fun in pre-op

Well I made it through my biopsy mostly intact (minus some lymph node). As expected, they were running behind, so my biopsy that was scheduled for 3:30 actually happened closer to 5. I said in the car on the way there that I couldn't imagine what they'd be doing that would require me to get there 2 hrs early, as requested. I got registered, got a purple "clumsy" bracelet (amusing, as at Jenny's hospital, purple bracelets mean DNR). They sent us off to the waiting room and before I could even sign in, a nurse was there to take me back to pre-op. I got to pee in a cup for them (not pregnant), get into my fancy gown, thigh high anti-clot tights, grippy socks and funny hat. I got hooked up to an IV, vitals taken and then went through a checklist of symptoms or problems I might have with the nurse and the anesthesiologist. I've had the pleasure of minor chest pain (due to the giant mass in my chest pushing on my lung) and I learned that telling people about chest pain in pre-op will get you a lot of attention.
The first nurse decided to do an EKG just to make sure I was ok. Well, that was abnormal. My heart rate was high and I was having some T wave abnormalities (inverted t waves). She goes off to find the anesthesiologist. A PA stops by asks me the same list of questions as the nurse and she again gets concerned about the chest pain. I tell her the nurse is dealing with it. They all asked if I had any idea why I might be having chest pain....well, 8.8cm mass in my chest, pleural effusion and atelectasis might be part of the problem. Also, I hadn't had anything to drink in like 20hrs so I was dehydrated. Nurse comes back...tells me a cardiologist is coming down. At this point they let Jenny come back to pre-op. The cardiologist comes down, I tell him about the pain, why it's there, etc. He looks at the EKG, listens to my heart and tells me I'm going to be fine. ok, I'm done, right?
Nope...nurse comes back. Since my HR is so high, they want to do a 2D echocardiogram to make sure my heart is pumping strongly enough. So down comes the tech to do that test. She takes about 10min to ultrasound my heart, tells me that my heart is pumping really strong and heads off. So I got a total cardiac work up and passed. I wanted to laugh at all the nurses, the PA and the doctors when, after telling them about my chest mass, they got close and asked if I was following up on that and getting it checked out. I told them all that that was the reason I was there. I should have just been like "No, I'm not worried about an 8.8cm mass in my chest. I'm just ignoring it."
Anyway, after all that, we still had about an hour before they were ready for me and we spent time chatting with each other, a ditzy pregnant nurse and a grumpy older nurse. Finally, Dr B came out and signed my neck (BB), the anesthesiologist came and gave me "happy medicine" (Versed) and they took me back. They scooched me on the operating table, put a mask on my face and then I woke up. I spent an hr in recovery, though it really didn't seem that long. Came home, got settled in bed and that was that.

Yesterday was rough. The first day I really felt sick. I was tired all day, the dressing on my neck was making me crazy (I hate Tegaderm!!) and I was just generally uncomfortable. Late in the afternoon, my temperature shot up to 101 and I had this awful coughing/choking attack that was really scary. It passed pretty quickly and my fever broke by bedtime, but for 10min or so, I felt really awful. I finally got the tegaderm off when Josh got home and I sent him for sterile gauze. Today my skin is just all irritated, so I've decided to leave a dressing off when I'm at home. I'm feeling much better today and just trying to kill time until my oncologist appointment in 2 hrs. Hoping it's not too painful, but I really don't know what to expect. I'm just really looking forward to getting more answers.