Top Surgery Part 2

Somebody was moving my shoulders. "I'm sorry, I think I fell asleep." I said and opened my eyes. I was in the recovery room and still quite groggy. I was shivering or started to shiver and then got a warm air blower and put the pipe of it under my blanket. It seemed to work instantly.

it seemed like a flurry of activity around me, but it's also possible that i slept between spread out things. Also i had a blood pressure cuff that did measurements every 5 minutes. I can't remember many details, but the nurses were very good.

The room haf 9 gurney bays and there was one nurse for every 3 gurneys plus 1 or 2 extras to spell them on breaks or help for 2 person jobs. My nurse was named Helen. When she got her tea break a nurse named Joan filled in. They were both brilliant. Capable and caring. They were lovely.

Not long after I became alert, my left drain started filling quickly, such that it was nearly half a litre of blood. They asked what to do and were told to sit me more upright. That worked.

they gave me morphine in a drip, but not enough to make me loopy. Then they gave me some water. Then tea! Such lovely tea. It soothed my sore throat, and was one of the most satisfying cups of tea ever. Then a sandwich. Then a pain pill.

I looked down at my bandaged chest and was filled with a profound sense of relief. I was fine. I made it. It worked! It was amazing. Somethingthat for years I was afraid to even want and it was done and I was ok.

However, because of the drain issue, They thought they might need to send me back to the theatre, so I was in the recovery room for a long time, so I chatted w Helen and had more tea. Eventually, a surgeon that I didn't recognise said it would be fine and i got sent to a ward.

A gurney pusher and two nurses, one of them a student at Kings College, came to move me. They asked an elevator full of people to clear out for me. "Sorry," i said to a woman who got off. "You must be very important," she joked. "Everywhere I go, the paparazi!" I said. The gurney didn't take up the whole elevator, so the nurses were telling people to squeeze in. "Come on, get in there. Ok, now climb on top!" "He's a bit too young for me" the woman said.

We got to the ward and Paula was there.