Thursday, July 28, 2011

Mack the Knife

By now, the surgeon has removed one painful joint and replaced it with an artificial one and I’m ready to start rehab.

As an RN, I have helped many individuals prepare for surgery but this is my first time going under the knife. The cutting doesn’t worry me but anesthesia does. Someone is making sure I take in oxygen. The last time that happened I was too small and undeveloped to check up on the quality of care I was receiving. I remember one patient reading Robin Cook’s COMA as he waited in the corridor to go into the thumb_surgeon_ready_to_dive_inoperating room.

I learned what can go wrong in surgery and during recovery. However, I can’t operate on myself, give myself anesthesia, or develop a physical therapy plan. When I fly, I don’t spend time worrying. I’m not flying the plane and no one in his right mind is going to ask me to do so. I can be a first class neurotic driving a car in rush hour or on a highway during a snowstorm but then I feel responsible for not causing a disaster.

I have friends who enter into any medical treatment with suing on their minds. Their radar is tuned in for errors, especially ones they have seen in ads on TV. I think that’s a little like fighting with the cook. Not that errors aren’t made but I hope not to me and, if one does, I’ll deal with it then.

Most of all, I miss reading and commenting on the blogs on Writerswhokill and all the other interesting blogs out there. I enter the hospital, dreaming of the day I return home.

6 comments:

  1. I wish you a full recovery and hope you can return to WWK quickly.

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  2. Thinking of you! Keep us posted... xoox

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  3. You will feel so much better after this surgery--you'll be gardening and forgetting about us! Speedy recovery, Pauline.

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  4. I'll bet you'll love your new joint! But now at first. Speedy recovery and good healing, Pauline! Hope to see you back here soon.

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  5. Wishing you a speedy recovery, with the caveat that you take it slow and easy. Like any other major surgery, your body needs time to recover even though your head wants to run and jump.

    See you at Seascape!

    Sue Ellen

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