OK, let’s talk about yesterday.
Got up at the usual time, despite my wish to sleep later. Made a pot of coffee for Gail even though I couldn’t have any. Gail gets a headache when she doesn’t get her morning jolt — and the last thing she needs on top of the head cold I gave her was a headache.
You know that feeling when the day is here… and it’s something you really are not looking forward to… and you know that in a few hours it will be all over with… and you wish you could hit the “fast forward” button to get to that point where it’s all behind you… but you can’t because there IS no “fast forward” button… you just have to wait until the time gets here…
Yeah. That feeling.
At 10 we left the house, dropped off some mail at the post office, deposited a check in the bank, then drove to the gastroenterologist’s office. Once we were there, I didn’t have to wait very long.
The nurse called me back to the inner waiting area. As we were looking over forms, making sure I was who I said I was and that I was here to have done to me what I said I was here to have done to me, I hear this sound coming from behind a curtain.
“Blabbablabbablabbablabbablaaaaaaaaaa……..”
Like someone stepping on a very large, rubber bladder and squeezing the air out of it. Someone was waking up from his or her colonoscopy. Another satisfied customer.
The nurse took me back to a curtained area (not the same one, thank goodness) and had me lie on a gurney. She started an IV and told me that I was next to go into the endoscope room.
Not long afterwards, the anesthesiologist came out and explained what was gonna happen. She made sure I was who I said I was and that I was there to have done what I said I was there to have done, and she rolled me back into the exam room.
Dr. K was there — a nice fellow. We discussed what I was there for. Pretty much same as last May, I said. Told him what I saw on the CT scan and that I had some polaroids to show him… he said he’d check them out later.
They asked me to roll onto my left side, so I did. The anesthesiologist put an oxygen cannula in my nose and Dr. K sprayed some sort of topical anesthetic into my mouth and told me to swallow. Then he asked me to bite down on a hard, rubber bit of some sort, which I did. A nurse grabbed my jaw and extended my neck as the anestesiologist ran the medicine into my IV, and…
I had something of a dream.
It’s hard to explain, but I was watching as colored cubes were arranged on a wall. And I was listening to my daughter, Nina and her wife Paula discussing it. I don’t know what they were saying or what the cubes were for or what the purpose of the whole endeavor was, but at the moment I found it fairly interesting.
Then, the nurse spoke to me. She told me it was all over with and put my glasses on for me. I was still on my side, but I was in the same area from whence the “Blabbablabbablabbablabbablaaaaaaaaaa……..” emitted earlier. 15 minutes had passed. I saw Gail walking toward me. Actually, I saw TWO Gail’s. “There are TWO of you,” I said with a happy smile. Then I told the nurse that I thought it would be a grand idea to hand out this particular brand of anesthesia in work places where folks felt like they would benefit from a quick 15 minute nap.
Seemed funny at the time.
The nurse helped me to my feet. My DBS devices were turned off (to keep from interfering with the EKG during the procedure) and I hadn’t taken a Sinemet pill that morning, so I immediately almost fell over to my left. The nurse steadied me, and she and Gail walked me to a seat to wait for the doctor.
Dr. K came out and explained that what I saw on the CT scan was nothing more than contrast material. But I did have some benign polyps and he did take a biopsy and I would have the results of that in a week or so, but other than that everything was hunky dory and I could go home.
Gail and the nurse walked me to the car and we drove to Arby’s. I didn’t have any cash, so I told Gail to take me inside so we could order and pay with the ATM card. I have vague memories of this, standing there looking drunk at midday, weaving side to side, ordering a sandwich for each of us, a shake and a cherry turnover.
We went back to the medical office and I sat in the car while Gail had her scheduled appointment with our family doctor. I ate my sandwich and turnover, and drank my shake. She was in there nearly an hour.
She came out, we went home… and by this time I was pretty well back “among the living.”
Today, I feel like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Balloon! I’ve been to the bathroom many, many times, and each trip has one thing in common with the others…
“Blabbablabbablabbablabbablaaaaaaaaaa……..”
Deep Brain Diary 
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