I can’t say enough good about ENT #1, and since I’m saying nice things about him and don’t think I’ll get sued, I’ll go ahead and identify Dr. Phil Robb.
Saw Dr. Robb this morning, he’s agreed to do my biopsy, and scheduled it literally while I was sitting there. He also asked me about which oncologist I’ve picked, and he seems to like the one I’ve chosen, so that’s good, too. He also has told me that I will see him prior to entering the OR, and that my girlfriend will see him immediately after to let her know how everything went.
So tomorrow morning I go under the knife and the meatball gets a slice taken out. It’s an outpatient procedure, but I’ve been told all that means is that they can keep me up to 23 hours, so I could end up in the hospital overnight. Hopefully not, but one never knows. Not wild about having to be at the hospital at 6:00AM, but I’d rather get on with it.
Since the last time I had surgery it was of the emergency variety, I didn’t realize how much stuff has to get done prior. The hospital has a pretty cool “pre-admission,” which means that technically I’ve already been admitted. Kinda like printing your boarding pass at home. During pre-admission, they took some blood and generally went over my health history. After I got home, I had to do an additional pre-surgery screening over the phone, which went over pretty much the same health history they went over during admission. (Though I will say, she reminded me not to wear my contacts, which nobody else had.) My girlfriend is now on her way to the pharmacy to get my painkillers and an antibiotic. So, needless to say, a lot to do before morning.
And of course, the classic surgery thing of no food or drink will leave me without coffee at whatever ungodly hour I’ll be getting up. They may not have to anesthetize me!