Surgery

This week I had a mole removed that was just above my left eyebrow. A few months ago it had grown and slightly changed colour, which is a warning sign for a potential cancer. So I went to a dermatologist at a local clinic and once he looked at it through a magnifying glass decided it would be better to have it surgically removed and biopsied.

Now while I have had some grumblings about medical care here ("assembly line" mentality by clinics, language issues) I can certainly never complain about the speed at which things get done. Here is what happened:

Saturday -- see dermatologist (no need to book an appointment, no referral from a GP, just walk in and take a number)
-- go to the surgeon in the same clinic for consultation and filling out the insurance pre-approval forms
Monday -- received a call that the insurance company approved the procedure, consultation with surgeon scheduled for Thursday
Thursday -- consultation with surgeon about the procedure, says I will receive a call later about when the surgery will be held
-- consultation with anaesthesiologist, as the surgeon wants this to be under general anaesthetic. (!!)
Sunday -- receive call about the surgery, scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Tuesday -- go to clinic for the surgery

So that was what, 10 days? I wonder how long it would have taken to get through all of that in Canada. Could have been months.

As to the surgery I was a bit concerned that the surgeon wanted to use general anaesthetic -- the mole wasn't that big I thought. So the anaesthesiologist agreed to ask the surgeon to see if it could be done under local. And I agreed that if the surgeon felt that general anaesthetic was necessary then general anaesthetic it is. I wasn't going to argue the point.

So on Tuesday morning at 8am I arrived at the clinic, and was shown to a private patient room where I could change. It was a pretty nice room with a cabinet to lock your stuff up in, a TV, private bathroom, a bed of course, and a couch for visitors. So I changed into the hospital gown and then a nurse gave me a sedative. 20 minutes later I was wheeled into surgery.

The decision was for general anaesthetic. Now I have never been under a general anaesthetic so I was more intrigued than nervous (or maybe that was the sedative). A mask was put over my mouth so that I could start inhaling some kind of gas and I was told to breathe deeply. I remember thinking, " I wonder how long the anaesthetic will . . ."


And then I woke up back in my room at the clinic!!


Man, that stuff works fast! Apparently I was out for about two hours and I do not remember any of it.

Was served a nice lunch of roasted herb chicken on rice with vegetables and salad. Watched TV for a bit, was given my prescription for antibiotics, and discharged at 3pm. All in all I can't complain.

The wound was sore for the first day but not really painful and I have not taken any painkillers for it. It is now day four and in a few more days and I should be able to take the bandage off and see how it looks. The surgeon already warned me that there will be a scar but that's a small price to pay for removing a potentially cancerous mole, a price I will pay any day. As for the mole I'll call in a couple weeks to see what the results were.