Have you ever had surgery? What for?
When I was 6 years old I had my appendix removed.
I was on holiday in North Wales, me, two brothers, mum and dad, plus my nana all squeezed into a caravan on the Llŷn Peninsula .
Outside one evening playing football, I began to have stomach aches. During the night, the pain sent me a bit delirious and I was given the ‘big bed’ (so the Lord only knows where everyone else was sleeping!) Amidst a fog of memories, I do vividly recall that I could no longer walk upright and had to crawl to the toilet. At which point my nana announced
That poor child needs a doctor!
The memory of my dad carrying me through the streets of Porthmadog for a visitor’s GP appointment is hazy. And I know that I was sent straight to Bangor Hospital, but I have zero recollection of the journey.
In Bangor, we waited for a surgeon to arrive, whereupon I was operated on immediately. My appendix came out ‘within hours of perforation ‘ the surgeon told my parents later. So my wise old Nana called it well.
I spent the rest of the holiday in hospital on a drip, and then had about 4 weeks off school to recover.
And, although, 5 decades later I’m obviously completely healed, I do still have the scar! Oh yes, my op pre-dates keyhole surgery, so it is a proper butcher’s cut! I smile as I recall thar 5 weeks after the op, upon returning to school, trips with wide-eyed, gore-thirsty classmates to ‘see’ the wound was quite the rage for a few days.
But no surgery since …. at least none so far…
Smashing Single Parenthood 