Pay attention!

The instructions Ransom received for today’s surgery included the line, “Nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before surgery…” I am embarrassed to report that Ransom and I disregarded those crystal clear instructions. We’re paying the price this morning.

Maybe.

Several doctors have operated on me and I have more than once been told that black coffee does not break the fast before surgery. So when Ransom said he could have coffee, I didn’t think anything of it. He had his usual shot of espresso to start the day – at 4:45 in the morning!

Then when we got to the hospital I bought a coffee and he had maybe three sips. Total intake: perhaps 4 oz. of black coffee.

Bad idea. That was enough for the anesthesiologist to postpone surgery for two hours, until 8:30.

Maybe.

You see, here’s the thing: the surgeon’s assistant told us to be here at 6am but warned us that Ransom would not be taken into surgery til 8:30. We both think she told us that something else had to happen first, but neither of us can remember what that was. So the question is: are they not doing a procedure they should be doing? Probably not. Or was she prescient and knew Ransom would take a shot of Joe?

Probably not.

A morning mystery.

And does all this matter? Of  course not; I’m just trying to keep my mind busy so I don’t start worrying.

Updates later today.
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Note: I want to add that I heard from a Patient Relations Manager from Yale New Haven Hospital, responding to my last post. They have a system in place that alerts them of blog mentions. She was very sweet, very supportive and totally in agreement with my complaints. Aside from the pitiful waiting room, my main complaint was the total lack of communication for hours on end. Whether she has the power to see that these things get fixed is a question. I hope she does. Her heart is in the right place and I was very happy she called.