Pre-dawn
Pre-dawn wake-ups are not exactly my forte, but I doubt I'll miss today's morning call. I want to check in on Rog around 6am and make sure he's all feather-dusted before he is sedated around 7am and wheeled into theater. Still, I'm not taking any chances. I set 3 alarms, staggered at five minute intervals. Backup in case of alarm clock malfunctions or if I snooze the alarms. I need not have worried. I now know how light sleepers feel.
When I get to the hospital slightly before 6am, I find Rog enjoying a cartoon alone. I had arrived before his parents did! Yay - brownie points for me.
Rog had woken up about 3am - so much for the sleeping tablet, watched numerous educational programs on cable's Lifestyle channel, had a bit of a shave (yeah, right!), had a final antiseptic wash and tucked himself into bed. He is calm and looking forward to getting that pesky mitral valve repaired.
The nurses come in to move him onto a wheelie-bed and give him some tablets to start the sedation. He will start to feel drowsy, they say, and when he does, just let him doze off and don't keep him talking. Not surprisingly, after the nurses leave, Rog continues chatting and tells his aunt how he fainted at work. Not that easy to shut him up. But soon, the chemicals take over his strong natural instinct to yabber on and he starts drifting off. Just when we think it's safe to leave, he grunts and opens his eyes and tries to talk again, but this time he is slurring. This continues on for abit. He'll start to snore, his mom will ask him "are you awake, Rog", and he'll groggily mumble yes. So we hang around for a few minutes, then we whisper 'see you later' and leave.
As Rog enters the blissful realm of unconsciousness, we are left with the stark reality of the morning that stretches ahead. We wait and we pray.
When I get to the hospital slightly before 6am, I find Rog enjoying a cartoon alone. I had arrived before his parents did! Yay - brownie points for me.
Rog had woken up about 3am - so much for the sleeping tablet, watched numerous educational programs on cable's Lifestyle channel, had a bit of a shave (yeah, right!), had a final antiseptic wash and tucked himself into bed. He is calm and looking forward to getting that pesky mitral valve repaired.
The nurses come in to move him onto a wheelie-bed and give him some tablets to start the sedation. He will start to feel drowsy, they say, and when he does, just let him doze off and don't keep him talking. Not surprisingly, after the nurses leave, Rog continues chatting and tells his aunt how he fainted at work. Not that easy to shut him up. But soon, the chemicals take over his strong natural instinct to yabber on and he starts drifting off. Just when we think it's safe to leave, he grunts and opens his eyes and tries to talk again, but this time he is slurring. This continues on for abit. He'll start to snore, his mom will ask him "are you awake, Rog", and he'll groggily mumble yes. So we hang around for a few minutes, then we whisper 'see you later' and leave.
As Rog enters the blissful realm of unconsciousness, we are left with the stark reality of the morning that stretches ahead. We wait and we pray.
posted by groodle at 11/14/2006 08:00:00 AM
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