An Afternoon at the Theatre

"I am going to start injecting..."

"I am starting to cut, tell me if you feel any pain..."

"Knife."

And there the surgeon goes, cutting me up like a sirloin steak, rare.
Since he's working on my back, I can't see what he's doing. But, that's the thing, you see. Although I don't feel any pain, thanks to the local anesthesia, I can still feel the sawing motion on my skin, and the feeling of my skin being stretched and held apart so they can see whatever is under my skin. Whatever they're tugging at, I can feel it!

The nurse, not hearing anything from me, came over to the front to check, and asked if I was ok. I must say that I'm quite impressed by the nurses. While waiting for the surgeon to arrive, they were chatty and attentive, making sure that I feel warm with the ultra comfortable heated air blanket, which blows warm air at me through very tiny holes. They talked to me like they've known me for years, and I talked to them like they're my mother.

After working on my back, which went quite well and was over in less than 45 minutes, he proceeded to work on my arm.

This time, I can feel more pain during the injection of the LA, probably because the skin on the forearm is much thinner, thus the needle will get into the muscles beneath more easily. Although my face was covered, I can still see what's going on from the reflection on the surgeon's spectacles. I can see the dark red muscle tissues contrasting against what is by now my very pale skin. An assistant surgeon or someone like that was helping the surgeon to keep the incised skin parted.

Every now and then, the surgeon will say things like,
"Vein..." (I hope he meant to avoid it)
"Scissors..." (oh man....)
"Knife...." (what, more slicing?)
"Oh my god..." (What!?!)

"What!?!", I thought to myself. I tried my best to see from the reflection what it's all about, but all I can see is still the rare sirloin steak like colour.

Thank God, all in all, the operation was over in about 2 hours or less. The nurses and doctors of Tan Tock Seng did a good job. The nurses and staff were polite, gentle, patiently repeating what they told me again and again when I acted like a blur sotong. I was offered Milo and crackers before and after the op. Two different nurses asked whether I waited long, and they made sure I made good use of the huge blanket they provided instead of just hanging it over my shoulders. When I had to wait, even for just a few minutes, they made sure I am seated and comfortable.

I must say, I have spent much longer hours in a polyclinic without getting half as much done. But then again, at the polyclinic, I'm paying peanuts to hear the doctor tell me something I know. Here, we're talking thousands.

"Is one week mc enough?"

....mmmm.....