All I remember was seeing blinding lights before my eyes, before I became aware of my situation. It was the day of my surgery, and I was shaking with fear before I fell into a deep sleep in the INOVA hospital. As soon as I woke up, I received overwhelming amounts of attention. I was recovering from my second surgery, and everything turned out to be okay.
I had a condition called a hernia, and I needed to undergo surgery to fix it. This wasn’t my first time having a hernia; I had already gone through surgery to fix it when I was only 5. It came back a few years later when I was 8, meaning I’d have to undergo another surgery. The hernia didn’t greatly affect me, but if I didn’t undergo surgery, it would become worse, and I would be in pain.
I didn’t know how to feel, as I had forgotten how I felt the first time doing surgery since I was so young. Naturally, I felt petrified because I hate doctor appointments, so going to a room filled with monitors, bright lights, sharp tools, and multiple doctors standing around me was formidable.
Before my surgery, I had to be aware of certain risks. We received a packet in the mail, and I read the first page and put it down because the information was too complex for me to actually process. The surgery was required to be done on an empty stomach, meaning I would have to fast in the morning in order for the surgery to be done successfully.
It was soon the day of my surgery, and I was woken up earlier than usual, at around 7 A.M. Since I was so sleepy, I had never truly processed that it was the day of my surgery. I slept the whole way to the hospital, and only then had I realized that I was only an hour away from surgery, and fear crept upon me. My fear was at its peak when we got in the building, but since we were early, we had to wait.
I entertained myself in the waiting room using its wide selection of toys. I built a railroad track, and as I spent time inside the room, I started to relax. A man soon led us to another room, politely inviting us to follow him. A nurse was waiting for me, she asked me some questions while she measured my height and weight, and asked us to follow her to another room where we would wait for the doctor. We waited for the doctor to finish the surgery before me, and the nurse asked me to choose a flavor of anesthetic. I chose bubble gum, and I didn’t know that the bubble gum flavored liquid would put me to sleep within seconds. The doctor soon came in and talked to my parents, and I zoned out while thinking about what the surgery room would look like.
When I went into the surgery room, I was taken aback by all the monitors, tools, doctors, and the shiny metal bed I was to lay on. The surgeon put a heavy blanket on me, and I waited for what felt like hours while the doctors consulted. After the tedious wait, the surgeon asked me to breathe into a mask, and count to ten. I breathed in and out, and my eyelids became heavy. I reached my hand out to the surgeon, hoping I that I would snap out of the trance I was in, and just as I was close to him, everything went black.
In an instant, I woke up in a more comfortable bed, next to my mother. The nearby nurse provided me with snacks, and allowed me to choose a toy as a “reward.” I chose a stuffed animal, and as soon as we came, we went home. I was exuberant that I had gotten through the surgery with ease, and I hoped to never have hernia again.
I had a condition called a hernia, and I needed to undergo surgery to fix it. This wasn’t my first time having a hernia; I had already gone through surgery to fix it when I was only 5. It came back a few years later when I was 8, meaning I’d have to undergo another surgery. The hernia didn’t greatly affect me, but if I didn’t undergo surgery, it would become worse, and I would be in pain.
I didn’t know how to feel, as I had forgotten how I felt the first time doing surgery since I was so young. Naturally, I felt petrified because I hate doctor appointments, so going to a room filled with monitors, bright lights, sharp tools, and multiple doctors standing around me was formidable.
Before my surgery, I had to be aware of certain risks. We received a packet in the mail, and I read the first page and put it down because the information was too complex for me to actually process. The surgery was required to be done on an empty stomach, meaning I would have to fast in the morning in order for the surgery to be done successfully.
It was soon the day of my surgery, and I was woken up earlier than usual, at around 7 A.M. Since I was so sleepy, I had never truly processed that it was the day of my surgery. I slept the whole way to the hospital, and only then had I realized that I was only an hour away from surgery, and fear crept upon me. My fear was at its peak when we got in the building, but since we were early, we had to wait.
I entertained myself in the waiting room using its wide selection of toys. I built a railroad track, and as I spent time inside the room, I started to relax. A man soon led us to another room, politely inviting us to follow him. A nurse was waiting for me, she asked me some questions while she measured my height and weight, and asked us to follow her to another room where we would wait for the doctor. We waited for the doctor to finish the surgery before me, and the nurse asked me to choose a flavor of anesthetic. I chose bubble gum, and I didn’t know that the bubble gum flavored liquid would put me to sleep within seconds. The doctor soon came in and talked to my parents, and I zoned out while thinking about what the surgery room would look like.
When I went into the surgery room, I was taken aback by all the monitors, tools, doctors, and the shiny metal bed I was to lay on. The surgeon put a heavy blanket on me, and I waited for what felt like hours while the doctors consulted. After the tedious wait, the surgeon asked me to breathe into a mask, and count to ten. I breathed in and out, and my eyelids became heavy. I reached my hand out to the surgeon, hoping I that I would snap out of the trance I was in, and just as I was close to him, everything went black.
In an instant, I woke up in a more comfortable bed, next to my mother. The nearby nurse provided me with snacks, and allowed me to choose a toy as a “reward.” I chose a stuffed animal, and as soon as we came, we went home. I was exuberant that I had gotten through the surgery with ease, and I hoped to never have hernia again.
