I had my gallbladder removed Monday. It is Wednesday morning, and I am
posting this from my home computer. The magic word here is
"laparoscopic." My mother (with whom I spoke, cheaply and easily,
across the Atlantic Ocean, but while that's modern technology, it's
not primarily medical) told me that not all that long ago, I would
have been in the hospital for two weeks. This was while we weren't
sure whether they'd send me home after one night instead of two or
possibly three.
Other useful modern aspects of this: the CAT scan for certain (though
I never saw the actual feline), X-rays, and ultrasound for diagnosis
and ruling out complications. The modern, better anesthesia (I asked
the anesthetist what they would use, and got a friendly discussion of
three compounds I'd never heard of, the note that ether is never used
anymore because it's dangerous, and that nitrous oxide is still
useful.
The friendly EMTs who trans****ted me briefly to the hospital with the
better ultrasound device, and their ambulance, probably don't count as
modern western medicine, nor do the repeated checks of my wristband to
make sure they had the right patient.. I don't know if the IV from
which I was getting fluids, antibiotics, other meds, and eventually
even some nutrients is especially modern or western.
Also on the low-tech side, I think part of why they sent me home as
soon as I did--other than that I wanted to be somewhere that they
don't wake you every four hours to check your vital signs--is that I
was doing well at things like getting out of bed and walking to the
bathroom on my own. And that, in turn, is due at least in part to
having figured out that if my abdominal muscles weren't happy--even
laparoscopic surgery involves incisions there--I could use my quads
and my biceps. Which in turn works because I spend a bunch of time
building them up, figuring (correctly) that it's good for me.
So I am home, with an assortment of prescription drugs, and
instructions on what not to do at least until my follow-up
appointment. I expect to be bored, but there are far worse things
to be.
--
Vicki Rosenzweig | vr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Heat death or cold, in randomness or Cause,
It is not how it ends, but what it was." --John M. Ford
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