MORE TOOLS FOR THE FIGHT

Valentine's Day. A day for romance, right? The plan was, to get my power-port installed, and then Eugene and I were going out for supper, just the two of us. Well, what is it they say about the 'best-laid plans of mice and men. . . ?
To start with, I couldn't have my morning cappuccino, because I was having 'surgery' with anesthesia, about 11a.m. Secondly, there was a large backlog of patients there, because of an ice storm/power outage delaying treatments and tests for the last two days. We got there early, got checked in, and the the wait began. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. I kept thinking "I'm in the wrong place for surgery. What am I doing in radiology, for surgery?" Usually, it's my husband who is fretting over delays. But not today. We traded personalities today. He was cool as a cucumber, waiting patiently, all day. I was a fretting whine-bag. I paced the floor. I asked 'How much longer?' Then I read a magazine, and paced some more. Finally, they got me back into a curtained room, and on my own cot about 3 p.m. After another while, the nurse came in and gave me a shot of antibiotics and some 'don't care' sedative. After the medicine had time to kick in, they rolled me back to the ex-ray room. What? Ex-ray! For surgery? When I asked why I was in ex-ray for surgery, they said, 'This isn't surgery, it is a radiology thing. We do this procedure in ex-ray all the time.' So, they started in, telling me that this would be a little sting, and rubbing disinfectant and stuff. After they started poking and stinging and whatever else, (I was answering them back, for crying out loud!), she asked me if I was doing okay, and I said, "I'm still caring!" She laughed and gave me more sedative, and I was out. No one had told me how painful this installation of power port would be; only how wonderful the power port would be in the long run. And it was wonderful in the long run. It saved me a lot of needle pokes in the next few months. But the delay, along with the extra 'don't care sedative' cost me my romantic supper. I tried drinking juice and water, then eating soup, then half a banana, and lost it all. So we went home to bed and some pain meds, and hoped for a better day tomorrow; which, of course, came with the sunrise, and a good sweet cappuccino!