by Emma

On August 29th this year, I visited ENT at my hospital and found I needed another operation! I was a bit disappointed because I thought they were all finished. This operation would be a tympanoplasty on my left eardrum.

On 22nd September I went to the ward and got settled down playing Scrabble with my mum. At 1.30pm the nurse shaved a bit of hair from behind my ear, so they could cut it and get some skin when I was asleep. At 2.20pm (I was watching Doctors on TV!) the porters came and I got nervous.

It was weird, because I was allowed to sit up and I could see everything that was happening. In the anaesthetics room it was strange, because I was still sitting up!! I hate anaesthetic, it feels horrible when you're losing consciousness and you don't want to be. When I woke up, I wasn't in pain because I was pumped full of morphine. The surgeon told my mum the operation had been a success.

At 7.00pm my mum went home. At 8.00pm she came back with my dad. By this time, I was more awake and was eating. The nurse took the IV out of my hand then, because I didn't need extra fluid.

I made a really quick recovery, and was going out to the local town centre just two days later!! I'm back at school now, and my hearings a lot better. Maybe it's too good...

This story may have been edited by Children First for Health for editorial and confidentiality reasons only.

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