Isaac woke me up briefly at 4:15 a.m. and since then I’ve been awake due to thirst and anxiety. I listened to the very loud garbage truck, which I’ve complained about in the past to no effect, at about 4:45. And then at 5:00 the clock radio went off and I was forced to listen to a couple sentences about some lady who found a finger in her Wendy’s chili before I got the sleeping Ben (the clock is on his side) to shut it off. In 45 minutes we leave for the pre-dawn check-in. Surgery is at 7:30 and should be done by 9:30. Then a couple hours to wake up and hey, I could be home by noon! Farewell to my belly button as I’ve always known it. Farewell to my troubled gall bladder, which I’ve never really liked all that much and am happy to be rid of. Maybe my Tums habit will fade away now. I’ll never have to worry about another gall bladder attack, which is a very good thing. And after all the delays and the waiting I’m glad to finally get it over with.
(Yesterday a last minute crisis as my head cold took a turn for the worst. Would they cancel the surgery again?? Make me wait another 6-8 weeks?? I worried about it and debated whether or not to confess my slight illness to them. Finally I came clean and thank goodness since I don’t have a fever they will still march forward with it.)
But still… uneasy. I don’t really mind needles if the person behind them is skillful, but I’m none too keen on cutting nor stitches. I don’t fancy catheters nor ventilation tubes. Yesterday the nurse mentioned off-handedly, “We use a very light anesthesia…” which somehow wasn’t all that reassuring to me. I’d rather have the HEAVY anesthesia, thank you! I don’t know how I can go two weeks without picking up my 27-pound child, or how I can get him to not jump on my stomach with its new constillation of tiny wounds. His new thing is kicking me while cuddled up on my lap– Needless to say I take a dim view of this. It seems to be sort of a leg twitch gone wrong, or something mindless rather than in any way intentional. But still, a few karate moves could really be a problem after this procedure.
My dad and step-mom are here to help, thankfully. My plan is to have them and Isaac out of the house when Ben and I come home from the hospital, so I can slink up to bed and hide there, sleeping, for the rest of the afternoon, unmolested. I’ll let you know how it goes…