Chapter 38

Thursday March 12, 1998

Randy's POV

Surgery is torture. Pre-surgery is even worse. Right now, I'm sitting back in a little waiting room with mom, Brad, Mark, and grandma. The TV is tuned in to The View, and they are currently discussing something that has to do with sexism in politics of the southern states. Geez.

'Randy Taylor' a woman calls from the door. I get up, and so does mom.

'Brad, Mark, you two stay out here and wait. Lucille, you can come back with us if you want to' mom says.

'Oh no, that's alright, I'll stay here with the boys. Good luck with the surgery Randy' grandma says.

The nurse who called my name leads mom and me to the left, down a drafty corridor, and then into an even draftier large room with 6 gurneys set up along with an assortment of cabinets, machines, IVs, and other medical supplies. On the way, she introduced herself as Mary.

'What I'm going to have you do now is go into that bathroom over there' Mary points to the aforementioned bathroom. 'Then you need to take your clothes off and put them in this bag' she says, handing me the bag. 'Then put on this hospital gown and these socks to keep your feet warm.' Mary hands me the socks with the little grippers/tread on the bottoms of them and the gown. 'If you need help getting the gown fastened, and believe me, you will, then you can ask either me or your mom.'

So I take the sack, the gown, and the socks and head over to the bathroom. Once inside, I make sure to use the restroom one more time before the surgery. Just then it occurs to me that during the surgery, I'll probably have to have a catheter put in. Ah, such lovely thoughts. Then I take off my shoes and then my shirt and jeans. I didn't think to ask whether I should take off my underwear or not, so I just leave them on. Then I sit down on the little bench between the toilet and the sink and take my socks off. I put the ones that Nurse Mary gave me on before I let my feet touch the floor again. I have a thing about touching any kind of floor in a hospital with my bare skin, let alone a hospital bathroom floor. Then I put my shoes, socks, shirt, jeans, and watch in the large bag that I was given. I stand up and put the gown on, with the open side on my back. I then wash my hands, grab a couple paper towels to dry them, and pick up the bag. I put the bag in my right hand, and reach around my back to clamp the gown shut. There may be only three people out there, but it's the principle of it.

I walk this way, bent over to my left, to the bed where I see mom sitting, talking to Mary, who has a clipboard in her left hand, and a ballpoint pen poised in her right. I get to the bed (which is conveniently enough the one closest to the bathroom. Hey, being the first surgery of the day has its perks).

'And is Randy currently on any medication?' I hear Mary ask mom when I get there.

'No' mom answers.

'Alright then. Randy, I'll let you get settled into bed, then I'll be back to get your IV started' Mary says to me. She puts the pen back on the clipboard, and pulls the curtain closed behind her as she leaves.

Mom ties the gown up in the back, and then I get in bed and immediately have to get up again so I'm not sitting on the gown. That makes things a little too snug all over. I sit down on the bed, this time without the gown underneath me. By the time I have the blankets pulled up and adjusted to my liking, Mary is back with what I'm assuming is an IV kit.

'Have you ever had an IV in you before?' Mary asks as she's getting something ready for the IV.

'No, not that I remember' I answer.

'Once, when he was two and a half' mom answers.

'Alright, well here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to tie this tourniquet around your arm to make the veins bulge, and then when I've found a suitable vein, I'll sterilize the spot on your arm using an alcohol wipe, and then I'll insert the needle into your vein, and then I'll insert the IV. Now, do you have a preference to what arm you want it done in?' Mary explains.

'I'd prefer to have it in the left one' I say. I think I could probably have done without the in depth description of how an IV is started. It's bad enough to watch one on ER.

'When I insert the needle into your vein, it will sting for a few seconds' Mary says. I fight the urge to say "ya think?"

'Alright, I think I have one here' she says. I look away, close my eyes, and grit my teeth as the needle enters the vein.

Several moments later, Mary has the IV in and taped up and the pain in my arm is minimal.

After she gets the IV in, Mary leaves and on her way out says the anesthesiologist should be in momentarily.

Sure enough, a couple minutes later, the anesthesiologist comes in and asks a few questions, and then starts an IV drip of something he calls Propofol.

About ten minutes later, Dr. Ultameier shows up. I was starting to get a little out of it at this point, so the only thing I could really comprehend was that he still had his sunglasses on, even though he was inside the building.

Then Mary's back. She tells me she needs to shave some of the hair off my head.

After that's over, Mary and another nurse, Samantha, start wheeling me back to the OR. Mom tells me she loves me and reassures me that everything will go fine and I'll come out of this better than ever.

I manage to keep my eyes open on the "ride" back to the OR. I can tell as soon as we hit the hallway to the operating rooms because the already low temperature drops even more. Mary promises me that there will be more heated blankets back in the operating room.

They wheel me into OR #2 and right up next to the operating bed. There yet another new nurse tells me I need to scoot over onto the other bed. Once I get over there, I just lie back and let the surgical team do the rest of the work. Two nurses put up arm rests for arms that have straps on them so they don't fall off. They put a strap over my legs too. The anesthesiologist puts a mask over my mouth and nose that delivers a mixture of oxygen and more Propofol. The last thing I remember is Mary telling me she's putting more blankets on me. Then I drift off to la-la land.


A/N: The next chapter will be surgery, Part II.

Everything in this chapter should be pretty accurate, because it's based off of my experiences with having surgery done.

Please R&R!

Thanks for reading and not abandoning me and/or Randy's Thoughts.

-Yours truly, Randy Taylor