HIS FIRST OPERATION.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 July 1918, Page 1

HIS FIRST OPERATION.

A nurse comes along, shaves all round the man’s shrapnel shattered knee, and paints it freely with iodine. His eyes listlessly follow her skilful hands. He is in great pain and welcomes the thought that morning may bring relief. The weary hours drag on. As he dozes under the influence of morphine, he wonders dimly what his first operation will be like. Towards morning the night nurse brings him a cup of tea. The usual hospital routine goes on under his tired gaze until about ten o’clock, when two orderlies in white jackets and aprons bring in the white enamelled stretcher. “ Best of luck, old timer,” calls the sympathising voice of a burly Canadian who was on the “ table ”

the day before. I Swiftly they wheel him down the ! long corridors to the door of the ! operating theatre. His nurse talks and keeps him cheery during the few minutes they have to waic lor the last case to come out. The door . opens and they wheel him in. ' Just before being laid on the 1 operating table, he gives expression to his only anxiety: j “ Say, captain, you'll see they give 'me plenty, won’t you ? Don’t let ; me wake up in the middle of it.” i The gauze is adjusted over his ! nose and mouth. The chloroform j falls drop by drop. The smell re - minds him of toothache tincture. | “Take fairly deep, regular breaths | and open your mouth a little,” I directs the anaesthetist, j After a few seconds breathing be- | comes difficult. There is a heavy ; singing in liis ears. Complete ' consciousness as yet. . . . | The nurse takes his hand. He squeezes liers and tries to speak, for he imagines they may start on him too soon.

J** * * * | A few more seconds —really many I minutes—pass. It is becoming un- ! bearable. His head is bursting. He cannot breathe. He is suffocating, choking—and then, his eyes open.

In bewilderment he looks at the nurse sitting by his bedside. The operation is over and he is back in the ward.

“ You behaved splendidly, corporal, and ‘went off’ beautifully."

And then he realises that his “ turn” in the hospital “theatre ’’ is over.