The day began early with some crazy nurse coming into our room just before 7 AM to switch on the lights and open the blinds – I swear they do that earlier and earlier every morning.
The Disaffected Japanese Youth was rousted at 7:30 AM to begin his march to the slaughterhouse. The best I was able to understand from the nurse is that he has some sort of rare bone disorder in his shoulder and they’re gonna shave a bunch of it off. In any case, I won’t be seeing him again; they transferred all his stuff to another room as soon as he left.
My day began at 11 with another trip to rehab. Matsumoto-san told me that if all goes well I can expect to begin real rehab on Thursday.
Once I was finished with rehab I returned to my room and got to shave most of the hair off of my right leg. You’d be amazed how much of my “tan” is really just an illusion caused by my thick black leg hair. Ma Li arrived soon after while I was enjoying lunch and delightedly took several pictures of the naked leg. Don’t worry, they’ll make it up on DJ eventually, perhaps after I get discharged.
At 2 PM we headed down to the anesthesiology wing for the briefing on my procedure tomorrow. The gas passer, a young fella, gave us the step-by-step breakdown:
- First I get an IV drip to sustain my awesome body
- then we (Ma Li, Masako-san, the Gas-Passer & I) walk up to the 3rd floor and I hop up on the operating table next to the chainsaws and power-trimmers
- I turn onto one side and receive a topical anesthetic
- once that kicks in I get my epidural
- once they’re satisfied my epidural has taken effect they hook up an oxygen mask
- for the final step, I’m given an injection that knocks me out cold in 10 seconds or less, pretty powerful stuff eh? (Sorry Walt, I didn’t catch the name…)
Once I’m fully euthanized anesthetized, the team of surgeons sets to work and approximately 3.5 hours later I will regain consciousness with one motherfucker of a leg cramp.
As with any major surgeries there are a number of risks involved, but the chances that I:
A) Die
Or
B) Lose my leg
are remote enough that I’m not really worried, just quietly resigned to my fate and very much looking forward to waking up with my girlfriend holding my hand & telling me everything is ok…
I’m not sure what, when, or how much I can post the first few days after surgery but I’ll at least figure out a way to let you know I’m doin’ alright.
That’s about it folks. It’s only 5 PM here right now but I wanted to finish this one early so I could relax with Ma Li before they take my leg off. I’ll also be calling my folks tonight to talk to them before I go into surgery.
My actual operation start time is 1:30 PM tomorrow afternoon, or 11:30 PM Monday night Eastern Standard Time. If you’re awake, cross your fingers for me… 😉
Unmeiha, unmeidesu…
