I went into surgery Thursday morning. It was around 7:30 AM when they wheeled me away. I don’t remember much after that (actually nothing), maybe because I was sedated immediately.

The surgeon called Inanna 7 hours later. Surgery went very well from his point of view but the extended time was due to the radiation damage to some of the tissues. The reason for the 8 weeks of nothing between chemo-radiation and surgery is for the tissues to heal otherwise the surgeon is dealing with somewhat withered problematic tissue. For whatever reason, mine was not as healed as expected so it complicated the procedure somewhat. That aside, overall the surgeon was very happy. Me? I was asleep.

Around 5 o’clock in my room the nurse came with my Lopressor, a heart medication. I asked her why and she double checked the order in the computer. She said it was one of the meds I take at home.

No, I don’t take Lopressor, I have no idea what it is, and I am refusing the medication.

She returned about 20 minutes later and said it was ordered “in error.” That made me feel better.

At some point that evening I was sleeping. A young guy came in and woke me by saying “blood pressure!” I lifted my arm a bit and felt the cuff go on. With my eyes still closed, the cuff tightening, there is a scraping at my teeth. What the fuck? I knocked it away and opened my eyes. He then said “temperature.” Right, asshole.

I quickly learned that they take vitals every four hours, round the clock. That’s fine. I also learned that every other staff member says “Vitals!” when they come in, except one, the aspiring Christian Szell, DDS. And this is not my foggy memory or my then drug induced state, it is how he did it every time.