A Personal Account of a Memorable Life Experience

A Moment That Changed My Life

A moment that changed my life would have to be when I had heart surgery at All Children's Hospital. The reason why I had to have heart surgery was because I was born with a heart murmur. The emotions that me and my family faced as well as the support my friends and family showed me during my surgery. The recovery I had to go through with my surgery, the environment around me at the hospital as well. There was even a surprising event that happened towards the end of my recovery. The following event leading up to my surgery would not have gone as successful without my family, the help of the doctors, and a relaxing environment.

I remember quite clear, waking up to the sound of my family talking in the living room. I had got out of bed to open the door and saw my family trying to get everything together for my trip to the hospital. I was only ten years old and wasn't worried about anything going wrong because I trusted the doctors to a successful surgery. I had gotten dressed and started packing what I wanted to bring with me to the hospital. The one thing I knew I wasn't going to forget was my stuffed animal Moe; my third grade class had gotten it for me for good luck on this surgery.

Me and my family were leaving to head towards the hospital in downtown St. Pete called All Children's Hospital. I wasn't getting nervous as we got closes to the hospital, actually I was getting excited because I was going to be in the hospital for a while to recover and receive a lot of attention. We finally approached the hospital and walked in the double doors, we had to wait in the lobby until finally my doctor had escorted all of us to where I was ready to do my surgery. I was carrying Moe with me and hugging him tightly to know I had the support I needed from my friends and family. The nurse had instructed me to remove my cloths and to put on a certain gown on for the surgery.

I had asked the doctor when he approached if I could take my stuff animal in with me to keep me strong in the process of the surgery. He had agreed to let me bring Moe in with me and then my doctor asked me what kind of smelling gas I wanted, which there was choice between strawberries or bubble gum and I chose bubble gum. The doctor had asked me to lay down on a hospital bed and they had put a plastic mask over my nose and mouth, they had told me to count down to ten. I could smell the aroma of the bubble gum and it had made me feel relaxed, that or it was the sleeping gas that was doing it. I started counting to ten and all I remember is getting to five and I had blackout.

The next thing I remembered is waking up to the sound of my mother’s voice and I opened my eyes to find her over me smiling. I had felt a sharp pain on my chest, the nurse had insisted that I don’t move or get up because of my stiches. I looked down to see stiches that were four inches down my chest and I knew it was going to take a while until I had recovered. After talking to my family of how I was feeling I had a sudden urge to drink a lot of water, my doctor had explained to me and my family that I couldn’t drink anything for at least an hour which was torture for me. My mother had then took a tiny sponge and dabbed it on my lips and on my tongue but it wasn't enough I had cried out for a glass of water but I had to wait until an hour was up to drink something.

When my hour was up I had asked the nurse if I could have sprite to drink, then started drinking like I haven’t had anything to drink in a long while, I went through four sprite cans until I wasn't thirsty anymore. I wanted to walk around the hospital but the nurse said the next couple of days I could start walking around. I had to wait at least five days to start walking around the hospital and my mother had made me a promise if I could walk to the gift shop I could choose what I wanted. I was eager to start walking around so I can get something from the gift shop as my mother promised me. The nurse said I would have to have an escort with me if I wanted to walk around; all I could think of was getting a surprise from the gift shop.