Amoszine 8/Amoszine 8 (Disk 2 of 3).adf/BELL.lha/Docs/doc1

Text File | 1992-03-06 | 7KB | 138 lines

                               THEATRE OF PAIN
                               ---------------
                         Written by Steve Bye 2/7/95
                       Exclusively for Magnetic Fiction
                       --------------------------------
      THE FOLLOWING STORY IS BASED ON FACT, BUT THE CHARACTERS AND EXACT
                           SITUATIONS ARE FICTION.

Reg Deller always had a bit of a fear of hospitals, well it was more of a
strong dislike than a fear. But this time it felt more like a phobia.
Reg was laid up in bed 54, Men's ward 10 and bloody terrified. A luckless
car accident left him with a shattered shin bone and a punctured right eye
ball. He was heavily sedated and as such wasn't in too much pain, it was the
thought of the operations to come that really caused panic to well up inside
him. A doctor who looked familiar came to inspect his condition.

"O.K Reg, we will have you patched up in no time.  Feel alright do you?
 Not too much pain?"

Reg just about managed a nod.

"We will nip you down to theatre in about five minutes and have that leg
 done for you. Just a small metal plate, you'll never know it was there.
 It's  only a quick Job and will be over before you know it."

The Doc gave Reg another injection and then a thumbs up sign and darted off
to tend another patient.

Reg, feeling sicker and more panicky then ever tried to calm himself to
no avail. He was now sweating up badly and shaking. Christ, thought Reg, I'm
not a coward, why am I so bloody frightened? I've had an operation before,
removal of appendix, I was no more nervous than when you go to the dentist.
Maybe it's those drugs they keep giving me, yeah that's what it is....
Reg drifted off into a deep sleep induced by the most recent injection.

Reg dreamt about fire, red hot searing fire, in his leg. He tried to open
his eyes but he couldn't, he couldn't do anything. All he could do was hear
and think and FEEL.  He could feel his leg was up in the air, about 45
degrees, in a stirrup probably, there was lot's of people around talking,
mumbling, and a surgeon cutting open the skin of his splintered leg.
Reg could feel it, christ he could feel the pain, he was awake on the
operating table. Reg opened his mouth to scream, but neither did he scream
nor did his mouth open, nothing muscular would work. The panic feeling came
back and now Reg knew why. It had all happened before. The appendix
operation had gone the same way, he felt everything, every slice of the
scapel every nerve artery and sinew that was cut was a blinding mass of pain
so unbearable that he felt he must go insane. But why hadn't he remembered
afterward? But as he now realised, he had, in fact remembered,
subconsciously.  His mind had tried to warn him of the danger, and he had
fought it. His mind must of blanked out the terrifying ordeal, it was too
much of a burden for his mind to cope with so it just hid it.
Reg could hear alright, he could hear what sounded like a mini version of
his Black and Decker drill he had back home, shit, they are drilling into
the bone... Reg laid there his mind turning inside out, going insane with
pain and fear whilst the surgeon cheerfully drilled into his shin, he could
hear and feel the bone splintering and cracking under the force of the drill
bit and it went on for ever. Then the drilling stopped, but the pain
didn't, not straight away, but Reg suddenly realised that he could now
move something, his toes, yes, yes, wiggle them bastards and get their
attention. Reg wiggled for all he was worth in the hope that the surgeon
would realise the pain and suffering he was inflicting. The surgeon now had
the scalpel into his patients flesh and was cutting through nerves and sinew
in a jungle like fashion to make way for the metal plate.

"Look!"

Said a female voice from above and behind Reg,

"his toes are moving."

Thank god thought Reg, now stop this madness, please.

"Blimey, that's unusual"

remarked the surgeon and carried on hacking. Reg knew he was going to die
and gave up the struggle for sanity, he let his mind rip itself to shreds
and he just seemed to fade away into a distant nightmare of blood and pain..

Reg came around again and his mind immediatrly went in to a panic.
He could still feel the searing pain, though not as bad as before and with
every determination in his body leapt off the operating table and landed face
down on the cold tiled floor of Ward 10. Nurses rushed to his aid, and got
him back into his bed.

"Now Mr. Deller, please calm down."

And Reg did, why was he on the floor? Oh yes he just had an operation on his
leg, must of had a bad dream under that anaesthetic, Reg thought.
A few minutes later the surgeon who operated on Reg's leg came over to see
his patient.

"How do you feel now Reg?"

"Bit groggy doctor, and my leg hurts quite a lot."

"Let's take a look...Hmm, jumping out of bed onto it hasn't helped much."

"I know, sorry Doc. I don't know what happened there, I must of come too
 with a start or something."

"We may have to re-align the plate I am afraid, you've knocked it out of
 position. But don't worry about that for now, I would like to take a look
 at your eye. We didn't operate on your eye first as we are waiting for
 a new fitment to be made for you. I am afraid it means another operation
 of course.  Still, you will keep your sight."

"What's got to be done?"

"Well, we will remove your eye and replace it with a false one. It's not as
 bad as it sounds. People will hardly be able to notice it, and your sight
 will be virtually normal."

"And what about my leg, do you really have to operate again?"

"Probably, but don't worry too much about that, we will sort out your eye
 first, then get back to your leg tomorrow as it will be pretty damn sore
 for a while. By the way didn't I do your appendix a few years ago?"


                                 <<==END==>>

This short story is based on newspaper reports of people coming around
during operations, being paralysed totally, but feeling the pain of the
operation. There is quite a lot of evidence to prove that this has happened
to thousands of people throughout the world, but very few can remember their
suffering. Psychologists say it's because the patient is so traumatised
the brain just blocks it out the horror. The problem seems to be the dosage
of anaesthetic given. There is a level that will paralyse your body but not
your mind. According to Prof Alan Aitkenhead of Nottingham University around
70,000 patients put under general anaesthesia in UK hospitals have some
awareness during operations. Of these about 10% were concious and felt pain.
A woman from Blackpool successfully sued a hospital for £55,000 damages for
the suffereing she went through while have an one hour long hysterectomy.
She said later "it was like being butchered alive."


                              (C) 1995 Steve Bye