Back in the Room, I was wide awake and completely off from sedation. My recovery time at the parking lot had done its thing. Akthar and I had a discussion on areas I would need help with. Although he had taken care of patients during the 1st wave of covid at hospitals, this was his 1st experience as a home nurse. This is also my 1st time having to depend on another person for help on such a large scale, then again it’s true that among my previous injuries, this tops all!😬

I had achieved potty training and commode handling 😊. Which seemed to be the major areas I would have needed help with. So after this surgery, after they fit me with the Vac machine, I would have to wait and see how I can handle things from here on.

I had recently taken a liking for “Avil Milk” for those who aren’t familiar with it – it’s a smoothie kinda drink made up of mashed bananas ( the small kind ) in milk topped with brown rice flakes and added with dry fruits and nuts ) A local joint here called Mouzy serves the best ones. Using the delivery app “Food Door” we had ordered once or twice during my earlier admission days at the hospital. After nearly 12 hours on an empty stomach, I was craving some Avil Milk !! But had to wait to see if my stomach would be able to take on anything that thick and heavy, after the anaesthesia. Finally as advised by the nurses I had to put the cravings aside and settle for some plain good old H2O. It was around that time we were informed that we are going to be shifted to a Non AC room that was available. Room 865.

So a little after 8:00 pm the trolley came. The nurses came to help me move from the patient bed to the trolley bed. As always, I managed to move myself and my leg on my own. When I sat upright on the trolley, one of the nurses asked if I want to lie down. I replied, “No let’s go semi sleeper this time, I always take the sleeper bus, this time let’s do semi sleeper !! and check out the sights along the way !” 😂

Lighting Mc Queen

I slept early, Akthar stayed with me for the night. It wasn’t long before I started to have pain. Pain like no other pain .I felt like lighting passing through my bones- something called neurological pain in medical terms I guess. It felt like a shooting pain as I described it to the doctors. I had coined it as Lighting Mc Queen after the race car character from Cars the Pixar movie ( Big Pixar fan – if you guys haven’t noticed ! ) 😁 I felt it would subside as it didn’t last for more than a few minutes, so I waited. However, it didn’t go away. In the end, I had to have Akthar call the nurses at 2 am for a shot of painkillers!

Nighttime was tough, with lightning Mc Queen visiting me now and then. Although I was off from IV meds, I was still on S.O.S ( Save Our Souls! ) pain killers. Trust me when the shooting pains hit, I’d go out on a crying spree!! Thank God for the SOS pain meds !!! and Thanks to the T block Nursing staff who looked after me.

Not all are hallucinations !

The next day when the doctors came for their rounds, I told Dr Askhar ” This time my anaesthesia experience, I was at a radio station,” ” Yeah I heard music, song lists, and announcements!!” Dr Askhar points at Dr.Harin and tells me that I was actually in Dr Harin’s OT ( that explains the unfamiliar ceiling when I woke up ) and he plays music! in his OT while working. Now many might go WHAAATTT !!!! MUSIC !! while operating on a patient !!! , but I’d say why not? I guess we fail to see that this is their work, it’s an everyday job for them. I have myself listened to music while working on animation back in the day. Dr Askhar tells me that it was Dubai FM, and adds that they’d asked me where I was and I seemed to have replied “ I was in Dubai!!” 😊. Strangely I have never been to Dubai!! … that’s when Dr Askhar goes “ We were setting the mood for you” 😂!!