Firewooders Show Up in the Strangest Places

Yep firewooders show up in the strangest places, yes even hospital operating rooms!

You guys know me, I have a strange sense of humor so I brought a cartoon with me to the hospital showing a surgeon outraged that a man in a Freddy Cougar mask was handing him a chainsaw instead of a scalpel. That was because my Thyroid Issue was detected when I had my cat scan after taking that chainsaw to the face last Spring.

So I was explaining the reason for the cartoon, which happened to be the first day the new operating room ward opened so the nurses and Drs photocopied it and posted it everywhere. (Though they told me not to show any other patients as it might frighten them more). Anyway my anesthesiologist was a firewooder. He was in this super serious, super hurried mood until we started talking chainsaws, then he stopped what he was doing, was talking about some new chainsaw chaps he was going to buy, how he used an axe sometimes to fell trees, how much money he saved doing it himself, etc..

It was nice and put everyone in a light mood.

As for the surgery itself, it went well. They ended up taking my entire thyroid out because my left side was the size of the surgeon's fist when it should be the size of a peach pit, and the right side had one tumor but was very lumpy. Now I am just very sore, but can now swallow, have my voice back (the tumors were pressing on my vocal cords) and don't have that triple chin! Hopefully this will get me back to good health again. (EMMC=Eastern Maine Medical Center)

 

Glad the surgery went well and you are now on the mend. A bit of humour and a common interest can go a long way to making people feel better!

 

Happy you're recovering well.

Small world, I was born at EMMC a whole buncha years ago. My how it has changed!

 

Yes it has. I was born in Waterville though I never go there anymore. Belfast is my local hospital, though I go to EMMC a lot now because Waldo County General Hospital lacks an Endocrinologist.

Belfast has some nice Dr's/ The wife sees a cardiologist there who was George Bush, Sr's cardiologist. When I asked a neurologist why they have great Dr's he said it is because it is a small hospital, limited liability, low stress and right on the ocean so they can go sailing on their yachts. Makes sense.

 

It must be a huge relief to have those tumors out of you! Now you can heal up, and work on your body's new normal.

 

Great to hear you're doing well! You'll be back at it in no time so rest up and let things mend up. Did you happen to mention to him about your extended family here at FHC and too come join us?

 

You guys talking about the big hospital in Bangor?
I just paddled by it last week.

 

Great news!

Good results.

I do the same thing as you, but bringing the cartoon in was like playing a trump card! Funny!

I was telling a story to a surgical team once when the drugs took over and I zonked out without finishing it. Went back next week for the followup visit and the surgeon said everyone in the room went "awwww" when I quit talking and would you please remember to ask how the story ended?

He was a good surgeon.

 

I had that same thing happen...it went like this, "So then after running over my second chainsaw with a bulldozer, I got on my skidder and..." but never had the chance to tell them I squished a third chainsaw...and that it was NOT a joke.

And yes Roweryet, that is the same hospital.

 

Praying all is well now and healing comes quickly, I've read enough to know you are a lot like many of us....don't like to be down for long. Just make sure you heal.

 

Sadly that might be a problem. I have MRSA and told them before going in that I don't heal well, but they said it is not a place prone to infection. So they did not give me any antibiotics and now it seems I have a surgical site infection. :-(

 

We shall pray

 

I hope they give you something that can knock it down. Take care of your gut, too. Antibiotics can do a number on your intestinal flora.

 

Good luck with your recovery LodgedTree ... and that you get that infection knocked down quickly.

 

You took a saw to the face First I heard, did that come out OK? I hope you heal quickly form the surgery and that you are soon back to running over saws and stuff. Well, maybe not the running over saws part. Big Hugs.

 

Oh yeah I came out okay. I hit a spring pole with my chainsaw back on March 27th 2017, got 20 stitches all together, and had a 4 day stay at the hospital, but it was in doing Cat Scans of my concussion during that time that they found my damaged Pituitary Gland, and thus from that, am getting the tumors on my Thyroid. That lead to 6 months of testing that ultimately lead to my Thyroid Surgery. So it is all related.

IF this all works out okay, and this surgery cures a lot of my problems, taking a chainsaw to my face will be the best thing that ever happened to me. The Thyroid runs everything and as such for years I have been so TIRED, and its been tough, much less having this issue and trying to log. I am retired thank goodness, but I still have a wife and 4 daughters that depend on me.

 

Well....I can honestly say youre the only guy Ive ever heard of who was lucky to have been smacked in the face with a chainsaw. Mysterious ways my friend....mysterious ways.

 

Glad to hear it all went well. Praying for a quick and full recovery for you!