The surgery!

At around 11AM, the nurse came and told me it was time to go. So I walked with her down to the theatre. It’s a pretty short walk so it didn’t take long. Your hospital gown will probably be open at the back, so make sure you bring a dressing gown and slippers for the walk!

First stop is the anaesthetic room, which is a small room adjoining the operating theatre. You will catch glimpses of medical equipment, monitors, and tables obviously. But again, don’t let it panic you. You have already been sitting waiting for longer than you will be asleep. In other words, you will be back in your bed waking up before you know it!

At this point I spoke to two anaesthetists who made general conversation and made me feel comfortable as I lay down on a hospital bed. You will have to undo your gown so that you are ‘on show at the back’, and then lay down on the bed. At this point, there is nothing else you have to do. Just let the staff do their job.

The anaesthetist kept talking to me to keep me calm and relaxed – just about everyday stuff. Jobs, football etc. Whilst she was doing this, her colleague put a cannula into a vein in my hand. A cannula is a type of needle which ‘taps into’ a blood vessel in your body to allow medical staff to insert anaesthetic, drips or whatever they might need to, without having to give the patient lots of different injections. It is kind of a ‘universal’ injection. Thankfully, for the procedure you’re having, there is very little they need to put into your blood, so it won’t be in there for very long. The cannula hurts about as much as any injection does, but the anaesthetist will smear your hand with a numbing substance first, so it really isn’t that much of a bother.

At this point I must warn you that different surgeons or hospitals use slightly different techniques or substances to put you asleep. I will describe exactly how mine happened, but your experience may vary!

The anaesthetist applied one syringe into the cannula. I half expected to fall asleep at this point, but I didn’t. I was told that the first syringe was a painkilling drug, that would also make me quite drowsy. This is the best bit really folks. Once you have had that, you are still fully awake, and still fully aware of what is going on around you; but you are so relaxed and drowsy you just don’t care what happens next. It is a really nice feeling. Nothing at all to worry about. I think that they also put an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth at this point. I have trouble recalling it fully, but it certainly was nothing intrusive. I was ‘awake’ enough to ask what the first drug was, and for them to let me know when they were going to ‘put me asleep’ which they did, around 30 seconds later.