A Copy

DIARY, Wednesday, 11th December 2013

I am  off the Hook!

I do not need blood pressure tablets anymore!

Well, this is a long story. It actually started the day I had my Carpal Tunnel Release operation.  On that day at six o’clock in the morning I was allowed a cup of tea and a very light breakfast. Then I had to wait for more than twelve hours before I could have as much as a glass of water or a cup of tea. I was told ‘nil by mouth’ before the operation, which was to last for only a short time, maybe twenty minutes. Unfortunately I was the last one on the list. Which would have been all right, if everything had gone to plan. However there were some unforeseen delays during the day, which meant my operation was postponed for many hours. I sat in the hospital waiting room, waiting, waiting, waiting.

Finally, well into the evening, it was my turn. What a relief! A lot of precautions, needles stuck into me here, there and everywhere while I was lying on the trolley waiting to be let into the operating theatre. The anesthetist thought I was very relaxed. Then my surgeon came out to greet me. After a little while the doors opened and I was rolled into the room where the procedure was going to take place. There was some background music which I thought wasn’t soothing at all. However I didn’t complain. The surgeon must have felt that this was not my kind of music. He asked me what kind of music I liked. All I could think of saying was: Something ‘classical’. Whereupon the lovely surgeon saw to it that ‘Sound of Music’  with Julie Andrews was put on.

I had been given local anesthetics only. So I could listen to the music during the whole operation. Everything went smoothly, except as they later told me, my blood pressure went up a bit much. They advised me to see my GP (General Practitioner) about it.

To cut a long story short. I did indeed see my GP. My blood pressure went sky high that night when I saw the doctor after many hours of waiting. He did consider to put me into hospital. Luckily the blood pressure came down a bit after a little while. So the doctor let me go home. He prescribed blood pressure tablets and even valium. Peter and I did get my prescription drugs at a close by late night chemist, which delayed us getting home by another half hour. I took the blood pressure tablets as prescribed, but not the valium. I really felt relaxed enough by the time I got home and had no trouble going to sleep.

The GP had asked me to see him again the next morning so he could check on me whether I was all right. By the time I got there at 8 am, there were already eight patients in front of me. So I had to wait again. The tablets turned out not to agree with me. They made me feel sick. Eventually the doctor  organised a 24 hour blood pressure test for me. This test showed that my blood pressure was up only slightly during the day, and during my sleep it was absolutely perfect.

Yesterday I did get the marvellous news that I did not have to take the tablets anymore. The doctor said to me, on a day when I felt under a real lot of pressure, I may perhaps take a valium tablet. But not to do this too often for these tablets can be addictive.

After he said all this we wished each other a Happy Christmas and I left his office in a really great mood!