homerun
part #72
she first
took me to the emergency room to get my stomach pumped.
that was pretty short, just because they needed to get food out,
and it was pretty well digested. i'm pretty sure i was
never going to eat eggs, sausage, or bread again. it
doesn't look so nice the 2nd time around. then she took me
to get examined. she measured my height, weight, eyesight,
hearing, and all that other crap. i was asked a bunch of
questions if i would go off the anti-rejection medicine, and
stuff like that. of course i wouldn't go off of it though,
it's really the only way i can live. so after that, i put
on a hospital gown. i was shown the icu i would recover in
after the surgery, so they could monitor me closely.
"do you have any questions?" my nurse jenny asked.
"yea, who's kidney am i getting?" i asked.
"uhm.." she began looking through her papers.
"this person has been asked to remain anonymous.
sorry." she said giving me an apologetic look.
"if i were you, i would want to know too." and
after she said that, the anestheisiologist (the dude who was
going to give me the loopy drugs named dr. miller) came in and
asked if i was ready.
"as ready as i could be, i guess." i said. i was
put in a bed, and they stuck an IV in my arm, i was sure that
would be there for a while. they wheeled me out in the
hallway and my parents, and erin and danny were there. my
dad hugged me and said "good luck." my mom was
crying and she kissed my face and whispered in my ear "i
love you sweetie, good luck." this must be hard for
her oldest kid, her first baby, to go get major surgery.
"i love you too mom." i said, and i squeezed her
waist. danny was next, and he just looked normal, but
when i saw his eyes, he looked nervous.
"good luck pat." he said.
"love you." i said.
"love you too." he said, and hugged me. erin
was there last, trying to hold back her tears and prove she was
mature enough to handle this.
"er, don't cry. and if you do, it's okay. we'll
all be fine."
"if it wasn't for me you wouldn't be going in there."
she began.
"no, don't you give me that. it's not your
fault. erin you're the best little brat any brother can
ever have, and i love you." i said.
"love you too pat." she said, wiping her eyes.
"and can you do me a favor." i asked, whispering to
her. she wordlessly nodded her head.
"if, well if i don't make it out of there, can you just tell
devon that i love her, and that i never stopped and i will always
continue to love her?"
"yea, i will." she said. her tears were running
down her face. i wiped them off, and hugged her.
"ready?" jenny asked. and she pushed me toward
revolving doors, i turned and waved to my family for possibly
last time. i wheeled into the OR, and they put a mask on my
face. dr. miller said.
"hey pat. big day, huh? okay, i'm just gonna put
this over your mouth and nose, and you're going to count
backwards from 10, okay? when were done and you wake up,
you'll have a new kidney. ready?" he asked as he
placed the nozzle over my nose.
"start now, i bet you won't even make it to 6."
i did what he said, and i started at 10. everything was
numbing up. 9. i heard all the beeping of the machines
regulating my heart. 8. i couldn't even remember how to breath
right, this felt too easy. 7. who are all these
people looking at me, i'm getting really tired. 6
goodnight....
