samsamsam

I went for surgery about a month ago for sweaty palms (i.e palmar hydrosis). It called, erm...
ETS Surgery or Endoscopic Thoracoscopic Sympathectomy.
Was done at Singapore General Hospital and until today the bill has not yet been sent to me. Dont know why. Anyway, this is what I remember of the surgery:

You have to first visit the specialist where he asks some questions and makes sure you really want to do it, then he fixes a date.

I returned on a Monday morning to the hospital early in the morning and got admitted to the eye ward because the neuro ward is fully occupied. Was lazing around on the bed, and having fasted since midnight the day before, was in no shape to walk about.
About 2 pm, the nurse came in and asked me to change to my gown. So I did, then they kept all my stuff for me at a safe place and wheeled me to the operation theater. I was lying down on the bed and saw the lights passing and people moving on my sides, exactly like the scenes you see on TV.
Went to the neuro department and realized there is a neurology operation theater and a neuromedicine theater; coz they sent me to the wrong one. Anyway, I didnt have my glasses so everything was a blur. Waited outside the room for the place to be cleared and a nurse came and aked me to sign some papers, and asked me if i fasted, if i had any alergies, what procedure i was going for, what was my name, etc. It already happened before I was wheeled in, at the entrance of the room, in the room, and right before the procedure. Kind of annoyed with it after awhile.
so i got transfered from my ward bed to the rolling one to the outside of the op room, then i got transfered to an internal bed.
Was getting cold because all I had was a thin gown, and the nurse kindly put this pump with heated air under the blanket. very nice.
A chinese man came and gave me my drip. He complained my veins were small, I told him his air cond was turned too low. then another nurse put a hand band on my other wrist, to identify me. Then there was three electrodes stuck to me for pulse.
Into the operation room, You get transfered to a solid bed; the operation table.

Soon the doctor came in, sounding very cheerful, and talking about some malfunctioning equipment he had for a recent surgery...so reassuring.
He said hi to me, then asked me to stretch out my hand, a nurse put another pulse monitor on my finger and then the mask came on.
Not to worry, its only oxygen.
Are you ready?
I nodded.

Kind of remember being wheeled back to the ward. It was really all a blur as there were voices telling me to get up to transfer bed. I heard their voices but remember it to be very difficult to move. Your body just doesnt respond.
Later on two guys came in and asked me to sit up for an xray. I really tried.and remember that my head was drooping over my chest that they had to tell me to hold your head up.
the sun was still up, probably about 5pm and I remember being hungry. Wondering if they would feed me dinner. My stomach had been empty for so long.
Then 7pm came because the nurse sent food to a patient opposite me, and I didnt get anything. Dinner was always at 7.
Was too blur anyway. I could open my eyes and move my head a little. But it took too much effort.
I also realize it hurt when I breathed in deeply and my chest hurts overall and my arms hurt and my head throbs and my palms hurt because of the IV drip.
I asked myself why the heck i did this to myself
night came and the pulse sensor was still on my thumb. the machine kept on giving readings below 50, which is below normal. The machine keep on giving a beeping sound and most of the time the nurse didnt come in to look. Once, she came in and saw the low pulse and put on the oxygen mask for me. I didnt want it and asked her 'isnt low pulse rate good' remembering that the more you trained, the larger your heart capacity increases, the lower your pulse.
i woke up many many times during the night because of the guy on the other beds, the nurse coming for their rounds, hunger, pain, or the stupid machine beeping. it gave a beep for every hearbeat and everytime the pulse fell below 60, it would wail out loud. and that would wake me up. And when i woke up, i had to wiggle myself to try get the heartbeat higher so that the machine would shut up.
In the morning, the nurses came at 730 to wash one patient who was bedridden. I woke up and asked for my belongings. they gave me a cup of mouth rinse and later a plate of oat porridge. FOOD!
The nurse kept on asking me if i peed. at last i did and she was quite happy with clearing it because it showed that my systems were working ok inside.
the doctor came later to check, asked me to raise my hands which i did and later regretted because it hurt.
it was some more morning sleeping, peeing and i got my stuff back so i read and sms-ed some people.
Later a pharmacist came to give me some painkillers and a nurse came to change my dressings. then the doctor came along and decided i could be released. I walked out on Tuesday afternoon 1pm. They gave me 11 days of MC. Caught a cab back to lab and everybody was shocked how pale i looked. probably lost some blood in the surgery.

the sweating was almost instantly gone. but in addition to my palms, now my whole hand and arm and armpits and neck and upper torso is also dry. So there is a compensatory sweating on my lower torso and legs, which makes you look like you took a bath while walking from the canteen to lab. But the operation was successful, you just got to live with the side effects.


the stitches. about 5 per side, under the armpit


one week after the surgery, i went back to have my stitches remove. It hurt.


The scar a few days after the stitches were removed.