Is she ALWAYS like THIS??

I read this article on Adventure Journal today and it reminded me of myself in recent days.

In Praise of Honest Enthusiasm for the Awesomeness of Life

Yesterday, I had surgery...and it was fun..weird. My best friend escorted me to the hospital as the sun was barely coming up and we were both annoyingly chipper as usual because who wants to be miserable in the hospital. As in many situations where we are too perky, the other folks in the day surgery waiting room did not appear to enjoy the sunny disposition we put forth at this hour early on a Thursday morning. Some even got up and went to the private waiting room where it was more quiet and we would not disturb them.

As the first round of patients were guided like cows headed for slaughter into the pre-op room, we giggled along behind the group and cheerfully greeted the nurses. With a few laughs I got dressed into the hospital uniform and sexy compression socks. I also took a beating from my nurse, who considered herself a badass, as my wimpy veins were not up to the challenge of an IV first thing in the morning. I am fully aware that my sense of  humor is absolutely a defense mechanism in many ways but I also find while it is a way for me to avoid my nerves it also is naturally calming if others around me are laughing and not being too serious. While I cannot control everything, the more smiles I can find make it easier.

The fun continued into surgery as I was given the chance to have an epidural and therefore be awake to watch my surgery. My smiley surgeon and silly anesthesiologist may have regretted this decision but they certainly laughed along with me through the procedure. I find it difficult not to make laser-like and munching sound effects as I watch scar tissue being eaten up and sliced apart and a landing rocket ship seemed appropriate in place of the needle I watched diving into my knee to add some local anesthetic to what they called "angry" tissue. They were not as amused and I was sad that they did not get my Monty Python reference when I asked if they remembered to bring in "the machine that goes BING!". They did laugh with me immediately after my question when a machine went BING! right after I asked.

Post-op was no different as i started to wiggle my feet as soon as i could and move my body around. I am not one to sit still for long and I was getting antsy even though my body was numb. The poor nurses thought it was the drugs making me loopy and kindly asked my partner in crime "Is she always like this or are the drugs still talking?". Nope, this is her! This is me..now, let's get outta here! From the day I found out I would have this surgery I gained 5+ pounds and put myself under too much stress over the whole situation. For me it was more about the financial aspect than the actual surgery but all of it was scary to me. I do this to myself more often than not and then once the day comes I manage to have fun with it and take it in stride. This surgery was no different. Looking back, it wasn't bad at all and I have fantastic friends around to take care of me and make sure Lucy is okay.