Party update: All went went fabulously. G was so very surprised and had a great time hanging out with her friends. It also gave DH and myself some social time that was very good therapy. We have now filled one of our tubs with donations to take to the Ronald McDonald House!
Tomorrow marks the last pre-op related appointment. Our anesthesia consult is set for tomorrow. We opted for a phone consult since it is a 3 hour drive and G does not need to be present. What is an anesthesia consult? I am not 100% clear on this, so being the newly manifested OCD mom that I am, I call on a good anesthesiologist friend of mine. We have known each other all of our lives, and I trust her more than most in the healthcare world. We spent about 40 minutes on the phone discussing G’s current state and what the consult will probably consist of. She gave me a line of questions that I had not considered. A few examples are: If G will be put to sleep away from us, can they use an oral sedative, to help her with anxiety? Who will be the anesthesiologist? Will there be any Residents/Fellows/CRNA, etc in the room? If yes, what are their experience levels? Do Neuro cases use specific anesthesiologists, or is there a general pool of anesthesiologists? Do they give pain meds prophylactically, before she wakes up? Or do they wait until she complains of pain? Is it typical to use a pain pump for IV meds in the days after surgery?
Many anesthesiology questions were answered during the pre-op tour, so that was helpful as well. However, it was mentioned that the Neuro cases are treated a bit differently, so I am curious how anesthesiology fits into this difference. I suppose this will be answered tomorrow.
