Document text
Over the Back Fence By HANK HENRY Surgery sure has changed I'm glad to be back after two weeks of recuperating from surgery. I have used the column at times as sort of a diary to write about personal things as well as about broader subjects. This is a column on surgery and how it is done now versus the way it was performed in the old days. Things have changed. My current problem started many months ago when I found a couple of small red blotches on a part of my body. They seemed to stabilize in about the same size as when I first noticed, with no discomfort or pain. I should have had them examined right away, but they remained there for months and I postponed doing anything. Finally, I asked my doctor to refer me to a specialist. The new doctor said I needed some corrective surgery, and at the same time he would do a biopsy on the spots. He said they looked pre-cancerous. I don't know about you, but for me the word cancer brings up a lot of bad memories, as I'm sure it does for almost everyone. Memories of friends and relatives, young and old, who succumbed to one form or another of cancer. Now I was being told that there was some possibility that I might have cancer. I didn't panic, but I was still a bit apprehensive. Could the fact that I had postponed going to a doctor for months lead to my having an advanced case? Two days before the operation, I went to the pre-op session at the Out Patient Admitting area at the hospital. The last time I had been a hospital patient was almost 20 years ago when I was there twice for cataract removal and lens implant surgery. On both occasions, I was held overnight at the hospital, a standard precaution when the procedure was relatively new. These days, out-patient treatment has become standard procedure for many conditions, including certain surgeries. My pre-op appearance began with the filling out of forms followed by an interview with the doctor who would be in charge of keeping me properly sedated during the operation. I was assisted through the maze by one of the Pink Ladies, volunteers who serve in a variety of ways. Hospitals in Medford and Ashland, like most across the country, are dependent on cadres of unpaid people who do chores such as accompanying patients to their appointments in the hospital, manning the information desk in the lobby, escorting patients when they leave, and generally providing a source of knowledge about the hospital and the way it operates. The ones at Rogue Valley are called "Pink Ladies" for the uniforms they wear. Not all of these are ladies. A number of men are also in the ranks, doing jobs such as pushing wheelchairs. Two days after my pre-op appointment, I returned for the actual operation. I was kept lightly sedated until I was moved into the operating room, but I have no memory of that. After the surgery, my wife, Nora, was informed by the doctor that it had been a success. Most importantly, there was no sign of cancer. When I awoke, I was in a recovery room. The whole operation was rather routine, but I occasionally wonder what I would have done had the outcome been different. Then the other night Nora and I gained some insight on that by watching a tape of the movie "Shadowlands," starring Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis. He was a historian as well as a writer of children's books, like the "Narnia" series, and books for adults such as "Mere Christianity." Lewis married late in life and his wife Joy came down with cancer soon after. The last third of the movie was about Joy's life and subsequent death, and how hard it was for Lewis to recover without blaming God. The movie touched very lightly on C.S. Lewis' Christian beliefs, although they were the core of everything he did or wrote about. All of his books are still in print. They make good reading. (Hank Henry is a retired Jackson County commissioner and a former radio and television announcer. Call him at 772-9055.) Prime Times front page Mail Tribune front page Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA