Hidoi desu ne(It's terrible, really bad), ha ha ha. Those were the first words from Doc Usami while I was on the operating table.
Yesterday was surgery day on my broken finger. I've never had surgery before so it was quite the experience, especially when the operating room turned into a comedy show.
When I arrived I was shown to a private room to change into a hospital gown. After that the nurse came in and hooked me up to an I.V.. It started to become surreal. I honestly thought the doctor would just sit me down on a bed, give me the anesthetic and put the pins in. It turned out I was getting the full operating room treatment.
I was then led upstairs to to the operating room doors. My nurse notified the OR nurse to open the doors to the OR and I was handed off to the OR nurse. I had to change sandals here too. The OR nurse had me sit on the operating table and confirm my name and injury before having me lay down. He then put a blood pressure reader on my toe and EKG monitor on my chest. After that a lead blanket to protect from the x-ray they would be using during the procedure.
The doctors and other nurses came in, a total of 5 staff in all and began their prep. My hand to my elbow was washed in iodine, then alcohol. After that Doc Usami injected the anesthetic and we were off to the fun show. Like I mentioned as soon as Doc Usami began trying move the bones he said "hidoi desu ne" and he and another doctor laughed. I then knew the atmosphere comfortable so I laughed and said "Uh-oh".
As he and the assistant continued to work and jest a new word floated around between them, "Acceptable"? I laughed when I heard this. This went on for a few minutes until he got the bones where he wanted them, acceptable! At this point they showed me the x-ray monitor and I said, "Much better, acceptable!" and we laughed.
Now it was time for the "driver". This was the part I was concerned about, drilling holes in my bones with a drill or driver as they say in Japan. Luckily I couldn't feel a thing or see what he was doing. The nurse puts a cloth shield between you and the surgeon so you can't see when they are doing.
The drill would go in, but all I could feel was a vague pushing on my hand. I don't know how many holes he drilled, but I'm pretty sure it was 4, two for the metal pins and 2 for the wire finger brace. Some more pressure and squeezing while adding the brace and the procedure was done. They sat me up to show me the x-ray and other than the metal pins my finger looked pretty normal again. I said, it's perfect and acceptable. They laughed and made some comments I forgot and began the clean up.
The procedure lasted about 40 minutes and was actually pleasant thanks to the staff. Of course due to the nature and overall simplicity of the operation they could relax a bit and crack jokes while still doing an excellent job.
A reverse procedure of coming into the OR & waiting room and I was back in my clothes in about 5 minutes. The nurse told me to be sure not to bump my finger and I told her not to worry about that. She advised me to hold it up to my chest to reduce the chance of bumping or using it which I have taken. She also urged me to take the medicine for pain as it would be intense once the anesthetic wore off. She was right. Even though I took the medicine at 8pm the pain that came in the middle of the night kept me from sleeping much. It's like a burning sensation combined with a throbbing pain and extreme soreness. Other than that all's well.
I go back to see Doc Usami on Tuesday for an inspection. After that I am home free for 4 week until he takes the pins out and the splint off. Now I just have to deal with the pain and make sure I don't bump or use my pinky. The latter is a bit harder to deal with as I am finding out. Opening my hand, gripping things all seem to trigger the muscles in my pinky. It's not a huge deal, just have to try and reduce any movements affecting the healing process.
So that's it. I'm off tomorrow to take my daughter to an audition at one of the Uniqlo/GU headquarters tomorrow. It's in a skyscraper downtown on the 33rd floor. We were there in January and I've been meaning to post about it so that will be my next post, unless something unexpected comes up. Here's a peek.
Until then thank you for the well wishes and thanks for readign!
