where is part 1 you ask? well who needs that when you can right away get part 2.
this is my first time typing with one hand (left) and on a tablet and in the hospital.
an anaesthesia doctor is currently talking to the 92 year old “roommate” of mine of a night. im leaving in a few hours and she’s having another operation.
im discharged and at home alone as i continue writing. i can also type with my right hand now though less efficient so the left hand is dominating. my total duration of stay at the hospital amounted to less than 24 hours. a friend accompanied me to another friend’s car. it was raining and i coudn’t properly wear my winter jacket
TIMELINE (vaguely as i remember it)
27/01/21
13:20 arrived at the hospital and then “checked-in” to my room. this procedure is different than the last time, presumably due to corona
15:00 my friend left
16:28 i was pushed out of the room; had to leave my phone, glasses and everything in the room
16:35 arrived at the observation room. a doctor there seemed confused and said that he had no idea. lollllll. i was left there alone with my thoughts but i could see the clock. a lot of people in scrubs passed by me, some looked over me, some completely ignored me, some left with bags. at one point i thought everyone’s leaving so i asked the Had-No-Idea doctor if the surgery was still on. he said yes of course
17:20ish a female doctor who just pushed a patient bed in introduced herself as the anaesthesia doctor and that she would be with me shortly
around 17:30 i had to slide to the “table”, i didn’t know that’s what they call the “bed” that patients are on while being operated. for safety reasons a belt was secured around my knee area. this reminded me a little of the execution chair that they use in America to administer the lethal injection. the anesthesia doctor cheerfully told me that i made a great decision with the partial anaethesia; i would be awake the entire time but she could chat with me
17:35 finally at the operation theatre! i think i saw a total of 10 or more different medical personnel. the anaesthesic team realise that they would have to call in an “expert” cos they would have to turn my entire arm numb ( i think they thought it was just the lower arm)
i no longer could see a clock so ive no idea now
they set up tables or something like that for me to stretch both my arms on each side. now this REALLY reminded of the execution chair cos they were also poking on both ends. the cheerful-anaesthesia-doctor tried to distract me as her newbie assistant tried to insert a needle on my left hand. also worth mentioning is that, at this point i have been fasting, not even having a drop of water, for about 18 hours now. i guess my veins were not very visible. well it hurt like hell as the cheerful doctor was distracting me by making small talk. i said i learnt German in Freiburg and she replied with “ich lieeeeeeeeebe Freiburg!” followed by me squirming in pain. then she took over and finally the easy part is over. this entire time, a motherlike-doctor was cupping my face, this doctor would hold my hand for a few times. seriously, very motherlike. i ended up with three holes on my left hand
next, the expert-anaesthesia doctor was there and he guided the cheerful-doctor using a device that allowed them to see the capillaries and shits like that in my body. another doctor/nurse was beside on standby to release the anaesthesic liquids and i could feel my muscle contract and that caused me to jerk. (i think people being executed sense something similar but much stronger and it happens all over their body) they repeated the process a few times and at another location then it was time to wait for it to work
later, two doctors rubbed my entire right arm in red alcohol. (i was already asleep during the last surgery so it was eye-opening to see them doing it live). some doctors made sure i was warm enough and securely strapped on the table (including the motherlike doctor, of ourse). after that, they told me that they will build a “tent” to maintain a sterilised environment during the surgery. in this “tent” lied only my right arm. i could not see a thing so i was a little disappointed cos i honestly thought that i would be able to watch them doing the surgery.
after all of this was done, they started the protocol, like calling a meeting (something i missed the last time too). very interesting.
finally, it was time to test the anaesthesia. someone pinched me and asked if i felt that. yes. it hurt a lot. and then they were like: “hmm should we have a full anaesthesia?” then the anaesthesia team suggested that we all wait for another five minutes. but like 30 seconds later they directly cut on my skin which hurt so much my entire body jumped forward (now i know what the safety belt is for) and the surgery team called out: “nope it’s not working.” the reply was “well we said to wait for 5 minutes, not 30 seconds, if you can’t wait, then let’s just do the full anaesthesia.”
after getting my approval, i was then unconscious and they did their thing. i think it might be 18:30 when they finally started.
20:20 i was awake as they pushed me into the observation room. they mentioned that i regained some consciousness as they were sewing the wound. i was in pain so they gave me liquid painkillers. i also noticed that my right arm was numb so that proved that the partial anesthesia could’ve sufficed.
a nurse was tending to me and asked me where im from. then she said that she was there before too. i showed her my tattoo. at this point i was kinda groggy and upset cos they didn’t save the metal plate that they removed. at one point she told me that it was already 21:15 and i remember thinking: wow time flies down here.
finally got back to my room at around 21:30 and got my phone and informed my dad, my partner, and some friends. then Instagram.
as i could walk (something that i couldn’t do well the last time), i even used the toilet without help. but i needed help because i was on my period….ugkkk so much blood loss. i felt like throwing up and they told me it’s because of the anaesthesia; i practically had too much of it. i requested food though they dripped glucose into me before this. and i ate it at about 11pm, with the help of a nurse smearing margarine and jam on two slices of bread. the hospital doesn’t serve vegan meals and it came with a yoghurt. i happily ate the plain yoghurt cos i haven’t had dairy products for about two weeks now (it’s not a very long time but still). this morning i had cheese and quark for breakfast hahahahaha. what is Veganuary hahahahaha
28/01/21
the lady beside me couldn’t sleep and we made some small talk and tried to sleep. i was awake once at around 3am. then again at 5am because a nurse came in who barked “junge Frau! haben Sie nach der OP Pipi gemacht?” (young lady! have you urinated after your surgery?) then again at about 7am cos they were doing their rounds.
a 10-doctor team came to greet us (my roommate and me). their first words to me were “you have extremely hard bones hmm. i heard that they struggled a lot to try to remove everything.” to which i replied: “well that’s great to know, so it wouldn’t break again.”
a doctor came and removed my bandage and by 11:10am i was ready to go home.
i said goodbye to the lady who was born in 1928.
11:48
im home
currently, the only movement deficit that i experience is my right thumb. i cannot maneuver it to do a thumbs-up but they think it’s because of the anaesthesia. we’ll see tomorrow if it gets better. i have a vague feeling of wanting to vomit.
they only removed maybe 20% or less than what used to be in there. screws were broken in an attempt to haul them out. the surgery took longer than expected.
my doctor in Malaysia was right, he told me that the metal things should be removed within a year of installation…it’s been almost 21 months. the doctors here in Germany claimed that it wasn’t healed yet last year when i went.
well well, i am then a humanoid for life. 😛
idontlikekwy 