Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Spastic Surgeons

My back operation has been postponed for the third time. I showed up at the hospital yesterday morning, signed the consent form, put on the plastic bracelets, got shown to my bed, unpacked my stuff, and then - after seven hours with no food or drink - was told my MRI scans had been archived somewhere and couldn't be found.

I was furious and relieved in equal measures. Before I signed the consent form a doctor had informed me of the risks involved. Previously I'd been led to believe there was a 1 in 10,000 chance of paralysis and "loss of sexual function", but yesterday the odds had shortened to 1 in 500. I'm seriously reconsidering whether it's worth the gamble. I mean, would you put your gonads into the hands of people who can't even file things properly?