When I was wheeled into room 873, the whole room’s image had changed for me. That morning I had left the room totally disoriented and disturbed. Now I was back in the same room, feeling better and hungry !! ( I had been on an empty stomach since 11 pm the previous night ) As mentioned in my last post, my partner, my parents, and a glass of Avil milk were waiting for me. 😊

In the previous surgery, I was craving some Avil Milk but they advised me not to have it, but this time Dr. Shahid allowed it! 👍 and Oh boy was it amazing!!!. 😊 I gave a brief description of crazy OT experience, to my family and partner, they all amusingly listened to the funny incidents and me getting called out and stuff. I guess everyone was just happy that I was back, and so was I.😊

My family and partner left after some time. That night Rajettan stayed with me in the room. The doctors came for their rounds, again we joked about the professor calling me out, and the transformers and ironman hallucinations. 😂 This time it was Dr. Askhar and Dr. Harin in the OT, I was told Dr. Shahid had OP and came in for a while and left. I didn’t remember seeing him there, come to think of it. I was joking with them about how it seemed to me as if they were slicing thin fillets of meat off my left thigh, with their arms going forward and backward in one steady motion. 😂 Dr. Shahid explained that they use a special tool for scraping the skin off, and they have to do it in one steady motion to make sure consistency is maintained to get a good stretch of skin. I asked how often now I would have to come in for dressing, well for the right leg it will be a week’s time as usual, especially with the vac change. But for the left thigh, they are not going to touch it for weeks to come. As for dressing the scrapped skin area on the left thigh, it will be extremely painful! Dr.Askhar joked saying ” you were complaining about pain in your right leg, now you will be complaining about your left thigh more!! 😂 Anyway was fun recapping the funny incidents in OT. Felt very much light-hearted.😊

After the Doctors left I noticed that the left thigh which was now padded with a bandage was oozing out with stains of blood. Initially, it gave me a scare. 😬 I knew they had scrapped the skin off but sometimes seeing is believing. Anyway, I informed Dr. Shahid and the nurses came to over pad it.

That night I slept like a baby, I don’t know if it was the effects of the anesthesia still lingering or the lack of sleep from the previous night. Whichever, I had a good night’s sleep.

A fresh morning

In the morning I woke up fresh, I had some discomfort with the padding on the right leg, but not so much as the left thigh!!. Then I remembered Dr.Askhar’s words about me complaining about the pain in the left thigh more, and yes he was right!😬 Now the right didn’t bother that much. Funny how one problem is only as big as the next one! 😇😅

Dr. Harin came for his rounds along with Dr. Shahid, they checked the Vac machine there wasn’t any exudate, at least yet. They explained in detail how the skin grafting was done mentioning how they had made hexagonal-shaped cuts in my skin to stretch it to cover the areas as much as they could. Now that explains why I didn’t see them for a while during the surgery the previous day. Also, why were the OT lights facing another direction, and Nived was talking about making cuts. It all came together – 😊 Amazing I thought to myself as they went on explaining. I asked how the skin was grafted on, and they mentioned staples!! They stapled the skin on !! Dr. Harin also mentioned that he made sure the skin was scraped from my outer thigh mostly and tried to leave the inner part thigh untouched as that part tends to hurt more for the patient.

Dr. Harin also mentioned a Heal Guard that Vac-man Anoop ✌️🏼 will be getting for me, and told me to get in touch with Anoop. Apart from the sting on the left thigh, everything else seemed to be looking ok. I was off IV and on oral meds. It looked like I could go home soon. They decided to wait a day more.

Calling up Moosa Kutty and the Big Surprise

I was narrating my experiences with Rajettan about my past surgeries, I happen to mention Moosa Kutty and how we were Pre OT and Post OT mates. This conversation led me to call up Moosa Kutty’s mobile number which I had procured through a discreet and very good friend of mine. 😁 The call was answered by a lady. It was Moosa Kutty’s wife. I introduced myself and he had spoken of me to her. It was then I learned that Moosa Kutty was hospitalized again for another surgery and that he was in the SICU!!!!. 😳 Wait I asked “did you mean here at Moulana Hospital,” and she said yes. His surgery was the previous day and they got him to the SICU around at 5pm. As if in a sudden flashback of incidents speeding in reverse like you’s see in the movies ( can’t help it I watch a lot of movies 😁)… hold on ! the patient that was brought in while I was getting ready to leave the SICU?? That was Moosa Kutty!!! 😳then it all came together, I remember the nurses gathering near the new patient and the name being said Moosa Kutty, man! it didn’t occur to me at that time it was my Pre-OT and Post OT mate from the debridement surgery !!!. 😊 So I mentioned all this to his wife and how I was also at the SICU the previous evening. There was a kinda special thing about it, I mean we both were in the Pre OT and the Post OT for our previous surgery, and then for this one, we both were in the same SICU! …😃 well at least for some time. Well, this makes us now SICU mates too. 😁 Moosa Kutty’s wife said he was still in SICU. I told her I will call him when he gets back, I ended the conversation wishing him good recovery and health and she wished me the same. After which I texted Hashim to see if he was still posted there and to see if he could kinda check up on my SICU mate! But unfortunately, Hashim was on leave that day. I asked one of the kind nurses to contact SICU to know how Moosa Kutty was doing. They got back to me saying, he was fine and would be shifted to the room soon.😊

That night I had some trouble sleeping, with nightmares, Rajettan kept himself awake to alert the nurses to give me a sedative in case things got worse. But after a while, I was able to fall asleep. Alhamdhulillah

Next Day

The doctors came for their usual rounds. I had some pain in the left thigh kinda stinging pain but bearable. Everything else was ok, the vac machine was still not showing any signs of exudate, perhaps it finally stopped oozing. Although I was concerned about the vac change in the coming week, I mean I had just been given a new set of skin. Remembering the past vac change episodes I wondered if while changing the foam the new skin would pry itself off- I know, I know, it’s a dumb question any layman / non-medical guy could have! But it still was a concern. The docs explained they applied something called a ‘cuticel’ padding, kinda like a wax padding that doesn’t stick to the wound. So the foam would just come off. I seem to be learning so much about the medical side of things.😊

Discharge and the heal guard.

By midday, my discharge was in order. While we were getting packed up to leave, Anoop arrived with the heal guard. He himself was kinda new to the product and went over the instructions with me. What this would do is protect my heal from any bedsore. In the past, we had tried cushions, even water-filled rubber gloves, but those didn’t help much. Anyhow, I tried it on. To be frank I didn’t feel comfortable at all. Felt really weird and out of place. I wasn’t so sure about this one.

I took a pic and send it to Dr. Askhar and Dr. Shahid. They had already come for their morning rounds. So I wasn’t sure I’d be meeting them. Just as I had hit send on WhatsApp Dr. Askhar walks in !! Talk about timing! He readjusts the guard and straps and voila!! it seems to work! God send I tell ya! 😇🙏

We chatted for some time, he was taking off duty that day early, so decided to drop by before I left. I asked about our spectacled masked man, and we went over the professor incident. Dr. Askhar mentioned that the professor is one of the most senior-most doctors in the hospital and really good at his job. They all respect him a lot. I have nothing against the professor, I am sure he is a very nice guy. His calling me out was understandable ( with all the racket I was making ) Just that he wasn’t used to me being so talkative under sedation! probably. Shalima later told me that the HOD was very much concerned about the patient’s post-surgery condition, causing headaches and stuff, so he doesn’t encourage the patients to talk much during surgery. Anyhow, I still prefer the spectacled masked man. 😊Later Dr. Shahid also dropped by and had a look at the Heal Guard.

Well, it was time for me to head back home, it was always the same drill as last time. Bed to Stretcher Trolley – Going down the elevator – Stretcher Trolley to Ambulance Stretcher, Ambulance to home, Ambulance Stretcher to my bed – finally home!😊