I am extremely scared of even the smallest amount of pain. It's known as algophobia. Though I don't think I have such an extreme case, but it's enough to make me afraid of doctors and any sort of medical treatment.

But I had a problem a few weeks ago. Something was growing on my face at an alarming rate. Doctors said it was too late for antibiotics, so better to just cut into it and remove the contents. To make things a bit more complicated, it was pressing on my eye, so had to be done by an eye specialist.

So I was then referred to an eye specialist.

He had a look at it. Tested my vision, eye pressure (didn't know there was such a thing... imagine your eye's pressure gets so high that it just pops out... saw that on an episode of House)... anyway, everything was still fine. Only thing was, it was causing a lot of discomfort and slight pain in the corner of my eye... No big deal for the specialist.

So he suggests that he do localised anaesthetic, slice it open and drain out the contents. Is he friggin' nuts? I can't even look at the needle if they are giving me a shot or drawing blood... and you want me to be awake and see the scalpel going so near to my eye?

Before I continue with this story, I have a quick flashback. Several years ago, I fell in the bathroom and tore my ear. Had to get something like 12 stitches on just one ear. Now, I had the doctor put me to sleep. I actually told him that I don't care what he or anybody else thought of me... call me chicken, pussy, etc... I don't give a crap... all I know is I don't want to feel or see a thing...

Now back to the eye specialist... I told him I wanted general anaesthetic... He advised against it since it would be a very quick procedure and GA can get complicated. My response to him was "do you really want me to be squirming when you're about to cut so near to my eye?"

Well, the customer's always right. I've got me some medical insurance, so cut away...

It was my first surgery and I went through it alone. My family and friends were about 400km away...

The concierge/porter (you've got to love the service you get when you're heavily insured) was actually surprised that I was alone when he took me to the ward... kind of made me depressed. LOML didn't really call me during the day... busy with work, as usual. My son wanted to come see me, but it's just too far to travel for a minor operation.

Gotta love that kid. To him, Dad's in the hospital, so we have to go see him. Just like when Mom had surgery, we all spent time with her at the hospital... same as when he was in the hospital and both Mom and Dad were at the hospital the whole time.

I actually enjoyed my time in the hospital... had a chance to read, watch tv, and most importantly talk to people... Had a lovely conversation with a very lovely nurse... (hehehehehe)... wanted to get her phone number when I got discharged the next day, but unfortunately she wasn't around at that very moment... damn!! Lesson learned : never delay until tomorrow what you can do today...

The staff were all very nice and helped to calm my nerves when I was being wheeled into the operation theater. Plus, whatever the anaestheologist gave me, it was 'damn good shit'... knocked me right out. I tried to go to work the next day, but the stuff made me tired... so I worked from home...

When I did go to work the day after that, my boss kept on insisting I go home and rest... aren't you jealous that I have such a nice and caring boss?

Well, at least I have one more interesting story to tell the grandkids...