The cyst.

Opps..tergendala kejap entry aku pasal trip ke Europe.

Pulang daripada sukan staf kira-kira 2 minggu lepas, aku ada masalah kesihatan sikit. Mulanya aku ingatkan jerawat di badan, tapi makin lama benjolan tu makin besar, nak-nak lepas aku dengan terernye cucuk dengan jarum peniti. HAHAHAA.

Lepas tu aku syak, bengkak sebab kalenjar peluh tersumbat. I had this experience before, about 11 years ago. Siap pecah lagi. It was extremely painful till I had to call my mother and cried over the phone. Not wanting to endure the same experience again, I decided to see a doctor.

Damn I was right. She said it's an infected sebaceous cyst. Ok, dah kena infection, hence the pain. Actually cyst ni tak bahaya pun. Kalau cyst tu tak mengganggu, tak sakit dan tak membesar, biar kan aje pun takpe. I know some people who have this kind of cyst and they just live with it.

But my case was different. It was utterly painful, I couldn't sleep at night. And it was very disturbing because of its awkward position. The doctor said it's up to me whether I should have it removed or not, but she recommended me to remove it. For 3 days, I was thinking should I leave it or not. I was worried about undergoing a surgery because I'm allergic to all painkillers I've taken except Arcoxia. I even got one bad experience with an anesthetic too. So aku hanya ambil antibiotik dan Arcoxia yang diberi oleh doktor. But it did not help. Even a bit. It got worse!

So hari ketiga dah tak tahan sangat, aku pun pergi lah ke hospital. They straight away referred me to a general surgeon (I insisted to have a female surgeon). Cuak ok. At times I felt like I was too rushing into making a decision, but most of the times, I couldn't bear the pain anymore.

The term this surgeon used is "infected epidermal cyst". It's the same type of cyst. Whatever I had in my mind, I was right about it. She said I should not wait anymore. "It's big, very big!" she said while pressing on my cyst. Sakit la gile. Aku siap tepis tangan dia, mujur tak dikepakkan aje hahahaha.

"So err.. if I agree to remove it, when will you do the surgery?" aku pun tanye dengan rasa kurang tenteram.

"Tomorrow," she said with a very long smile with her eyes fixed on mine.

Aku senyap je. Gulping.

"Why? Too fast?" she asked. It was obvious. Written all over my face 'Are you kidding me?'

"It's too soon!" I heaved a deep sigh. "Can I just go home, take a rest and think about it?"

"Sure!"

I went to my office, met my friends, asked for their opinions and they insisted me to see a plastic surgeon working at our college for some advices. Bertuah badan keje kolej perubatan ni.

It didn't take long... esok paginye pukul 8 pagi aku dah terpacak kat depan bilik dia and I was the first person in queue. Thanks to the excruciating pain I was having.

"Ok, tomorrow, 9am," she said calmly. Still smiling.

I kept reminding her about my allergies over and over again. To make me happy, she called an anaesthetist right on the spot and gave me suggestions. Still not so convinced though.. haha.

"Are you gonna do local anaes.."

"You want local?? It's not gonna be pleasant!" She cut me off. Siapa nak hoi hoiii. 

"No! Put me to sleep. By the way, I'm allergic to lignocaine," again I mentioned before I left her room.

Probably I couldn't sleep that night? Well, I went to bed around 10.30pm. LOL. Tapi memang aku takde mood nak packing malam tu. Risauuuu!!!

So esok paginya, aku admit ke hospital pukul 7.40 pagi seperti yang diminta. Pukul 8 masuk bilik, pukul 8.10, nurse masuk bawak baju hijau tuuu.. and some other stuff including a weighing scale. Timbang-timbang, I lost 7-8 kilos! Thanks to the sports I've been involved in.

Well, one happy news. :P

I'm ready! (well, physically je lah haha)

Then naik kerusi roda, ditolak ke operating room. Soklan lazim tiap kali kena naik wheelchair, "Larat ke nak tolak?" Haha.

Sampai kat operating room, aku diminta baring atas satu katil ni, dan kemudian diorang 'parking' aku kat Parking Bay. :P

Sejuknya lah. Nak tertidur aku tunggu giliran. Masa ni taktau nak buat apa, nak tidor macam tak senonoh je.. kang berdengkur, lagi naya. Maka baca aje lah segala surah yang aku hafal. Dalam OR, ada sorang tengah jalani ceasarean. Pastu midwife dah standby baby cot sebelah aku.

Ada dua orang doktor yang datang kat aku sambil belek-belek flipboard aku.

"Puan Ayu.."

"Cik, cik, cik...." I corrected him with a lousy voice. Selalunya aku tak betulkan, tapi sebab aku seorang pesakit masa tu, just in case lah kan..

"Oppss.. sorry! Cik Ayu."

He checked on my cyst and said, "Woah.. it's quite big!" Damn.............

While waiting, I felt so bored, I started talking to my cyst while rubbing it softly. "Well cyst, I don't hate you but I'm sorry. You don't belong here.."

Aku terpaksa diberikan nebulizer terlebih dulu sebab bius boleh menyebabkan aku terkena serangan asma, katanyeww lahh. Sambil nebu tu, dah mula lalok sikit, tiba-tiba aku dengar bunyi bayi menangis. 'It's a boy!!' I made my own scene in my mind. Taktau la laki ke perempuan.

Then aku nampak midwife bawak bayi tu dan letak dalam baby cot which was right next to me. I smiled looking at the baby, fresh from the oven! Haha. Subhanallah. Indahnya ciptaan Tuhan. The baby was so cute (and big!!) and one the MAs thought it was mine, and a nurse immediately shook her head...

Awkward moment. I stopped smiling and quickly looked at somewhere else. Sheeshh.. Cik Ayu. Remember??

Anyway the surgeon and the anaesthetist were told again and again about my allergies. I don't remember to how many people I had to keep mentioning about this. Their reactions were similar, "Wow that's a lot!"

They discussed what should they give me and I honestly didn't want to hear it. Luckily they finished their discussion far from me till the anaesthetist came to me and said "I think kita bius you guna style lama lah.." His face was looking very concerned. I waited for him to continue his words.

"Kita ikat you!" sambil depa tangan dia dan buat muka kartun. OK!!!!!!

Then he laughed and left me. Memang siot.

Habis nebu, they brought me into the OR. Patutnya ada sorang lagi patient before me, tapi dia datang lambat. Elok laa aku pun tak larat nak tunggu. Aku diusung masuk ke OR dan benda pertama aku cari ialah jam. 9.16am. Noted.

Aku dah a bit drowsy sebab kena nebu, ditambah pulak dengan kerabunan aku, so aku pun tak berapa nampak sangat lah suasana dalam OR tu. I saw some lights above me.. well, hello Grey's Anatomy.

Masa nak cucuk tangan tu, the surgeon said, "Oh ini susah mahu cari.." sambil tepuk-tepuk tangan aku.

"Well, that's what they always said," I said lazily.

And he missed it! "Oppss oppsss.. missed it. Terlepas!" Urat aku pergi jogging kot.

Terpaksa lah dia cari urat lain. "Sorry arr dua kali kena cucuk."

"It's ok," tu je lah aku cakap sambil pandang siling. Taktau nak cakap apa dah. Dah ler sakit. Aku hanya baca surah-surah dalam hati sambil diorang prepare everything dan bila MA yang comel (eh?) tu cakap, "Kak, ni oksigen yek.." sambil letak oxygen mask tu, aku start lah mengucap...aku nampak siling dah melenggok-lenggok kiri kanan dan dalam lima kali mengucap, aku pun padam...

I had dreams. Happy dreams! Dah lama tak mimpi indah lagi menyeronokkan. They said we don't dream when we are under general anaesthesia but I did. It was good until..

"Ayu... Ayu... Ayu..."

Ada orang tepuk-tepuk bahu aku. And I was conscious again. For a second, aku kat mana nii? Arghhh back to this damn place! And I felt a little pain on my chest. Quickly I touched it.. Mulut pun tak henti-henti mengucap syukur Alhamdulillah. Berakhir sudah episod mendebarkan ini!

"How's the operation?" I asked the doctor. Ingat lagi nak cakap omputih nye pun. The doctor showed a thumbs up and said everything went well.

My second question, I asked the nurse who woke me up "Pukul berapa sekarang?"

"Ha? 10.30 pagi."

Kata 15 minit je surgery ni... but it took at least an hour I guess?

They said after surgery you're gonna feel very drowsy, weak.. rasa nak muntah and probably you'll fall asleep for the whole day.

Well, they sent me back to my room and I had normal conversation and my voice was as clear as before. Lucky for me, I didn't experience any allergies, drowsiness or nausea. I was indeed hungry. Nurse cakap lepas 4 jam baru aku boleh minum air masak, lepas tu kalau tak muntah, baru minum milo. Kalau ok gak, baru boleh makan. I was like WHAT? I NEED FOOD. NOW!

Mm well aku angguk je lah. Nak cakap pe. Haha. I asked my sis for my phone, text some people, checked on my fb/twitter, replied emails about work and had a small fight with my boss. Yep, right after the surgery. I was utterly disappointed with what happened between me and my boss, the wound probably would leave a permenant scar deep in my heart. Come on, I just left the OR! Isn't there any respect at all? As I immediately lost mine. *sigh*

The doctor came about half an hour after that, and she asked how I was feeling. Despite of the bitterness, I said I'm totally fine and she allowed me to have my meal right at that second. YEAY!!

Perut dah kenyang, ape lagi.. tidur lah haha.

Anyway, thank you to all my friends for the warm wishes, especially those who came for a visit. They've been very supportive. I made the right decision to remove it after getting advices and support from my friends. The cyst was as big as a pingpong ball. We were kinda surpised to see it. Didn't expect it would be that big!

Alhamdulillah. Tak sabar nak bukak jahitan and go back to my normal life.

Thank you all for your prayers and wishes.

The cyst.