All morning at the hospital

Set the alarm for 6 am in order to get ready and be at the hospital for required pre operation tests . Actually woke up at 5:30 . Nerves.

Arrived just after 8 and followed instructions that took me along corridors to a lift marked A and  after that to registration on 2nd floor . Queue ticket , waiting room , then registration . After that down more corridors to lift B to the 3rd floor waiting room.

Waiting ...watching ...observing .... anxious
Checked my questions
Listened to recorded music on I phone
watched patients being called by doctors and nurses and disappear into consultation rooms

Nurse Jennifer calls me and asks me how I am feeling
A little anxious , I reply
Nurse Jennifer is lovely. She listens patiently to me and is reassuring
We go through the questionnaire that I've handed in - a double check of previous illnesses, medicines, allergies , food preferences , etc etc
Turns out her father is from Canada and her son is called Elliot
Jennifer is a real person .
I like that .... I am more than just a number and statistic
The EKG nurse yesterday was different; matter of fact , by the book , a robot .
Jennifer draws some blood and remarks 'good veins '
Yes, I know . One has to be good at something lol

After that , it's the waiting room again
I am a little bit more relaxed now and start to listen to music on my Iphone and check emails - YAY :. they have Wi Fi  !!
An hour or so goes by .
Gynaecology doc , who might also be the surgeon performing my surgery is next .
I get out my list of questions and she answers them.
After that she examines me , pokes around in side and out and remarks that 'everything looks fine ' which is good to hear , but then , why am I here ? LOL

Back to the waiting room
 More waiting
Finally it's my turn with the anaesthetist
Ebba is also nice and explains the procedure.
Something to calm me down before the operation , then anaesthetic in the back .
Epidural ?
No , its called .........
Oh .... does it hurt ?  Will I be awake ( horrors )
No , she assures me  she's been doing this for 20 years . Everything will be fine. I will be asleep. They do the back thing before putting me under. I don't remember why . There comes a point where one simply has to trust them and trust that they know what they are doing.

I ask Ebba , who is not Swedish , where she comes from .
Guess , she says
Egypt , I tell her.
That's right , she says , most surprised ..how did you know ?
You remind me of my dentist who is also from Egypt - I tell Ebba her name . Turns out that she knows of my dentist because her husband in a dentist and they know each other.
Small world .
Lovely to meet another healer medicine person who is not a robot .
I like Ebba .


Fast forward to today .. phone call from Ebba .
She has been thinking about our conversation and thinks it would be better for me , all things considered , that I do have an epidural after all. The tube can stay in for a couple of days after the op facilitating pain relief . Sounds good to me .