Natnwe - The pain of not waking up again

Preliminary, 14, February - 1976

Nancy Greene is lying on her back on the operating table in operating room 8. She is trying to calm down as she stares at the ceiling lights. She has been given all the necessary injections before the operation. They are supposed to make her sleepy and happy. But none of them work. Nancy is even more nervous and anxious than before the injections. In her twenty-three years of life, she has never been so disturbed or agitated.

She was covered in a white sheet. The edges were loose. There was a little girl running in the corner. She didn't like it. She didn't know why. Underneath the white sheet was a long hospital gown. It was tied at the neck and the bottom only reached about mid-thigh. Her entire back was exposed. At that moment, she hated the hospital. She was scared. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run out of the room. But she didn't run. She was more afraid of the blood coming out of her body than the hospital. She could die from both of these stresses. But she had to face it.

At 7:11 a.m. on February 14, 1976, the sky above Boston was a pale gray. Cars were driving in a line of cars with their headlights on. The temperature was thirty-eight degrees. Pedestrians were walking slowly along their streets. There was no sound of conversation. Only the sound of machinery and the wind.

At Boston Memorial Hospital, the situation is different. The entire operating room is lit up. The bustling activity and enthusiastic chatter reinforce the 7:30 a.m. deadline. The 7:30 a.m. deadline means the patient must be placed on the skin at 7:30 a.m. The patient must be brought in, prepped, cleaned, and anesthetized before 7:30 a.m.

That's why at 7:11 a.m. the entire operating room was bustling with activity. Including Room 8. Room 8 was nothing special. It was a regular operating room in this hospital. At 7:30, there was a hysterectomy in Room 8. It was a routine gynecological procedure. The patient was Nancy Greenley, the anesthesiologist was Dr. Robert Beiling, the two assistants were Ruth Jenkins and Gloria DeMatteo, and the obstetrician and gynecologist was George Major.

Nancy Greene had been bleeding for eleven days. At first, she thought it was her usual period, even though it was a few days early. She had never had any premenstrual cramps. The morning she started bleeding was a little tight. But after that, it was a painless affair. Tonight, like every other night,

I thought it was over. But it wasn't. Then I called Dr. Major's teacher. Then I had to talk to the doctor. Then the panic started to grow.

The incident happened at a really critical time. It was a real nuisance. It was a time when she was expecting a baby. Her boyfriend, King, was a law student. He would come to her when school was out. At that time, her roommate, Clinton, was ice skating. Well... how good was the situation? How comfortable was everything? Except for the bleeding. Nancy couldn't help but notice it. She was a beautiful, elegant girl. She was neat and clean. You could even say she was picky. She didn't even have a little dirt on her head. Because of this, she couldn't stand the constant menstruation. Finally, she became afraid.

Nancy remembered that day. She was lying on her bed, reading the headlines of the Gloucester Daily. King was making a drink on the stove. At that moment, a strange sensation arose in her vagina. She had never felt anything like it before. It wasn't pain. It wasn't nausea. It was just a warm, fuzzy feeling. Her mind was racing. Then she noticed a liquid flowing down. It was blood. A lot of blood. But she didn't move, leaning against the stove...

"Please do me a favor. Call me an ambulance."

"Why?"

King came quickly and asked.

"I'm bleeding. But it's nothing to worry about. It's just a case of heavy bleeding. I need to go to the hospital right away. Call an ambulance."

Nancy said calmly.

The ambulance didn't arrive in a big hurry. There was no siren. The wait in the emergency room seemed a little long. Nancy was happy to see Dr. Major. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Nancy thought the worst part was the menstrual exam in the emergency room. The curtain was thin. It was closed and opened every now and then. The blood pressure was taken every now and then. Blood was drawn. She was put in a hospital gown. Every time she did something, the curtain opened. Nancy saw many faces. The urinal was in plain sight. There were red blood clots in the urinal. At that moment, Dr. Major examined her. Nancy closed her eyes tightly.

But all this would be over in a moment. “Just a moment,” said Dr. Major. He also explained in detail the internal organs of the uterus. How the internal organs change during a normal menstrual period, what might happen if they did not change, and then explained the veins and the importance of the ovaries in releasing the egg. The treatment required for this was a hysterectomy. Then Nancy agreed to the hysterectomy without further question. She had one request. Not to tell her parents. Otherwise, the mother would think that her baby had been miscarried.

Now, staring into the operating room light above her face, Nancy was happy to think that in a few hours, the nightmare would be over. Her life would return to normal. All the activity in the operating room was foreign to her, and Nancy didn't look at anyone or anything but the light.

"What's up, is it sunny?"

Nancy looked to her right. Brown eyes were looking at her from between the surgical caps. Dr. Gloria was rolling the bandage over her right arm. Then she pulled the arm toward her.

“Yes”

Nancy answered. But she wasn't feeling the least bit comfortable. The operating table was as hard as the dining table in her room. But the anesthesia was starting to take effect. Nancy was still conscious. But she was also starting to feel a little detached from her surroundings. Her mouth and throat were dry. Her tongue was numb.

Dr. Robert Beilin is busy at his anesthesia machine. His machine is shiny steel. The dials are filled with moving lizards. There are gas bubbles. They come in all colors. On top is a brown bottle of Halothane. The label says Car 2 - Bropo, 2- Cro (1,1,1) -Tri-Fluorothane. It is a nearly perfect anesthetic. “Nearly perfect” means that it can sometimes destroy a patient’s lungs. But this is rare. Halothane’s other properties control its potential for lung damage. Dr. Beilin is particularly fond of Halothane. He hopes that one day he will win a Nobel Prize for improving Halothane.

Dr. Billing is a highly skilled anesthesiologist. He knows it himself. He thinks everyone knows it too. He understands anesthesia better than anyone else. And he is thorough. Extremely thorough.

He had a detailed plan of the procedure. He checked each step carefully. At three hours and fifteen minutes, he completed step 12. This involved inserting the rubber tubing into the machine. One end of the tubing went into the air bag. The air bag held four to five liters of oxygen, which allowed the patient’s lungs to function properly during surgery. The other end of the tubing went into a soda canister that absorbed the carbon dioxide exhaled by the patient. Step 13 was to check the airways. Step 14 was to connect the anesthesia machine to the oxygen tube on the operating room wall. The anesthesia machine had two oxygen tanks installed for emergency use. Dr. Billing checked the two tanks. They were full of oxygen. Dr. Billing was satisfied.

"I'm going to put three or four electrodes on your chest. Let me hear your heartbeat."

"Teacher Gloria pulled down the white sheet. Then she pulled up her long hospital gown. She patted her chest. The teacher squeezed glue on three places on her chest.

"It will be cold soon."

Nancy wanted to say something back. But she didn't know what to say. She thanked everyone for helping her.

Dr. Beilin gave Nancy a quick squeeze with his hand to make the muscles in her left hand rise. Her hand

The wrist was tightly wrapped with a rubber band. The sound of her blood pressure could be heard through her wrists.

Dr. Major entered the room.

"Good morning, Miss Green. Did you sleep well last night? Our work will be over in a moment. When we're done, just go back to your bed and get some rest."

Dr. Bilin said, “Gloria, number 8, okay, Doctor, get ready. We’ll all be ready at exactly 7:30.”

"Okay"

Dr. Major walked to the door. He stopped. He turned to Mrs. Ruth Jenkins.

"Teacher, the surgical instruments should be my own. Don't give me old, worn-out hospital equipment like last time."

Before the teacher could say anything, he left. Nancy could hear a sound from the pacemaker behind her. It was her own heartbeat.

"Now, Nancy, just put your head down and spread your legs a little."