1. Exploring a Broken Bone (pt.2)
Dr. Ushiba was the Orthopedic Surgeon who
looked at my x-rays. He said that it was a
fractured bone that broke in an unusual way. He
told us that I needed to get it put back into
place, also known as reduction. He then sent us
to the hospital because I needed to have my
bone manually reset and a pin or two to keep it in
place. This needed to be done at the hospital
because in order to not feel any pain, they had to
put me to sleep.
We arrived at the hospital around four o’clock, my
surgery was not scheduled until eight. The reason why my
surgery was scheduled so late was because what they used
to put me to sleep relaxed my entire body, including my
stomach and lungs. So, if I had anything in my stomach,
while I was asleep, the food in my stomach could come up
and I could inhale it into my lungs. The medical term for
this is aspiration.
When it finally came time for my surgery, I got a
little nervous because I had never gotten this bad of an
injury before, and had never had surgery before. I was
lying on my bed and they wheeled me into the room where
my surgery was to be done. Once I was in the room, they
carefully moved me from one bed to another. This room
was very cold and so was the bed. (They asked me several
times if I wanted a warm blanket.) My anesthesiologist
put a big, plastic mask on my face that covered my nose
and mouth. This was laughing gas, also known as nitrous
oxide. The last thing I heard as I was falling asleep was
the nurse asking, “Are you okay?”