Surgery

Although most of my child hood has been forgotten, there are still a couple of incidents that are very clear in my mind. I remember almost every detail of when I got my first surgery. When I ask my parents about my early childhood (1-6 years old) they comment on my constant sicknesses. I don’t know how to explain my medical condition very well. All I know is that mytonsils were often getting infected. My parents would give me so much penicillin up to the point where the infection got strong enough to fight the antibiotics. The only thing left to do was remove my tonsils through surgery. 

It surprises me how I wasn’t afraid to get surgery. Many people and mostly kids are afraid of almost every medical procedure: vaccine shots, surgeries, even regular checkups. As a child I used to think I was invincible, I didn’t think anything can go wrong. In other words, I didn’t have a care in the world. Maybe that’s why I was never afraid. The doctors gave me a brochure which explained what would happen before and after the surgery. I still remember the drawing of the little boy from the brochure. He had a faint smile and sleepy eyes after the surgery. I read the brochure to educate myself and be more prepared.

As I was getting prepared for my trip to the hospital I took hold of my favorite stuffed animal. It was a blue dog my dad had given me after he came back from work. The OR room was very, very cold and dark with a light shining the middle table. Anesthesia was given to me after I had been covered in a warm blanket. Waking up from the surgery was horrible. I started getting paranoid when my vision was blurred. The doctor told me not to worry, my vision will come back with time. Overall the surgery was good. On the plus side I wasn’t getting sick as often anymore, and I got to eat a lot of ice-cream.