Now his intestines are back where they belong...

Dan's hernia surgery was yesterday. Thankfully it was very uneventful but I'm going to bore you with the details regardless. 

We arrived on time and checked in at the front desk.  After about 10 minutes, we were called back to sign a few things and go over a few things.  Then we waited another 10 minutes.  Then Dan was taken back to get into his hospital gown and to have his IV placed.  After he was all ready, they called me back and I sat with him until the doctor came in. 

The doctor reviewed a few things with us, then answered any questions we had and left to go scrub up.  We also met with the anesthesiologist and the OR nurse.  Then I gave him a big kiss and I went back to the waiting room.

They have monitors in the waiting room that list the last three letters and first initial of all the patient's name and tells you their status:  Prepping for Surgery, In Surgery, All Done, Waking Up, Hit the Road, etc. so I could track Dan's progress.

An hour after his surgery started, the surgeon came out and told me he had done fine.  In addition to his direct inguinal hernia on the right, he also had an indirect hernia on the left so the surgeon repaired them both while he was in there.

About 15 minutes later, the nurse called me back so I could hang out with Dan while he was waking up.  We were back there for about 2 hours.  He was in a lot of pain so they gave him extra medication and he really doesn't remember much about being in recovery. 

Finally he was able to pee and we were able to go home!

On the way home, I dropped off his pain prescription and had to show my driver's license because it's a narcotic.  I told them I would be back in an hour to pick it up.

I got Dan home and (semi) comfortable and headed back to pick up the prescription.  The pharmacist came out with a copy of my driver's license that the tech made earlier and said, "Do you have another license?"

I was thinking to myself, "Why would I have another license?  No one has two driver's licenses! What's wrong with this pharmacist?"

But instead said, "Ummmm, no that's the only one I have......"

"Well, this one has expired and because you are picking up  a narcotic, I can only give it someone with a valid driver's license."

Y'all, about 6 months ago, I realized that my license was going to expire on my birthday and thought, "I'm going to need to get a new one.  I guess I will get a new one when they send me a reminder that it's time to renew."

Guess what the state of North Carolina does NOT do?  That's right.  They do NOT send you a reminder when your license is set to expire.  (However, they WILL send you a reminder when your license plate is about to expire.) 

So, I had to call my parents (apparently I'm  8 and not 48) and ask them to come down to the pharmacy with a valid (because they have their act together) driver's license and pick up the prescription for me.

I went online this morning and renewed my license so I should be good to go for another 8 years. 

Dan is still very sore this morning and hobbling around like an old man.  He said he was hoping he would be able to go back to work tomorrow but now realizes that that's not happening. So he and I will be relaxing around the house for the next two days. Although, he has already said he's not going to be able to sit here for two days doing nothing, so I imagine in an hour or two he's going to want me to drive him around just so he can get out of the house. 

Tonight we will watch the Patriots game.  The only two other times they've been on tv here they have lost so I'm not feeling too good about that.  Also, the Red Sox have an afternoon playoff game today so it will be a New England sports kind of day around here!

I really wanted to take a picture of Dan in his hospital cap and gown yesterday for the blog, but I decided better of it. So, I'll leave you with a picture of Wally instead...

Okay, that was two but I couldn't resist.  Look at those big ears!!