So there I was finishing the pre-admission clinic on a Friday and told that my surgery would be this coming Monday.
This was really it. There was a lot to do and not much time before I would be out of commission for months. The first thing I did was to call my wife.
She advised me to stop by the office and explain to my colleagues what was happening. That was good advice. They were supportive and understanding. There was even a good joke or two along the lines of,”So, you really do have a heart then?”
Before long, we were home and trying to absorb what was about to happen. Poor Laura, poor Nancy, my wife, my daughter and I had been through a lot in the last two months. Now we were heading into yet another stress filled and harrowing experience.
The next day, Saturday, was shopping to get everything I would need for my hospital stay and recuperation; things like pajamas, housecoat and slippers; all the accoutrements of the stylish invalid.
Sunday was stormy. I had to be at the hospital by 5:30 AM Monday morning and the weather channel was predicting a big storm overnight. It was dark and blustery all day but started snowing around 4:30 in the afternoon. Worrying about how to get to the hospital before dawn the next morning we explored several options from booking a taxi to asking my brother to drop me off with his four wheel drive. In the end we decided to head across town before it got too bad and stay in the hotel across the street from the hospital. Come what may, I was confident I could get across the street to my appointment in the morning. Oh yeah, they even gave us a discount on our room because I was checking into the hospital the next morning.
With our plans set, my wife and I had a nice dinner in the dinning room then settled in to watch the city filling with snow.
At the pre-admission clinic they had given me a special antiseptic to wash my chest, groin and legs, once the night before surgery and again in the morning before checking into the hospital.
I went to bed early, sticky from the antiseptic and slept fitfully until 4:00 the next morning.
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