Pre-op Bits and Pieces and a Cruise in April!!!! - November 17, 2015

A beautiful day in San Mateo as I went about my tasks -

nothing like Mumbai traffic and madness!

It's been a busy week for me.  I finished up my preparation for tomorrow's right total shoulder replacement. I saw Dr. Yan, my primary care provider, the middle of last week for my preop physical and EKG - good to go in that department, then went yesterday for a chest x-ray and type  and crossmatch - though I don't anticipate needing any blood.  I expect all will go as smoothly as it did when I had my left shoulder done two years ago.  I am so ready for this operation since I have been in so much pain for the past year.  I know recovery will be a little more difficult since I won't be able to use my dominant hand for awhile ...Thanksgiving is out for me since I'll only be a week postop and I won't be up for a drive to Sacramento and hanging out all day with everyone.  I'll relax at home, maybe have a turkey TV dinner, a vodka martini, and a long snooze!

Did a few last minute tasks today, filled the car with gas, got a manicure and pedicure, prepared my advanced directive for health care, finished filling out hospital forms, went out for spicy Chinese food and did laundry.

I am really excited about one thing!  For the first time in over five years, I will be going on a cruise.  My good friend, Kris Bleything and I will be doing the fourteen day transatlantic crossing April 16th from Tampa to Barcelona on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas.  After a week in Barcelona, she will come with me to India for a month.  Of course, I am planning to stay a few months but I am so excited to have a friend along with me for a little while - the first time I'll be able to show off "the country of my heart" to one of my American friends.  

Even nicer is that we'll spend a couple of days with my friend, Charlene, in Tampa, to start off our journey.

Well, enough chatter ... time to do my last minute check list and try to get a good night's sleep before my surgical adventure tomorrow.  At least Doctor Dreamy aka John Belzer, MD, is my orthopedist!

The sunset sky above my friend's condo with just a sliver of a moon.

Friday Flash 55 - Too Bad My Insurance Doesn't Pay For A Facelift - February 22, 2013

I came home from far off India,

Succumbed to the surgeon's knife,

Because my horrible shoulder pain,

Was messing up my life!

The shoulder on my left is new,

Five weeks ago today,

All that terrible pain was gone,

From the first postoperative day.

A bionic woman, though I'll be,

Other joints are bothering me.

I am participating in it Mr. Know-It-All''s

Friday Flash 55.

Why don't you join in the fun with your own 55 effort?

"H" is for A Hospital Tale - Alphabe Thursday, 3-11-10

I am participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday!

Check it out at Jenny Matlock...off on a tangent, Alphabe-Thursday  and join in the fun!

 

H is for A Hospital Tale

 

Six thirty in the morning and the operating room was a flurry of activity. I had long since finished my second cup of coffee and was busy opening packages of instruments for the surgical technician and conferring with the anesthesiologist who would be "passing gas" for the scheduled procedure. The patient, an elderly man, was waiting on a gurney outside, while we completed our tasks, efficiently, counting sponges and needles, setting up equipment, almost like robots.

An above-the-knee amputation, left leg, on a 70-year-old. As the circulating nurse, I would be responsible for the care of the patient, along with the anesthesiologist. This type of nursing offered little opportunity for actual nurse-patient interaction. In twenty years, I had seen hundreds of patients, for brief minutes, before they were put to sleep, and might have a few minutes with them as I wheeled them to PAR ( post anesthesia recovery ) after their procedures. I always tried to stand next to them and hold their hands as they were put to sleep, hoping that the touch of another human being might help to allay their fears, give them some comfort as they entered the world of unconsciousness and oblivion.


Rarely, did we encounter any humor in the course of our days in the operating room. Much of our work involved life and death and, though it might have helped to laugh occasionally, we seldom did. Sometimes, though, our patients reminded us of how precious a quality a sense of humor can be. This particular day was special for that reason.


As I rolled the gurney into the room, my patient smiled brightly at me. We went through the identification procedure and he told me clearly that he would be having his left leg amputated. Carefully, keeping him modestly covered with a blanket, I moved him from the gurney to the operating room table. The anesthesiologist and surgeons spoke to him briefly, then the surgeons went outside to scrub. I held his hand as he was put to sleep and he gave me a smile and a squeeze. After a "go ahead" nod from the anesthesiologist, I began to remove the blanket in order to do the preoperative "prep" and scrub of the old gentleman's leg. We were completely amazed at what we saw. Our patient had made his left leg a complete work of art. In resplendent colors of every hue, from his toes to his groin, front and back, with washable markers, he had been painted with curlicues, stars, symbols,and lovely scenes. In between my laughter, tears streamed down my face.