Personal adventures in our US health care system: Part four

Day of surgery:

No eating after midnight, no pills, nothing. For an old woman weighing under 100 pounds, this is ... interesting. Gathered MIL from house, wheelchair, down to car, to hospital. (Getting good at this!) Admissions, advanced directive, paperwork, forms.

Into pre-surgery room, changed clothes, blood pressure, temperature, IV, etc etc. Waited in room for perhaps an hour. MIL wheeled off to surgery. Husband and I went to waiting room. And waited. And waited. Husband figured out what was happening and went to talk to doctor and nurse standing in hall. MIL showing some signs of dementia and was repeating herself. Nurse thought it was that she had yet to come out of anaesthetic properly.

Went from recovery room to regular room to wait. For discharge. Husband stood by door and commandeered nurses as they went by, asking when we could leave. An hour, two. Finally discharged.

MIL had a long bar running above her arm mounted into her flesh by two three-inch forked pins. This held the bone in position. An ace bandage over a small bendable splint on the lower part of her arm covered this contraption. She now had to live with this thing for two months.

Dr. Real Surgeon set up appointment for post-surgery check. We took her home.