A Splash of Water

The one aspect of my hospital experience that made the whole thing palatable is the fact that the staff at this small town facility was flexible enough to allow for a slight bending of the rules. Had they not readily done this, I would have been a most cantankerous patient and would, most likely, have had a horrendous experience.

Leading up to almost any type of surgery, the patient is not to partake of any food or water for 8 - 12 hours. The thinking here is that contents in the stomach may interact poorly with anesthesia. However, when I'm anxious, my mouth becomes extremely dry and it makes it difficult for me to swallow. I tend to have severe panic attacks when I can't swallow frequently.

So, the staff allowed me to keep a large glass of ice water next to my hospital bed. Once or twice every minute, I would swish a small amount of water around my mouth, then spit it out into another cup. During one of the shift changes, the new charge nurse hurried into my room all up in arms because she saw me take a swig of water. Fortunately, the outgoing charge nurse took her aside, "Don't worry. Mr. Smith has promised not to swallow any of it."

The staff allowed me to follow this unique protocol all day long -- right up until I was placed on the operating table. They easily could have followed the rules with a rigid disregard for my weird emotional needs; it was their willingness to be flexible that made a stressful situation a lot less stressful for me.