Surgery #1 in the books

Most of you know I flew down to Winston-Salem Thursday to have a muscle biopsy at Wake Forest University Medical Center, what follows are some of the details:

• Bon and Reese stayed back home, it just did not make sense to us for them to travel down for this procedure, especially being 18 weeks pregnant. There was a ton of just sitting around and waiting, not real conducive to a 2 year old.
  
• This meant that my man, $-Braine, aka Steven, got the call of duty, and stayed with me throughout the entire process, driving me everywhere I needed to go.
  
• I fly in Thursday, Steven picks me up and we head straight to the hospital for some paperwork and to get my vitals. BP is good, weight is good, 198, and they are amazed that I have no history of health problems, nor am on any medication. Quick shot out to the Godfather who picked me up Thursday morning at 4:30am in order to get me to the airport in Dayton on time. I meet with the surgeon and he gives me the option of an epidural or going out cold, with general anesthetic. The safe kind of course, given what I am there to be tested for. I vote against the epidural and put my trust in them using the correct gas to put me under. This also means a breathing tube will be inserted during the surgery, and has left my throat a little irritated ever since.
  
• Friday morning we get up at 4:45am and start getting ready. We have to be at the hospital at 6am, surgery at 8am. They call us back in groups of 4, leading us back to surgery prep areas. The nurse throws me a bag and a stylish gown, with implicit instructions. Without knowing for sure if I can leave my underwear on or not, I take the risk. Having to remove them was one of my major sources of stress leading up to the surgery. I know, I am so weird.
• So with that behind us, the nurse then begins to insert the IV into my hand. Biggest stress inducer #2, I have a huge aversion to needles. The nurse was great, joking with Steven and I the whole time about it, mind you I never lookd down. Once she gets it in, my stomach starts doing crazy flips, I break out into cold sweats, and I am very close to passing out. Steven in his tender nature says, "Dude, do you need me to get you a bucket?". And then follows with asking this nurse, "That's just saline at this point right?", to which she responds "Yes." That made me feel even better...
• After consulting with the anesthesiologist for about fifteen minutes, and getting my bearings back, I get to put a sweet shower cap on and start back to the operating room.
  
• I get moved to the O.R. table and they start the real thing thru the IV. About a minute later, I am out, and wake up in recovery which seems like 5 seconds later. I get to take my first look at the surgeon's handy work, pulling the gown back to reveal the sutchers and incision that is between 5 and 6 inches long. The nurse tells me everything went great and honestly said the following: "We didn't have any trouble at all, you had plenty of muscle to spare."
  
• After moving to my own recovery area for about 20 minutes, Steven gets to come back and I get my orders for leaving, along with a Rx for Vicatin.
  
• About 4pm my phone ring showing 336 area code, it is the hospital, they have the test results. Dr. Tobin says that "I have great news, your test is negative for Malignant Hyperthermia, and there is no chance that your children will have the disorder either. "
• All of the pain, time and money are such a small price to pay to hear those words. I have really appreciated the phone calls from family and friends checking up on me, and the prayers leading up to the surgery. Praise God for another tremendous blessing.