We arrived at 8:30 a.m. and checked in. We paid and signed some forms and sat down. We waited in the waiting room for a few minutes and watched TV. We made jokes about him being a bionic man, quoting silly things like, "We can rebuild him, we have the technology." Then they called Merril back to get him dressed and ready. About 10 minutes later, they called me back to see him.
He had on a blue hair cap and a green hospital gown. He was under a blanket and laying in a hospital bed. He was getting an IV started. He kind of looked like a girl. Lol! The doctor came and we talked for a minute and made sure they were going to cut into the correct side. He even used a marker to write "YES" on the side the incision was supposed to be on.
The doctor, Gregory Taylor, said it would take about an hour for his radical orchiectomy (testicle removal) and then about an hour recovery. He asked if we had any questions and then he left to get gowned up. The anesthesiologist talked to us for a little bit about what to expect afterwards and then have him put something in his IV to help him feel calm and said he was ready to take him back to surgery. He told me to give Merril a kiss and I did and said, "If I don't see you again, it's been fun!" Then I went to the waiting room, this was at 9:00 a.m. The room was filled with mainly older couples: a lady knitting, other couples sitting together. The TV was on with Fox News talking about new President Trump's policies. I sent update texts to family and friends. I waited and pulled out a project: scout shirts that needed the numbers picked off so I could stitch correct numbers on. My phone buzzed every so often with words of encouragement and support.
I finished picking numbers off at about 9:45 a.m. I ate a snack from my backpack and stood up to get a free hot chocolate from the waiting room. I sipped my hot chocolate and looked at Facebook. My eyes popped up every time a nurse came in to announce a patient's family name. They didn't call me. Looked at my phone: 10:00 a.m. I had hoped the surgery would take less than an hour but Dr. Taylor said the hernia repair surgery Merril got in 2000 would make the surgery slightly more difficult.
10:18 a.m. The nurse came to get me to tell me the doctor was ready to do my consultation. She leads me to a room with a table and 3 chairs. I wait. Waiting. I feel like this whole process from the time we found out he had testicular cancer until now has just been a lot of waiting. Waiting for surgery, waiting for Merril to recover from a fever, waiting for surgery day again. Still waiting for my consultation. 10:34 a.m. Doctor arrives to talk with me. The surgery went really well, better than he expected. He said there was less scar tissue from his hernia repair than he expected. They got the whole testicle out and as much of the connecting tube that he wanted. He told me Merril's restrictions and then I was able to go see Merril. I helped him change and walked him out to wait for discharge instructions. It was the saddest I have ever seen him.
We were able to get home and get him in bed. He was hurting that first day.
The kids brought him a bear to cheer him up.
By the end of day 2, he was doing a lot better. He even put on jeans, which seemed painful to me. His incision was a good 4 inches long. He said it was fine. We even snuck out to a late movie because he was so bored of sitting around in the house.
Finally, on to recovery!
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