The "Operation #2" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was heading to the hospital for another operation. Seems I was either lifting something too heavy or squeezing something out to hard and developed a hernia in my lower left abdomen. Stuck out pretty good. Sometimes you could push it back in. The doctor said it needed to be corrected, because if it became entangled, it would cut off blood supply and require emergency surgery. OK, let's get it over with. In 1966 I had one corrected which was on my right side. This time it's on the left side. After arrival at the hospital, I go through admissions and head to the surgery department. I am given a shave to prep for the operation. Then I am given a magic marker! "What's this for?" I ask. "Mark the location with a circle and then draw a big arrow to the spot where the hernia is located," the doctor tells me. Wow, can't they see it? Left side. I can no longer see the scar from the first hernia and there are no records to tell the doctor exactly where it was, but he assures me that is OK, since I knew it was on the right side. They wheel me into the operating room and give me the final dose of meds to knock me out. It worked! I wake up in recovery, sick in my stomach. Why does that happen? Eventually I go back to my room and is greeted by my wife, Carol. Well, the next day I'm struggling to walk or even sit up. They decide I will be better at home. Carol disagrees with them, but takes me home anyway. The next day she REALLY disagrees with them when I'm sick and yelling in pain! "It can't hurt that much," she advises me. "If you ever have another operation, I'm going to make sure that you stay in at least a week. Maybe two weeks!" Well she heads to the store for more pain medication. Lots more. After a few days I start to feel better and talk to the doctor on the phone. He asks about my recovery and then tells me that the first operation was also on the left side. What? Can't be. But it was. He hit quite a bit of scar tissue and in cutting through the scar tissue he happened to cut some nerves which were in the way. He said the result will probably be no feeling in the lower left abdomen. NO FEELING!! Down there! I told Carol what he said and asked her to feel around the area to see if I had any feeling nearby. "Yeah, right!! Feel it yourself!" was the response. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.