"Urology department operation"

Anything else?

I was admitted into the Urology department for a prostate operation. I was quite nervous at some of the previous comments concerning the operation plus personal issues and problems I was experiencing caused my blood pressure to rise significantly. I was interviewed by a number of people after being admitted, a nurse, an anaesthetist and the surgeon. Each explained the procedure and their involvement in my operation and to some extent alleviated my fears, but not all. I was then taken to a changing room and asked to remove my clothes and put on a hospital gown, all in private of course. Then I was asked to wait in a waiting room with other patients until I was called for my operation. There was a desk with a number of nurses in attendance, who kept us informed of developments and an approximate time that we would be asked to go to the pre-op room. Of course it is all on your mind and you do tend to worry. Eventually a nurse accompanied me to a pre-op room and left me in the care of another nurse. Everyone was very sociable and chatted about life. Eventually a gentleman came in and introduced himself, he was the assistant anaesthetist, very friendly and explained what would take place prior to the operation. Shortly afterwards a very charming nurse came to collect me. I was placed on a bed and gazed up at the nurse because i didn't want to look at the anaesthetist sticking needles into me. The injection stung for a few seconds and that was the total pain or discomfort I felt throughout the whole operation. I was then fitted with a face mask and asked to breath deeply, I think it was about three breaths and I do not remember anything else until I was in the recovery room. I assume they woke me up and as I came too, I panicked because I couldn't get my breath, I am a COPD sufferer, so perhaps that was the cause. The assistant anaesthetist was by my side with a nurse and very calmly told me to breath slowly in deep breaths and eventually my breathing became normal. After half an hour I was wide awake. The anaesthetist had left and I was being looked after by a nurse. They were waiting for a bed on the ward before I could be moved, which was for 2 hours. There was a lot of staff attending many patients in the recovery room. Another nurse asked me if I would like a cup of coffee and brought me a second cup a little later and also some sandwiches as I was starving. A number of nurses were standing at the foot of my bed, chatting and laughing, what a lovely sense of humour they all had. Eventually a bed became available and two of the nurses wheeled me through the hospital into the lift and down to the ward, what lovely girls. On the ward the nurses were very efficient and availabe most of the time to your needs. The social element had disappeared, not because the nurses were unsociable, purely because they are so overstretched with work. I was discharged the next day. There was no pain attached to this operation, perhaps a little discomfort at times.