Bob

This is the second surgery that I’ve had that has been with just a local anesthesia. The first one was 38 years ago, about which I wrote this 50-word story:

Mind if we watch?

At 29, I got a vasectomy. With my legs in stirrups and my junk hanging through a hole, the surgeon asked if a med school class could observe the procedure. To my surprise, I heard my Valium-induced euphoric response: “Sure, why not? Y’all pop some popcorn and sit up front.”

Last Wednesday, I had surgery to remove mucoid cysts on 2 of my fingers — also with just a local anesthesia but with no med school students watching.

The most interesting thing that happened while the prep team was reading all of the disclosures to me that have to made before surgery (e.g., “All surgeries involve some kind of risk.”) was this disclosure: “Dr. Erickson [my surgeon] is a business partner of — and has financial interest in — this center.”

About 45 minutes before being wheeled into the OR, I had a Valium and 4 (quite) painful numbing injections — 2 in the palm of my left hand and one into each finger that was going to be sliced open.

In the very cold OR, with a drape between me and my hand so as not to see the operation, along with the doctor there were several people in the room — 4, I think.

I chatted with the doctors and nurses the whole way through. Here are snippets of some of the conversations:

Doc (pinching my middle finger to make sure it’s completely numb): Can you feel this?
Me: Actually yes, just a little.
Doc: OK, let’s put a little more numbing medicine in that one. How about this index finger?
Me: No, I don’t feel anything on that one.
Doc: Good. We’ll start on this one while the numbing on the other one is progressing.

Nurse (scrubbing my lower arm and entire hand including all of my fingers): We are just going to get you good and clean to avoid any chance of infections.
Me: Thank you.

Doc: I’m putting a rubber cover over your nearby finger for protection.
Me: Thank you.

Doc: OK, we are finishing up on this finger. I’m going to stitch it up and then we’ll start on your other one.
Me: I appreciate the play-by-play as you are operating. It’s very helpful and comforting.

Me: Do you have a preference for the days you work in the office seeing patients as opposed to the days that you’re here doing surgery?
Doc: I like a mix of both, really. I enjoy spending time with patients figuring out what’s causing their pain, and I enjoy surgeries, too. This is my favorite kind of surgery, though, where the patient is awake and we can have a conversation.

Me: My husband and I are getting to the age where some of our doctors are retiring, like Dr. Edwards where you work. I saw him 18 years ago to look at my finger, and now he’s retired.
Doc: And his son is working with us now!
Nurse (I think his name was Peter): And his son is very good, too.
Me: Dr. Wyker did my knee replacement and my husband’s hip replacement. He’s probably getting ready to retire, too.
Nurse: I used to work in Dr. Wyker’s office! Good guy.
Me: He’s probably been on a few vacations in the Caribbean off of our joint-replacement money alone.

Me: Where is your favorite place to vacation?
Doc: There is a ranch in Wyoming that my family likes to go, generally once every other year.
Me (sort of joking): A dude ranch?
Doc: Well yes, it is a dude ranch. We like to ride horses, it’s peaceful and quiet there, and I like to sit on the porch and read — and just relax.

Doc: What’s been your favorite vacation so far in your life?
Me: Two come to mind: 1) For my 50th birthday I went to 3 places in the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die. They included The Blue Mountains of Sydney, 7 Spirit Bay in The Outback, and Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, and 2) this past August, my husband and I did a Safari at the Sabi Sabi^™ private game reserve in South Africa. It was as incredible as everyone says they are.

Doc: What do you do to fill your days in retirement?
Me: I read a lot. I read 102 book in 2022, and I’m close to 30 so far in 2025. Also, I spend at least 8 hours a day on the computer — a lot of that time writing. I was a writer and editor for a living, and I still write something every day. I write three 50-word stories around a theme every Wednesday, keep a sentence-a-day diary, and blog about observations I make during my day. In fact you’ll probably be in my blog one day this week.
Doc: Ha! That’s great. About how many people, would you say, read your blog?
Me: 4.
(Laughter all around.)
Me: I’m sorta joking, but it’s not a lot. You aren’t going to go viral or anything.
(Chuckles all around.)
Me: My husband and I also occasionally take walks downtown, take 5 or 6 pictures each, and then sit on our front porch with a cocktail (or two) and write haikus about them. Real renaissance men.
Doc (and others listening in the room): That’s neat.

Doc: We’re finishing up now. I’ll stitch up this second finger, and then we’ll get you out of here and into the recovery room.
Me: Thank you. All of you have been great, and I appreciate each one of you.

All-in-all, it was a great experience. I was only in the recovery room for 15 to 20 minutes and then wheeled out to the car in a wheelchair, which was required because I had had a Valium. Bob drove us home. I get these bandage monstrosities removed in 5 days, so Monday 3/31/25.

If you’re the type who enjoys watching live surgery, here is a video of what they did. Note: This is not my surgery. As the image denotes, you have to watch it over on YouTube. To do so, click the “Watch on YouTube” link in the image. It’s 4½ minutes long.