Thursday 6 April - And so to sleep

At some stage during the morning I swap the new pyjamas for a theatre gown and the anaesthetist pays me a visit to give me a pre-med (ie pre-medication). A pre-med is a type of sedative that is used to relax a patient before an operation.
I am wheeled down to theatre and remember passing the poor guy’s bed who was still having breathing trouble; and I remember the corridor down the main part of the Ward.
The rooms in and around the operating theatre were old and cold: the secret here is to try and relax and have a laugh and a joke with those around you, especially the anaesthetist. However, on this occasion I was not laughing as they were having trouble finding the veins in my right wrist and even managed to snag a needle on old scar tissue on my left wrist!
I tried to tell them not to bother with the wrist area at all, preferring them to use the upper part of the arm, but as I complained a mask was placed of my face and I was under…