On Friday morning the nurse woke me up at 06:00, to have a shower and shave my belly.
Dressing up in the blue theatre clothing. Now it starts to get very real.
Unfortunately, I am not allowed to have any coffee and I am very nervous.
To the theatre
I was driven in my bed to the preparation area. It’s a cold place down in the cellar. Have you ever felt the cold of an operation theatre?
Green dressed nurses and doctors rush around, I need to wait a few minutes… Sitting on the cold stainless-steel table the tension raises, I shiver. There is no way of turning back now.
Are you ready?
The door opens, I see two nurses, they smile at me. “Hello Vil, it’s time. Are you ready?” I try to smile back. “Yes!” They giggle. “Good boy. Now, we need to place a few tubes and setup injection points. You will receive one direct point directly into your spline and one in your heart. We will monitor and regulate your vitals via these channels. Please sit still and bend over a little to relax your spline, I will place a tube around 10 cm into your spline, relax and don’t move. If you feel any tingling sensation in your legs or hands, please mention it immediately.
“And now don’t move …….. ”
I feel a sting in my back, the needle is set and the probe needs to move to its place. I can see the monitor, I see the probe and how she finds her way inside me. Fascinating. A bit scary.
“We’ve made it. The tube is installed and we will start to administer pain medication. You lay down now.”
More needles, tubes and connections installed, they finished. A mask with oxygen over my face, it feels a bit unpleasant. I see a syringe with a milky substance. “Propofol, I suppose?” The nurse giggles. “We have a pro here. Yes, you are right.”
Last moments.
The last 15 seconds awake and then it will get serious. My last thoughts, the last independent breaths and everything will go black.
My friend Propofol.
I know the procedure and I wait for the warm feeling when the milky looking liquid is injected into my veins. Once I feel it, I know that I will be deeply asleep within a few seconds. My last thoughts are about the journey ahead. “When I wake up the procedure will be done.” and then the Propofol kicks in.
Good night, here I am.
Around six hours later. ……
My consciousness came back, I slowly wake up. I hear the beeps of all the monitors.
My first thoughts. “How do I feel? Is there any pain or nausea?” I carefully check inside me and to my relief, I feel surprisingly good.
The nurse shows up. She tells me that the procedure went fine, with no complications.