Good morning to Springtime (although it feels more like Winter this morning). Today is Monday March 22, 2021. I have a long day ahead of me. But let's begin with last night..... Yet again, I was having trouble falling asleep. I finally started to doze off right around 12:30 am. Five minutes later I was startled awake by someone yelling at the top of his lungs. It sounded like he was trying to sing, but could not quite get it right. I heard sheer anger coming from his gut. Normally when my dogs hear any unusual noises late at night, they react by barking up a storm. I truly think they sensed that this situation could be dangerous, because they were silent. Here I was wide awake, yet again feeling panicked about my surgery. I was trying to keep my dogs quiet while a man was yelling right outside of my bedroom window. Allow me to clarify that he was not literally standing at my window, but rather walking up and down my street until the police finally showed up at 1:30 am. Not conducive for a good night's sleep or panic management. If this is a test of my inner strength right now, I think I just scored 110%!
Fast forward to my day today. I woke up feeling extremely nerve wracked. I thought about canceling my appointments, but somehow I found myself up and dressed and ready to go when my ride arrived (It definitely helped that I took an Ativan shortly before I left my house). Today's menu included a CatScan (which literally took 3 minutes to do) and then a Pre-Op appointment, followed by a blood draw. During the Pre-Op "Show and Tell" appointment, I got to see the actual wires that will be implanted into my brain and the pacer itself (the battery pocket), which will house the other end of the wires. The wires are actually way thicker than I thought they would be. It is truly mind boggling to think that those two wires are not only going to be housed in my body forever, but will carry me through the rest of my life (with a battery change every 15 years). Those whom I have spoken with that have undergone the DBS are ecstatically happy they did it! The common thread I have heard over and over is that this ground breaking procedure has given them their lives back!
The nurse who I spoke with today went over all of the pre-op instructions and then handed me a bag with two large sponges and a little plastic bottle of soap. The night before my surgery, I am to take a shower and scrub down with my regular soap first. Once I rinse off, I am to towel dry myself and then apply half of the bottle over my entire body (using their sponge), except for my face and hair. Once I give my body a good scrubbing, I will wash it off. I will repeat the same process the morning of surgery (this Friday). This soap is called Chlorhexidine. It's job is to prevent the growth of any bacteria on my skin (or to get rid of any germs which may be there already). This way, my skin will be protected during surgery.
Speaking of soap, I asked her how and when I would be able to wash my hair after surgery (I have very long hair and am worried about knots setting in). I have my arsenal of good shampoos and conditioners, but the only shampoo they want me to use is Johnson's Baby Shampoo. The good news here is that I will be able to wash my hair (even with staples in my head). However, the knot factor will be huge, as Johnson's is designed for babies who have baby fine hair. Like I always say "Nowwhat.com"? I asked about conditioning my mane and she said that I can, as long as I stick to the ends of my hair. This should be very interesting to see if I can keep my hair knot free and happy! For any of you ladies or gentlemen who are reading this, we have to wait three months to get our hair done in any capacity. I figure that I have already waited over a year without a hair cut or color change, because of Covid. What is another three months in the grand scheme of this thing called life? Two more appointments to go!