I've had some minor surgery today at one of those outpatient surgical centers. It's nothing serious but on the humorous side I just had to note the following.
You get called in by the nurse and they give you a gown to put on and some socks with the rubber designs on the soles to keep you from slipping while you walk to the operating room later. Here I am in this beautiful teal gown and the socks and I've got all my tubes in place and we (the nurse and I - I had to leave HWNSNBP on his own back to the waiting room) mosey on to the OR. Keep in mind she's carrying the IV and I've got my blanket "pashmina" on to keep me from flashing all of those lucky souls in the recovery area as we are stopped in the hallway to have a discussion with my surgeon as to which antibiotics he wants to dose me with because of all my drug allergies. That decided, we enter the room and there is a table which reminds me, not meaning to be sacriligious, a crucifix. A narrow, albeit wide enough for my butt, table with two extensions on either side for my arms, and a small rubber cradle for my head.
They were going to work on the left side of my neck. The IV was already put in my right arm and the blood pressure cuff was on my left arm and couldn't stay there or be put on the same arm with the IV. The neck was out - not that I think they ever put a blood pressure cuff on your neck (right?). So it had to be an ankle. An ankle. An ankle..... and I was so happy that the gown was long and the socks were mid calf and the legs and ankles were going to remain my secret.
My secret you say. Yes. I'm sure you've all (or at least the people my age) have seen those e-mails with the reference to your legs looking like a road atlas as you get older - yep, uh huhn. That would be me. So after she attached the cuff to my left ankle (the one she made note of that didn't look so "bruised") I said my Hail Mary while breathing deeply and happily went under.
Everything went well enough - like Rachel said to me when I came home "well, at least you still have your head attached!" But I've come to a conclusion. I finally know what kind of tattoo(s) I want. I want to get some road signs down on those ankles to go along with the road atlas.
And while I'm not in the mood for sitting and creating, I am blog hopping and I wanted to share some of the blogs and websites that I've come across today. If you have some time, take a click around the www with me.
Virginia Fleck - artist who repurposes plastic bags into works of art. You have to see what she does with them - absolutely gorgeous.
Ikea Hacker - some great ideas for using Ikea products in ways they were not normally meant to.
Midges Mind - Repurpose Barbie Doll pieces as jewelry - want to literally give someone the eye.
Junk Mail Gems Blog - Gretchen Fleener has a cool blog - just page down through the diaper posts if you're not into that right now for some cool ideas and other links.
I've been lots of other enjoyable places today and now I'm about to take some pain meds and see if I can find my own.
I've had five, FIVE, outpatient surgeries this year and during one, I had the ankle blood pressure cuff. I now know why people die while under anesthesia. It's NOT the anesthesia, it's the unrelenting pressure in those cuffs!
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