Personal Narrative

On the Road to Surgery

 “Rachel Hollan?” the teacher questioned.

My eyes bolt to the door, am I in trouble, I don’t remember doing anything wrong, and why do I feel guilty?

 “Gather your things and then come down to the office. There’s a message for you from your mother,” she continued.

I drag my feet over to my chair, eyes fixed on the blue colored carpet that had bits and pieces of red and green, the same carpet that every school invests in. I wave goodbye to my friends as I exit the choir room. I had been in directed study, one of my favorite classes because it was pretty much just a free study period, and my teacher, the choir director, let us do whatever we wanted. It was the time of the day that I got to spend with my two best friends and just talk, braid each other's hair, make bracelets, and help Ms. Nugyen organize and put away sheet music.

I’m almost to the office by now, I stopped at my locker to put my books away, I didn’t want to carry them, too heavy! I round the corner and glide through the office door as it swings open and hits the wall, “woops” I announced.

I searched the office for a face that had the explanation for ruining my perfectly good girl time with my friends. I looked at Mrs. Wakefield, our middle school receptionist. The look on her face puzzled me; she looked worried and really sad. “What was going on” I thought.

“It’s time Rachel, I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Wakefield released.

My heart dropped and I felt like my stomach was going to burst through my throat, I started balling. My head fell to meet my shaking hands as I sat on a small, rickety chair against the wall. She came over and put her arm around my shoulders, it was kind of awkward since I didn’t really know her to well, but it was nice having someone there. After gathering myself back together, she started walking me back to my locker to get all my school books and belongings.  As I was approaching my locker, I saw my two best friends, Sadie and Rachel walking down the hallway in a swift manner; they had come to see what was going on. They saw that my face was raw with tears and ran to my side.

“What’s wrong Rachel?” they both asked in unison, one on either side of me.

“I’m going to the Mayo Clinic.” I answered, only wishing those words hadn’t been true. Both the girls looked down to the floor with the feeling of agony in their eyes, they knew this day would come, they just didn’t know when. Sadie helped me pack up my backpack as Rachel stood close to me, keeping her hand on my shoulder, comforting me with the fact that she would always be there for me. Us three girls walked with linked arms together to the entrance doors of the school, Mrs. Wakefield was tagging behind. I gave my friends a HUGE hug, not wanting to let go. Mrs. Wakefield opened the door for me, wished me luck, and said goodbye. I waved behind me as I walked down the chalky colored sidewalk to my mom’s car. I hopped in the passenger seat and starred longingly out the window, wondering when I would return back to my friends, my teachers, my school… my normal life.

“I started packing some things for you,” my Mom said, breaking the silence.

“Mmmk, thanks” I puffed. We pulled into the driveway; I wobbled out of the car and went inside to get something to eat.

“Dr. Moir wants to see you today, so we need to leave in less than an hour. Do want to bring your things up to my room and then we can pack them together?” my Mom sweetly asked.

“Ya that’s fine, what do I all need to bring?” I asked.

“Well, enough clothes to last you a couple weeks, comfy clothes, we can do laundry there. Your toiletries, homework, anything else you want to bring to work on,” my Mom stated.

“K, I’ll start bringing my stuff up then”, I replied. I went to my room, turned on some music and started emptying my closet; I tend to over pack, especially when I’m in a rush or stressed. We got the car packed up, my brothers and sisters came home from school, and my dad came home from work. We gathered in the living room and my dad gave me a Priesthood blessing. Everyone was in tears; the spirit was so strong that day.

“Everything is going to be fine, Rachel. I’ve been through it and I turned out alright didn’t I? Haha” Olivia smartly remarked.

“I’ll miss you Rachy!” my little brother Matthew cried.

“Everything is going to be alright Rachel” my older brother Michael reassured me.

We all hugged each other goodbye as tears were still streaming down our faces. Even though I would be seeing my family in a couple days when they came up to Rochester, Minnesota, I still didn’t want to leave without them.

On the road we went, it was silent in the car. Mom was driving speedily, and by speedily I mean she was speeding…. A LOT! I was staring out the window, watching the fields of corn and wheat flow with the wind as we whooshed by. About seven hours later, accompanied by lots of junk food, numerous Brian Regan CD’s, mother daughter chatting in the car, and singing along to the radio… we finally made it to Rochester, Minnesota and got checked into our hotel.

“Hurry and change, we have to get over to the hospital as soon as we can, Moir wants to meet with you today!” My mom stress-fully informed me as she hurriedly unpacked her suitcases.  

“OK”, I replied as I ran to the bathroom to start getting ready.

Our hotel was right across from the hospital, so we just walked over. The hospital was breath taking, it was so elegantly decorated. I couldn’t stop turning my head back and forth finding new things to gaze at. I felt like I was at Disney World or New York or something. But the fact that I was there for a life altering surgery brought me back to reality and the emotions started welling up. We arrived at the elevators and headed to the fourteenth floor. We checked in and got in with Dr. Moir within about ten minutes.  

“Well hello! You guys made it!” Dr. Moir brightly exclaimed.

“Why is he so dang happy” I thought, I’m in a terrible mood.  

“Yes, we did!” My mom sighed. The people in the room gave off a chuckle.

“So things aren’t going to well for you, are they Rachel?” Dr. Moir questioned.

“Yaaaa…” I shortly responded.

“Well I guess we knew this day would most likely come, we just didn’t think it would come so quickly compared to your sister. So tomorrow will be a prep day and then Friday we’ll do the surgery. I don’t know how much you will enjoy tomorrow, most patients don’t enjoy it, but maybe you will. Haha!”  Moir smirked. “You’re going to be drinking a lot of cleansing fluids to get your body completely drained out. One of the solutions tastes like lemonade, so it shouldn’t be too bad. We don’t want any waste left in your body, so you will be in the bathroom for a good chunk of your day. Your nurses have medication prescribed by me that you will need to take throughout…” Moir continued on.

“Ugh, I hate doctor visits. When you’re sitting in their office, they always go on and on and tell you every single, little, tiny detail about your procedure. And yes I know it’s all important information, but let’s be honest, am I really going to remember all of this information. That’s what nurses are for, right?!” I thought as Moir kept lecturing me about the next few days. All I wanted to do was go home, I hate hospitals so much.

Finally after a couple hours of constant conversation and friendly banter between my mom and the doctors, we were finally released and my mom and I headed off to dinner. After dinner, we got back to the hotel, gathered my things, and went back to the hospital, where I was admitted to my room in pediatrics. Nurses were in and out all night, connecting things to me, giving me IVs, waking me up every couple hours to give me medication and take my blood pressure, etc. It was finally morning, six in the morning that is. I barely slept; I’d been dreading this day all night… the Prep Day.

“How’d you sleep last night Rachel?” a nurse thoughtfully asked.

“Alright,” I plainly said.

“Well, Dr. Moir said to start prepping you as soon as possible, so here is the plan. We have a lemonade substance that you will need to drink all day, it’s going to clean every last bit of food or substance out of your body. Also we have…” the nurse proceeded to give me a shorter version of what I had already been told by Moir the day before. “So start drinking! Haha!” she exclaimed as she left the room.

“Well Rach, you heard the nurse, start drinking. We don’t want any complications like what happened with your sister, so make sure you do everything and anything the nurses tell you” my mom commanded.

“I’m scared to taste it, what if its super gross like the other stuff I had to drink?” I sacredly admitted.

“Oh Rach, come on, it’s just lemonade” my mom added.

“Fine” I said.

I poured a glass of the substance and took a big gulp, I was pretty thirsty. As soon as the liquid passed my taste buds, I jumped of my bed, almost pulling out one of my IVs and ran to the sink to spit it out.

“RACH!!” my mom exclaimed.

I was almost throwing up in the sink.

“That was the worst thing I have every tasted in my entire life Mom!! You try it!” holding out the cup to my mom. She took a sip and also had the same look of disgust on her face, but willingly swallowed her gulp.

“See Rach, if I can do it, you can do it. But I will admit, it is pretty bad. I’m really sorry hunny, but you have to drink everything Moir prescribed or else you won’t be ready for tomorrow. And we don’t want any more complications do we?” my mom added.

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, alright. Whatever! This is stupid” I groaned with an attitude.

Hours passed, as liters and liters of the disgusting substance went through my body. Soon the sun was setting and the rest of my family had arrived. As I finished up the last doses of all the medications and fluids, my brothers and sisters wished me luck and said goodbye for the night. I told my mom that she didn’t have to stay overnight with me in the hospital again, so my dad stayed instead.  My mom talked to me for a while and then kissed me goodnight and said “See you soon sweetie, I love you so much.”

Everyone was gone except for my dad. We talked for a while about my experiences thus far since I had arrived, and we shared a few laughs. Then he talked to me about what to expect when I wake up from everything in a couple days. I was scared out of my mind, I was pretty much going to be in a-coma for two days due to morphine and other pain medications.

“Everything is going to be alright Rachel. The Lord will be with you and will send His Spirit to comfort you. The Lord knows what you are going through and how you will feel when you are done. He’s been through it all and is here to ease your pain and stress. I love you Rachel, just as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ does. Every trial you encounter has a purpose. The Lord only gives us trials that He knows we can overcome and He believes in you Rachel.” my dad testified. As he finished up his testimony I was already balling my eyes out. We sat for a while, just holding each other in our arms, crying tears of sadness, because of how scared I was, and tears of joy, because of the great blessings of the gospel that we have in our church. My dad gave me a final priesthood blessing before we headed off to bed.

“RISE AND SHOUT THE COUGARS ARE OUT ALONG THE TRAIL TO FAME AND GLORY!” my dad shouted to wake me up.

“Uhhhhh,” I groaned, as I sat up in my extremely uncomfortable hospital bed. “Today’s the day” I thought to myself.  “Thanks for that dad,” I smirked.

“Alright here is you last dose of medication and then we’ll wheel you off in about thirty minutes,” the nurse informed me as she entered my room.

Soon my mom arrived and we all waited patiently for the doctors to come.

“Are you ready Rachel?” Dr Moir asked as he entered my room with his surgical staff, all dressed in their light blue scrubs.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied.

I got on my transport bed and was wheeled through the long hallways of the Mayo Clinic. My parents followed close behind. Soon we neared my exit.

“Alright mom and dad, you can’t pass any further than this point, so I’ll leave you all to say your goodbyes” the kind nurse informed us.

I was strapped in my bed, lying on my back, cords going in and out of me.

“You’re going to do great Rachel, we’ll see you soon. We love you sooooo much!” my parents reassured me. They both gave me a big hug and kiss goodbye, with tears streaming down their faces.

The nurses wheeled me off and I watched my parents disappear. As I got into surgery, I was overcome with this wonderful feeling that everything was really going to be okay. My parents were right, the Lord was watching over me. And at that moment, I knew that families were made for a very important reason, to help us and comfort us through the trials we have to face in our lives. The love and support we receive from our family members can never be replaced.