Yesterday (Friday) we took Michaela to the hospital to have a minor surgical procedure. Surgical procedures have a long preparation period, so we arrived at the hospital several hours early in order to accommodate all the requisite paperwork, measurements, and waiting. The operation was scheduled to take an hour or less, and there was no reason to be concerned about anything dangerous happening. At least, that's why my brain kept telling me.

Throughout the week my brain has been communicating with me on two wavelengths. On the first, it was saying "look, this is not a risky procedure, the hospital and doctors are very good, so just relax". (Of course, human doctors can and do make errors). On the second it was saying "look, you believe that God loves you and controls everything. Why are you worried?" (I've found that God's notion of what is good for me and my own notion are not always in agreement). So as I watched Michaela throughout the week, I'd occasionally be having one of these dialogues (or variations) with myself. It's all a part of being human.

The hospital allows one parent to be present until the anesthesia has taken effect. Julie and I decided that I would be the one to accompany Michaela into the operating room. The staff at the hospital did a good job of taking care of us. Someone came and showed Michaela the mask that she'd be using to breathe in the anesthetic, and we met all the doctors. Everything was comfortable and relaxed. Eventually some folks came to escort us back to the operating room. The staff did a great job of doing the induction -- they started by asking Michaela about her mask, then they asked her if she wanted to hook up the hose to the mask, which she did. Then they showed her the rubber balloon that was part of the apparatus and showed her how it inflated and deflated as she breathed in an out of the mask. So they had Michaela practice breathing into the mask. During the practicing, they had her lie down and started the gas flowing. I held her hand and talked to her for a few seconds as she started to go under. I kissed her brow and someone escorted me out of the room. Michaela was very relaxed during the entire induction, but still it was unsettling to watch her go under -- anesthesia is not a natural thing for people (the anesthesiologist warned that we might see eye-rolling, gasping or other symptoms -- of which I saw none).

Everything went fine and Michaela is back to being her energetic self, although she'll have to be careful about her stitches for the next week or so.

[ Julie has written a few posts on yesterday's events ]