'm happy that I can hopefully have some relief.  I'm blessed to work with a number of caring people!  It really is a family.  I've already had some people reply with jokes which I love and of course people have sent their well wishes and prayers to which I love to.  I also discovered a friend of mine and I like some of the same artists, because she left an Ansel Adams postcard with some beautiful sentiments on my chair today.  How can I be upset when I feel so loved?  I just can't!

If you want to see diagrams of the surgery you can check out the website of my neurosurgeon: http://www.mayfieldchiaricenter.com/ (under surgery, overview - I have type I)