What actually happened to Jimmy? part 3

As I lay on the stretcher, waiting on surgeons, I needed to make some calls.  My entire family is in NJ, and I needed to let them know.  I knew that  I would get voice mails because by this time it was around 1AM here, so it would be 4AM in Jersey.  I called my mom, brother and sister, as well as my best friends in California, and  left messages that I loved them, and that  I was in Cedars.  It was scary, as I didn't know if I would ever hear their voices, or see them  again.   I then texted my friend who has power of attorney and knows exactly what I want done in case of emergency.  She was at Cedars in less than 20 minutes, which was a miracle in itself, since she lives like 30 minutes away.

I was visibly shaken, and she just held my hand as they began prepping me for surgery.  I kept saying to her, "I don't want to die, I'm just not ready yet."  She kept saying back to me, "You aren't going to die, you are a really strong man.  You will make it through."  It was all veryscary, very dramatic and almost not real.  But it was real.  Really real.

"Breathe deep Mr. Palmieri, take nice deep breaths," said the anesthesiologist as he put a plastic mask over my face.  "I'm going to give you an IV that will calm you down," he said,  as I was literally shaking so violently  that I was almost falling from the stretcher.  I got sleepy and the next thing I remember was waking up.  The surgery was over, and in my head, it was all done and I was well.

"Do I have a colostomy?',  were the first words out of my mouth to the familiar surgeon.  There were 5 others, who would become a constant part of my life for the next 3 weeks. "No you don't," he responded.  I was very happy and although not crying I felt tears literally dripping down the sides of my face.  There was a very strange look on his face, and the faces of the other surgeons, nurses, and the half dozen other medical personnel.  As I began to wake up more, I was taken to a room, where my friend and 2 other friends, a married couple,  were already waiting.  They were very scared, and the wife came over and kissed me on the forehead.  She had been crying.  The husband came over and did the same.  They are my family out here, and they seemed so upset, I knew something else was coming my way.  I saw all three of my friends talking to Dr's. and surgeons, and my family started texting and calling by this time.  It all became a cyclone of emotion for me, and then the pain started.  Bad....I mean BIG BAD.

The wife of my married friends, came over to me and tried to explain that I didn't have cancer, and didn't have a colostomy,  and then rubbed her hand over  my forehead and said, "They did not close you up, just in case it is decided they must go back in to surgery."

WTF???  All I could think of in my head was that I was getting punked.  How the hell can they not "close someone up"?

Well it's possible I now know, and very painful.  Panic set in again, and they asked everyone to leave the room.  Two  pain management Drs. came in with a robot. Yes a robot.  It had two arms and a TV screen.  They said,  "We are going to get you out of pain but we will  need your cooperation".   When Drs. say cooperation, what they mean is, it will hurt a lot more before it gets better.  They went around what I now was to understand a gaping, open wound on my belly, and stared at the TV screen while they held a camera to my stomach.  When they found some nerve or artery that they wanted they positioned the robot arms on either side of me.  I literally had a robot type machine hovering over me, while one Dr. held my hand and said "Just breathe and squeeze my hand.  It will hurt a lot for 15 seconds then you will feel relief."  Loud clicking sounds began,  I was now squeezing his hand while the other Dr. guided the robot arms as  they moved in closer.   For about 15-20 seconds I thought I would black out from the pain of more than 10 needles (I think 5 on each side) went into my belly.  They both just kept chanting to me, "Numbing you, numbing you, numbing you."   I became numb, and oddly enough,  didn't feel my torso anymore.

I was taken back to my room, where none of my friends seemed happy.  All of them seemed like they were in a daze, and tried very hard to not frighten me anymore than I already was.  One female friend held my hand, and the other just kept kissing my forehead.  My male friend was as  white as a ghost but kept trying to smile while  saying "Buddy, everything is gonna work out."

I asked, "Am I really not closed up?", and my friend  that was kissing my forehead said, "Yes, they didn't close you up, and it may be best in the long run."

I panicked, but was given a shot very quickly to calm me down.  I drifted to sleep, and was dreaming of a Greek myth that I remember reading in high school.  The one about a guy who angered the Gods, and was chained to  a mountain or a cliff.  As his punishment, an eagle  would come and eat his liver out of his body, daily,  for the rest of eternity.  Prometheus....Prometheus was his name.

More tomorrow