A little over a year ago I was
Told I would likely die
From an inoperable hernia.
Instead of “Giving Up”
I ate protein shakes
Quest bars and walked
An hour or two every day
For 16 months.
I lost 115 lbs,
Enough weight so
That the Doctors
Would attempt to
Operate on me.
The day of reckoning
Arrived
Last week,
After a year of
Hard and arduous
Work.
I showed up at
The hospital early
And went
To the pre-op room
Where I placed myself on a gurney
So that the nurses could
Shave
My abdomen.
I made small talk about
My recent vacation
To help calm
My nerves as
They fed me pills and
Antibiotics through an
IV.
Above my bed was a cross
And I started humming hymns
In a drug induced stupor
As I drifted in and out
Of consciousness.
Eventually they rolled me into
The cutting room
Where I found
A dozen or so
Highly trained
Surgeons.
I gave them a thumbs up
And thanked them,
As they placed a mask
Over my face
And then
Darkness.
I woke up in
Blood soaked
Abdominal wrappings
And was told that
The surgery had gone
Remarkably well.
Three days later I was still
Taking Oxycodone
Tylenol, Ibuprofen
Muscle relaxers and
Nova-cane,
And am thankful
That I am alive
And will one day
Be fully recovered.