It's an Aunt Voula!

Yesterday, as I sat in the hospital room with my awesome little bracelet, I was:

-nervous about receiving my first IV 

-scared as heck about anaesthesia and the slight possibility that this weird lump was cancer 

-and the writerly part of me was just really, really interested and couldn't wait to, well, write about it all. I've discovered that no matter what happens to me - when I ace a paper, when I fight with a friend,  when I'm about to pass out because they're fiddling around with a vein in my left arm and it won't stop rolling - no matter how upset or happy I am, there is always the writer in me that's removed and observing and mulling over all the creative potential in the experience. While I freak out, there will always be that 10% of my mind going, "Hmm, this is interesting. Let's take notes."

Anyway. They did stick me with an IV, and it really was not that bad. And the last thing I remember was my mom sitting beside me and three nurses came in and started to wheel me out and then I was waking up, thinking great, now it's about to start, when this sweet nurse told me the surgery was over and I was in the recovery room and did I want some water. I remember thinking something like, "Sweet, it's over," and wondering why I couldn't keep my eyes open more than 5 seconds at a time. I was also vaguely excited because when they raised the bed, they used a turn crank at the foot, just like in Madeline. 

And then they were wheeling me back to the room, and my mom came in smiling and telling me everything went fine and the horrid lump was not cancer at all, but a harmless dermoid thing. And then we said Thank You, God. 

***

So now I'm laid up at home on the comfiest couch in the world (yes, that one), and can't wait to show off my Madeline scar. My tummy feels like someone stood over me and made me do 500 billion sit-ups, and I don't feel like eating for the next six years, but other than that, I'm great. I get to lie on the couch and watch movies and read books. Or . . . just lie on the couch. That sounds good too.