Modern Medicine

Yesterday I had minor surgery to remove a cyst from my neck. Lucky for me, it was near the surface, making it easy to remove.But still, it was a bit scary, or rather, the anticipation was a bit scary. If my regular doctor had said, "hey, let's go ahead and take this out. I will numb it up and do it here." I would not have gotten myself worked up. But that is not how it went. I had to have a whole bunch of tests in order to get ready and make sure that I could have surgery. To start with, due to the pnemonia, I had already had six doctor's appointments with five different doctors and I had a C.A.T. scan. I also had my throat scoped. Then I had to have an echocardiogram to check that my heart murmur had not become a problem. I had to have a sleep apnea test and a host of bloody and urine tests. Having so many tests made me feel like maybe I was a little broken. Which I knew was a screwy response. If one of my friends had mentioned that he/she was having so many tests, I would have said that it was just precautions and information gathering. I had to remind myself to be kind with myself, the way I want others to be with themselves.

The first time he felt the hard marble like lump on the back of my neck he worried that I had some sort of cancer. I knew he would be relieved once I got it removed and tested.

Once the "let's really get ready for surgery" ball got rolling, I knew I was going to be fine. The folks over at Good Samaritan Hospital in Broomfield, Colorado are awesome. They were on time and very kind. They explained why they were about to do what they did and why it was important. They were interesting and funny. They treated me like I was a real, interesting and important person, instead of just a task to complete.

My doctor, Doctor McDonald, had warned me that the neck is a sensitive area that bleeds and hurts a lot. He prepared me for the idea that I might need to stay the night at the hospital. He told me what to expect, what choices he might have to make and how he would proceed. He was awesome, truly. I wanted to think that I am tough and that I would not need to stay the night. Afterall, I gave birth to my son without an epidural. I was hoping I could handle this, too. However, I did not have to as the anesthesiologist, Doctor Montez, was equally amazing. They prepped me, wheeled me into the operating room and I heard them getting ready, or at least that is what I thought they were doing. I was conscious the entire time, but I must have been pretty clueless. At one point I asked them when we would get started as I had not felt any pain yet. Doctor McDonald replied that he was almost finished, and he was. I did not feel a thing. Stubbing my toe is much worse than any of that process. I was then moved to the recovery room and was able to go home soon after that. I spent the afternoon napping and went to bed early, but that was about it. I did not even need any pain medication in order to go to my day long meeting. Since the wound was closed with something like super glue, I will not even have to go in for a follow-up visit. That is a good thing.

Larr later reported that Dr. McDonald said that the cyst was really pretty large, being about the size of the end of my husband's large thumb and that he is sure that it was a cyst, though it will be tested, just to be sure.

Yeah for modern medicine and quality care from all of the staff at Good Samaritan Hospital.