SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2009 - SURGERY DAY

In true Lawrence tradition I arrived at the Toronto General Hospital admitting desk at 5.45 am 45 minutes early to find the only people around were security and the cleaning staff. I found a seat in the waiting room and did just that -waited proudly claiming to be number 1 in line.
I had stayed at P.M.L the night before and after a nice roast beef dinner, I went to bed early to prepare for an early start. It was still dark when the taxi picked me up and the traffic was almost non-existent which all helped to make me so early arriving. It was not long though before the hustle and bustle started, patients arriving with family members, nurses, orderlies and then doctors, doctors and more doctors.
We were all lined up on stretcher beds with a curtain separating us and all curious to know who would be the next chosen one to be wheeled off to the operating room. I was as usual, at the end of the list and after an I.V. needle was put into my hand, I too was wheeled away to the operating room and the land of nod for the next three hours. On the way my Surgeon gave me the thumbs up and said, "60% clear to 40% cancer, don't worry it's going to be OK". I awoke to a nurse calling my name and realized that it was over and I was still alive and on earth. It was rather a wonderful feeling to see the smiling faces and hear happy voices again. I was soon off to the sixth floor which was my home for the next three and a half days. I met my room mate Dan Rose who had similar but more extensive surgery than mine. It's a small world as it turns out that Dan's Mom runs the Post Office in the Shopper's Drug Mark in Wasaga Beach, the very store that I use to get all my medical supplies and prescriptions filled. My neck and throat were quite sore which made it hard to sleep and swallow but with what was done, it was quite understandable. My neck looks a little different due to the amount of tissue that was removed but I am told it will fill out somewhat as it heals. (More to come including photo's taken by nurse. )