Yesterday, we went up to St. Louis for my Pre-Op. The drive wasn't too bad, though, because I was texting the whole time :) Upon arrival at the hospital, the Doctors ran a few tests, which consisted of: and EKG (When they monitor your heart rate with "leads" and CoLd stickers), a Stroke test, to make sure I hadn't unknowingly had a stroke, and a Urinalysis. We met with a lady who told us all about what happens in a Catheterization, and told us that our appointment was scheduled for !!!6:45!!! on Monday morning!! GAH!! Why is everything always scheduled soooo EARLY?? Well, at least if I get it done in the wee hours of the morning, I wont have to be admitted overnight. So Monday's procedure will go as follows: I will be given meds when I get to the hospital, I will be given a blood thinner, anesthesia through an IV, and a numbing patch on my groin where the cath will go in. As soon as I'm under, The Doctor (Dr. Martin I'm told) will insert the cath through a vein in my groin, directly to the left of my right hip bone, and proceed to move the cath up to my heart. Once there, he will check my blood flow, and measure the walls of my heart, and come back out, which takes a total of 30 minutes. After he's finished, I will be awakened, and have to lay still on the bed in Recovery for a total of 4-6 hours, so as not to bleed, or rip the vein in which they used to cath me. I can then Text, and watch movies, so if you have my number, you can text or call me at about 11:30am. I can go home as soon as the 6 hours are up, and the only problem I will have is that my leg will be sore. It will feel like I've been punched in my leg, and will most likely be limping. I cannot swim, or sit on anything that I'd have to straddle, so as not to rip the vein back open. I will update the blog again on Monday, after the surgery. Thanks for reading!