Preparing...Again.

We are eight days out from surgery, and I had to stop and think about the exact number. My attitude towards surgery and preparing is quite different than it was leading up to our first date. I had the countdown started at about four weeks out, I had lists and lists of things I needed to do and plan and buy and pack, was worrying about childcare and hotel and my husband's time off work. 
But I've already been through all that already, so I'm not really thinking about that stuff this time. I'll probably being doing a lot of last-minute things before we head out of town. I'm not feeling nervous, or anxious, or scared, because I worked through all those feelings two months ago. 

I have caught myself trying to schedule appointments for next week, then remembering that I'll be in the hospital. 

My coordinator is out of the office for medical leave, but she took some time to email me and check in. She said that by next week she'll be back in the office part-time, so she'll stop in to see me the day after surgery. It was really great of her to get in touch with me when she wasn't working.

So, next week, I'll head over to the hospital (about 90-120 minutes away from home) on Tuesday the 16th for some pre-op bloodwork (again), go through exactly what the plan is from the moment I check into the hospital til I check out (again), and meet with the surgeon (again). It wasn't a long appointment last time, and I expect it to be even shorter this time since I don't really have any new questions.
Wednesday I'll be on a clear liquid diet starting at 7am, my husband and I will head out of town that evening and stay at a hotel, and I'll check in to the hospital about 5am Thursday the 18th. Hopefully. If we don't get cancelled again. 

They tell me usually people go home Sunday (the 21st), and sometimes Saturday (the 20th), and I'm hoping for Saturday but will plan on Sunday.

I'm still not sure if the kids will come to see me in the hospital - last time I didn't want them to come, but this time I'm feeling that I might want them to visit Friday afternoon. We'll play that by ear. They have been in hospitals plenty of times (my husband is a bit accident-prone), so they aren't bothered by that environment, but they've never seen me unwell. Plus it's a lot of time in the car for them. So we'll see.

I recently had a conversation with a couple women who have gotten back into heavy lifting after donating, so that has eased what little concern I had about getting back to the gym. I'm hoping to go back quickly, just to be in the environment (and to provide encouragement for my teammates that I regularly have friendly competitions with - Kim, I'm talking about you.). My trainer is really great at modifying exercises, so I'm sure I'll be able to ease my way back into it with few problems. 

We happened to do some testing this week at the gym, so it'll be a good way for me to know how long it took me to get back to 'normal.' 

And, I realize this makes me 'that girl' that only talks about working out...But that's okay. It's been hard for me to find other donors talking about their physical recovery in detail.