ABSTRACT
Organising an operation must be an administrative nightmare. There are so many people involved. Arriving at the hospital I was confronted with a long list of people that I needed to see. There were a number of preliminary tests, forms that needed to be completed, questions to be asked and answered. Despite this, there was a lot of waiting around. Determined not to spend the whole weekend before the scheduled Tuesday sitting in hospital worrying about the opera tion, I begged for permission to leave. My eventual release was critical to ensure attendance at the pre-operation party that had been organised by a group of friends. So I arrived back at the hospital on Monday morning, still full with the food and drink they had prepared to sustain me over the following week and comforted by reassuring stories of painless stays in intensive care and successful operations.
