We arrived at the hospital about 20 minutes before my 9 am check in time. Lauren from church met us at the door and walked with us back to the day surgery department. It didn’t take but a few minutes before they called me back to get the first round of questions out of the way, start an IV, draw blood for testing, and replace my clothing with one of those fabulously tailored, backless to the bottom hospital gowns. Then Chris and my “daughter “ walked in. Apparently Chris and Lauren were inspired by the Humphries, and a rapid adoption took place in the waiting room. I guess whatever assumptions the staff made were enough to get them both through the rigid security measures. It was great to have them there. Lauren even did a really good job of praying just before we headed up to preop
Oh and the neurosurgeon popped on on us, too. He reviewed everything, but this time his incision estimate grew a little longer. So did his prediction of time of surgery. In the office he assured a one to one and a half hour span. This time he threw out a three hour time frame. That also threw Chris for a loop. And he also said I would be spending the night rather than going home shortly after the surgery. Not the kind of surprises Chris enjoys. But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. They moved me to the surgery holding tank.
All went well in surgery, I guess. I was asleep. In fact I don’t remember much of anything once they gave me a shot in the iv to relax me a bit. That was on purpose. Since I was to be placed face down on the table, this way they could just flop me onto position on stomach.
I woke up back in the recovery room after about 2 hours. Chris was ever by my side. And with her this time? Not Lauren. She had to return to work. This time Chris’ companion was Squints the monkey patient stuffed animal wearing the air conditioned rear hospital gown on. Thanks Lauren.
We ended up staying in the recovery room for much longer than expected. They finally told us at 3 that I had been assigned a room, but sadly it wasn’t yet cleaned. Other patients came and went and still we waited. Finally, sometime after five, the call came in. Housekeeping was done and we were on our way.
Once we arrived on the eleventh floor and got moved on we were told we had to order food within the next five minutes. I went for the cheeseburger and fries. Shared it with Chris. Best fries I’ve had in a long time. They asked Chris if she was staying the night, and brought her a pillow. Around 8:30 they came in to give me some meds or something. And the night nurse saw Chris for the first time. Uh oh. We were read the riot act about the Covid protocols requiring all visitors to leave at 6 pm. Wish they could get on the same page. She followed orders and went on home.
Actually the biggest problem came later when the post surgery headache and nausea set in. They also unloaded the dump truck of meds at me. One shot and four or five pills. Before long my head was killing me and waves of nausea came and went. Not to mention the severe heartburn. They tried two nausea meds, and the second, an iv infusion, finally worked. Well, it put me to sleep at least.
I had an early wake up call (5:30) visit from one of the baby docs in neuro. I recognized her from the teams visit in the holding tank. She asked questions and did a physical exam. Very professional. Said she would return later with the rest of the team.
And before long another baby doc showed up. She was not with the team though. Probably first year. She asked her questions, reading directly from her checklist. Then she left the room. Oops. In a scant minute or two she was back. She forgot to do a physical exam. That didn’t take long, and she was gone.
But by then it was time for the neurosurgery team to pop in. Same questions. The head baby doc told me he would forego the physical since I had already been subjected to it twice. He also said the manic words. “We’re gonna cut you loose.” Not sure when that will be though.
Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you”
Father, thank you for the team of folks who took care of me. Bless them for that. And please be with the baby docs as the continue to learn their trade. That’s a long, hard trail to climb. Amen
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