Checklist - do I have this op?

[rosemary johnson]

I've devised a 3-point CHECKLIST about whether to go ahead with a graft.
Or any other procedure, for that matter.
ANyone who is feeling nervous, jittery, or in two minds as to whether to procede is welcome to use it, adapt it for their purposes, laugh at it, or whatever takes your fancy.

From my own experience, and for anyone facing a GA, I've added a point zero to the normal points 1 to 3.
Here goes.
0. Am I too dehydrating from fasting to be in a legally-competant frame of mind? SHould I have had that saline drip in my elbow hours since?

1. Logically speaking, and on the balance of probability, is this procedure a logically sensible way to go?
2. Are my reservations based on general concerns, about which the "experts" trying to reassure me are likely to have more knowledge and experience than me, or based on things I know about myself which no-one else can know as well as I do?
3. If this were the USA - or the vet's, take your pick - and I had to pay for this, would I be happy to sign the cheque?

Cynic? Moi???
In my case, the answers would have been 0. yes and yes; 1. yes; 2. the latter, definitely; and 3. you gotta be kidding. Unfortunately, I only got as far as No. 1.
Hope it works for some of you.
Rosemary
"Cynicism is the mark of the disillusioned idealist" - who said that???

[Andrew MacLean]

1. Logically speaking, and on the balance of probability, is this procedure a logically sensible way to go?
2. Are my reservations based on general concerns, about which the "experts" trying to reassure me are likely to have more knowledge and experience than me, or based on things I know about myself which no-one else can know as well as I do?
3. If this were the USA - or the vet's, take your pick - and I had to pay for this, would I be happy to sign the cheque?

These are sensible questions. I reduced the list to one: "Do I stand to lose anything if the operation goes wrong?" When I was satisfied that the answer to this question was 'no', I agreed to go ahead. I was registered blind and reckoned that even if there was the loss of an eye, I'd really not be so much worse off.

In the event, of course, everything went well. I did not lose anything and got back the sight I had lost in my right eye, and am well on the way to recovering sight in my left eye.

Was I sensible to wait so long? Probably not.
Would I have had surgery earlier if I had been working on your three point checklist? Absolutely yes.
Do I regret delaying as long as I did? Not really.

Andrew

[rosemary johnson]

Hi Andrew!
I really intended the checklist as for use when one had got the op booked and was getting the jitters and wndering whether to pull out.
Unfortunately for me, one could possibly stand to lose more than eyesight if an op went wrong. I should have stuck to your checklist, clearly!
Rosemary