In early October 2006 I attended a pre-admission clinic at Christchurch Public Hospital. The objectives were to ensure I fully understood what was to happen, that I was ready for surgery and that I was prepared for the consequences, the greatest potential consequence being a tempory or permanent colostomy. I was not impressed with the idea of the colostomy however I did learn shortly after that a person that used to help us on our property had had one for over 40 years, and he seemed very fit and healthy.
Friday 13th October was the big day. Surgery was in the afternoon, it went well, but I have little recollection of the event. However there was a small hitch - during preadmission I had agreed to an epidural anesthesia for pain management, however the procedure for inserting the epidural did not go well, anethesia was not able to be introduced via the epidural, but the tube was left in.
Following surgery I was given very limited pain relief as I had an epidural (cue Tui's ad). During the following day the pain was intense and excrutiating. The pain team arrived and administered Ketamine. It did the job, but produced a strong hallucinogenic reaction in me. After a couple of hours pain was down to 2-3 on the pain scale of 1 (no pain) to 5 (worst possible pain). Pain was persistent for 5 to 6 days.
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