Home Sweet Home

So on December 1st I went into the hospital for an operation that 10 - 15 years ago would have kept me there for a week or two.

Now thanks to modern techniques it is a one day thing and they are really stream lining the procedure. i.e.:

1. Two weeks BEFORE the doctor sent me home with all I need to "clean me out" AND already sent me home with my pain meds that I will need after the operation.
2. I already signed the release for them to operate
3. On the Monday BEFORE I went in for my blood test and they already gave my my hospital ID bracelet (!!!)
4. The nurse leads you to the prep-room and gives you 6 preheated rags, points to a diagram and tells you to wipe yourself down per the diagram. Yea, really - they have a laminated diagram for that!
5. The aid tells you what clothes to put where: one bag for shoes, one bag for clothes, types up a list of exactly what is going in the bags and I have to sign it. I guess some stuff went missing, eh?
6. Three different people come to ask you if you know why you are there - "in your own words" makes you wonder how many mistakes were done in the past?
7. To get an IV they shoot you up with something that numbs the area so they can poke around to find your totally dehydrated vein.
8. All that's left is that you have to wait for your turn in the OP

I remember rolling out of my curtained space, rolling down the hallway and the next thing I vaguely remember is coming to in the recovery room....then I was in a different room....next I remember Roger showing up....then I felt some pain...but they got me up on my feet and compared to other operations I've had, this wasn't bad. Not bad at all.

They wouldn't let me go home until they knew my plumbing worked and that took so long that they had to push me back into the recovery room.

About 11 hours later I was home - we're talking about major surgery here- removing an organ - same day home. CRAZY!

I do want to say thank you to all the doctors,  nurses and aids that took such good care of me while I was there. They were all sweet and made something scary, not so scary.

Now I just need to recover...walk normal again and pray that the natives don't get restless.

Aloha Hui Hou