The shower was blissfully hot. The water, however, was incredibly hard. I towel dried my hair and it felt like it had sand in it. I could barely run a comb through it and was appalled when it dried that it was almost sticky to the touch. It was unmanageable. I could not run my fingers through it at all. Josh came upstairs and I showed him. I took of piece of my hair and held it out to the side. It stayed. We had a good laugh over it but I was distressed that I was going to look like a bush woman for the length of the trip – and I pretty much did. We went to bed early that night.

Friday morning, we woke up ready to go to the British Hernia Centre for Josh’s surgery. Josh was not allowed to eat or drink anything so I kept my meal simple: tea and toast. We then walked the mile to the centre.

Josh at the British Hernia Centre.

In the waiting room, we met three other groups of people there for the same reason. One couple was from up the road, they were there with their son. Another woman’s husband was already in having the procedure and she was surprised to hear that we came all the way from America to have the work done in England . The third couple we met was from Ireland . They had the same problem we did: it was too much money and would take too long in their homeland. Most everyone was surprised to learn that the health care system in America isn’t really all that good unless you have insurance. Even then, it’s still not the best it possibly could be. We couldn’t afford the cost here in California , approximately $15,000, and we couldn’t afford the time, about four to six weeks for treatment. Soon, Josh was called in for surgery. He wasn’t gone but an hour when I was called to meet him in recovery. He sat upright in a recliner alert and cheery. The attendant came in and checked on him, asking him to fill out some post-op forms.

Josh filling out the survey. Tea and sandwich to his right.

Soon, the before-mentioned tea and sandwich showed up. The attendant instructed us on some of the take-home protocols, what to expect and painkillers should Josh want them. He said that he’d be a little sore in the area and that fainting is fairly common amongst the patients the next morning and that it should do him no harm unless he hits something on the way down. The attendant thought Josh might have that problem since he’s fit and his heart rate is slower. Josh, of course, didn’t think it would happen to him. Within and hour and a half of the completion of Josh’s surgery we were up and out the door. We spent the rest of the day lounging around watching movies and doing very little.

THE FAINTING STORY

Saturday morning we both woke up to the sound of a woman yelling for help. We both were in the process of getting up when, as Josh became vertical, he said, “’a little sore’ is an understatement. I’m going to want those painkillers but first I need to sit down.” Josh began to sit down. His bum just touched the edge of the bed when he started to go forward. He was fainting. The call for help from outside was forgotten; I had my own situation to deal with. Being on the other side of the bed, I was squirming my way towards him as his face hit the side table. As I got to him, he had pitched past the side table and on to a stack of DVDs we had on the floor, then he face planted into the carpet. I was trying to keep that last part from happening but Josh was fighting me from helping him. His eyes were open but he was not seeing anything. His hands were up, pushing against a perceived threat that apparently made him fall. I eventually got him on his back and coaxed him back around. As is usual in the case of fainting, he was clammy and hot. This whole scene took less than 10 seconds. When he finally recognized me, I asked him to scoot down a bit so I could put his legs up on the bed and told him that he fainted. He said that he could hear the sounds but he couldn’t see anything during the episode. I covered him up with a blanket and went to get him some tea to drink to bring up his blood sugar. I told him not to move. Outside in the stairwell, a fellow resident was wiping down the wall. Apparently, the previous call for help was from her. Her husband fainted on the way down the stairs. She had spilt her tea while trying to catch him. All of Bob’s British Hernia Centre residents were dropping like flies all over the house! When I came back upstairs, I helped get Josh back into bed. I made him some toast with honey and a cup of tea. He had a small red mark next to his right eye from the side table and nice scratch on his chest from the stack of DVDs. The doctor told us that he would have to walk a short distance that day. We weren’t going anywhere for awhile. I called the doctor from the house phone and left a message that he had fainted but was okay. The doctor called back less than an hour later to follow up, apologetic that it took so long to get back to him. He told Josh to eat something which he was currently doing, to rest but then to get back up and walk. Several hours later, after the painkillers had taken effect, we went for a walk to Mill Hill.

Josh resting during walk near Mill Hill the day after surgery.