Right or Left Side?

 

I checked into the hospital the evening before I was to have a surgery to repair an inguinal hernia.   I had been living with the hernia for at least ten years, but it had gotten to the point that it was bothering me too much. I settled into my room and a procession of nurses aided me in pre-operation necessities. As one nurse finished taking my blood, another came in with a release form for me to sign. The release form described what procedure was to be preformed and required that I agreed that if they killed me, my estate would not sue. It wasn’t worded that way, but in reality that is what it was saying.  Good thing I read the form closely because it said that the procedure was for a “repair inguinal hernia on the right side”  “Right Side!!” I exclaimed. “ My hernia is on my left side!”  The nurse who had brought the form was surprised and said “ Are you sure its on the left?” I assured her that after ten years of living with it, it was a pretty good guess that I would know.  She said she would call the doctor.   The doctor agreed that I should know, and had them type up another release that was correct. 

The next morning they did the procedure. They did a botched up job, but I survived. I’ll say no more as what happened could be fodder for another story.

 

A few years later I sold a car to a lady that had just moved into town.  Over time, I got to know her and found out that she had been a surgeon’s assistant.  One day we were talking about different things when the topic got around to surgeries. I mentioned how I had almost gotten a hernia repair on the wrong side, she exclaimed, “Why do you think 

so many people go in for a hernia repair and end up having a “double hernia” repair?” “They do the wrong side all the time!” We talked some more and then I found out that she had been a surgeon’s assistant for twelve years and had quit out of disgust. She said she had assisted with hundreds of appendectomies and had never seen a bad appendix. Her information verified what I had already learned. If someone wants to put you under the knife, get several opinions first. 

©2011