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Around 6:00pm or so they came and told me it was time. I was tossed what seemed to be a tea towel with strings attached and then told to put it on. Now look, I’m 6’2” tall and I had no idea where I was supposed to wear it. The best place I figured out was on my head so no one would recognize me because it wasn’t going to cover anything else! Anyway, I ended up somehow getting this thing on but now I was freezing cold. I was always cold during my illness but now with nothing but a tea towel on I was really cold. Thankfully they have this really neat contraption in hospitals…a blanket oven! They put one of these blankets on you and everything is just hunky dory! So it was off to the OR…just me, my tea towel, my heated blanket and the nurse pushing the wheelchair because you weren’t allowed to walk yourself or bring your family along for company. The problem with the heated blankets is that the heat wears off really fast and the cold comes back. Halfway to the OR I began to get cold again and I began shivering so much that I thought my fillings were going to fall out. I arrived at the pre – op station and once again was given a heated blanket…ahhhh! My visit was short there and then it was off to the OR…which was actually across the hall, again I wasn’t allowed to walk there either.
I remember sitting in front of the OR doors and being completely at peace. If I was to die then I was ready to go. Either way…I was at peace. Scripture talks about the peace of God that surpasses all understanding:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
I had that peace, and I still don’t understand it and can’t explain it, but I felt it. It wasn’t just having the peace of God, but it was also the assurance of the Bible that when you become a child of God through Jesus Christ you are going to heaven…no matter what! So, the OR doors opened and the room was filled with nurses and doctors. I was introduced to everyone, some of which I had met already but didn’t recognize because they were all wearing masks and gowns. At that point I was allowed to walk to the operating table, which from what I can recall seemed to be about the width of one of my butt cheeks…can I even say that? I also remember joking around with the nurses and doctors that I better not fall off the table…I’m not kidding! They assured me that no one had ever fallen off, and really when you think about, if anyone ever did fall how would the person know?
The surgery started at approximately 6:30pm, but I’m not really sure because I was fast asleep, and lasted about 6 hours. Remember back in 2004 when I had 9 blood transfusions in 3 days? Well, with a surgery such as a liver transplant a person usually receives 2 – 3 blood transfusions. I didn’t have any and that is definitely by the grace of God. If you also recall during August 2004, my hemoglobin was 65. During the surgery the lowest my hemoglobin went was 76. That is mind boggling to me! After the surgery I was sent to ICU and remember waking up around 3:45am or so and overheard the doctors talking about the fact that they had taken my gallbladder. I remember being so upset about it that as soon as I had the ventilator out at 4:30am I complained that I hadn’t given them permission to take my gallbladder. It must have been quite funny to hear that my biggest concern was that I had lost my gallbladder. They told me that they figured the disease had probably started within the gallbladder which quickly took away my worries about losing it.