The following events took place between 11:30am and 3:30pm.
Now, there I was on the operation table seconds away from the knife, or is it razorblade, in hosi they use a fancy name scalpel ndio usistuke. Ata jina operation is misleading, kwa ile meza mtu hua anachinjwa, hebu say kuchinjwa in your mother tongue. And there I was with my neck on the line, hehehe, all the vitals hupitia hapo nahapo ndipo palikua pakwa, haisuru, acha kazi indelee ugojwa huo umeleta lump mpaka ujullikane.
Twende kazi, my head was turned to the left, extreme left kaa vile askari huface eyes right during a passing out parade nanikaambiwa niilock hapo, guess what I saw on the left side, a white wall clock with a smiley face, hehehe, ata mie nikasmile kindani nikajiambia all is well. Time was 11:31 when the first cut was made, sikuskia uchungu, ile tu niliskia ni a hot liquid runing down my neck. A frantic effort was done to mop up the liquid which tunajua vizuri was my blood, the surgeon told me lump anaiona sasa vile iko inje na he also informed me eti ni lymph node ndio imefula. Nikaskia kale ka toolbox ma equipment zikingongana nikajijazia eti anachukua kisu nyingine, all this time my three doctors walikua wanakula story za champions league, the usual suspects were all in the race kaa kawa.
Then it happened, wakati surgeon alimake a deep cut ili aweze kutoa kanyama kake ile uchungu niliskia acha tu, niliona milango ya binguni imefunguka na St. Peter ameuma njaro hapo kaa anagojea mtu, nikafunga macho nisimuone nanikaambia doc nimeskia uchungu hapo akasema pole, the third cut I was waiting for it, I tensed up, took a deep breath in na nikajikausha kabisa, ata vidole za mguu nikakunja, doc akasema relax lakini wapi, akikata tena niliskia uchungu ile I cant wish on my worst enemy, hii ilibidi niume my lower lip kwa nguvu kabisa ili nijizuie kuscream, wakati aliinua kisu ndio nilibreathout na nikarelax, St. Peter sikumuona tena nikajua nita survive, I prayed for this ordeal to be over, Ngai, kumbe hivi ndivo mbuzi huskia ikichinjwa, the smiley face wall clock said 11:39am
Nikaskia doc ameitisha tumakasi tudogo na akanishow anamalizia sasa, nikaomba mungu wangu nikamwambia Sir God mungu wa Abraham Isaac and Jacob please kuja mbio nausitumane, I need you now, nikajua ameskia na nikarelax completely, it was like a balloon being deflated, I think ata my heartbeat rate went down coz the anaesthesist who was monitoring shot up, came to my side and called me, “Meria, Meria, are you there” weakly I lifted up my hand and tried to smile.
Alafu I heard the surgeon tell his assistant hebu nishkie hapa, this was a kind of warning for what was to come, I tensed up again and braced myself for the pain, somehow I knew this would be the last cut, lakini even all my preparedness haikua imenitayarisha vizuri for the pain I felt, afadhali mbuzi hupigwa one clean cut naunamaliza hii yangu was pure torture, the doc was quick in nipping out his ka piece of meat but the pain was epic, I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out, I think even my bowels and bladder released but nothing came out, the body while shutting out the pain had shut down everything. I heard the doc breathout and say we are done here nikajua amemaliza, kale ka sample alikua amekata kalika size ya the small fingertip akanionyesha kaa amekashika na pinchers kisha akakaweka kwenye kachupa kisha akashow hao ma assistant wake wani sew up then akaishia. Time was 11:45am
Being patched up was childs play, sikuskia kitu, alafu the wound was dressed up na nikafungwa na bandage all around the neck, unhooked from all the monitors and was then transferred to a stretcher and wheeled out of the minor theatre, nikaskia wakisema they had 3 minutes to tidy up before the next patient aingie. Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiii mimi huyooo kasukumwa mpaka kwa ward, kufika kapata my beautiful nurse waiting for me, atleast my heart brightened abit nilipomuona. Kumbuka all this time I was eyes left, I couldn’t turn my head even to look upwards. Nikamwambia aniletee nguo zangu chapchap nataka kurudi job, akacheka kidogo akasema hapa kunaitwa recovery room, she reminded me I had just gone through an operation na razima nikae hapo kidogo mpaka niweze kurecover vizuri, so saying she hooked me up again to a monitor na istoshe pia nikadungwa drip, vile aliinyonga maji yalikua yaingia pole pole kabisa. Ata in my condition of eyes left there was no way I could drive. Time was 12 midday
I resigned myself to this fate nikamwambia basi nipe simu yangu, she quickly obliged and handed it over, weeh, a thousand missed call za boss, as if on cue nikaa alijua nimepewa simu muarabu akapiga, “Meria kubabako nugu hii lorry ya wenyewe umepeleka wapi? Nitakufira mkundu ujue mimi sipendi ushenzi kubaff wewe, mwenye gari alikuja hapa saa tono na wewe Malaya hushiki simu” hizo ndizo zilikua salamu zake, sijui hii college ya matusi hapa Mombasa inkuaga wapi. Namimi pia sio kidogo, had been with him for over a year na nilikua nimejifundisha hizo salaam zake “Kumamako matako ya mjuskafiri wewe, njoo hapa spitali uchukue scrap yako” I retorted. Akauliza kwani bado niko hosi nikamwambia nimelazwa, he then said he is on his way nikamwambia aje na driver. Time was 12:05pm
After 10 minutes simu ikalia tena, akasema akohapo parking kwa lorry na hanioni, kamshow aingie ndani aulizie recoverly room, soon enough akafika wakiwa na mjamaa mwingine kutoka kwa kina @vuja_de ambaye nilikua nimetaftia job huko. Kuniona alishtuka yake yote, maswali mia all at once, what happened? Was I in an accident? Am I okay? How are you feeling? Etc etc etc, the guy was really concerned. Akaniuliza kaa kuna kitu nataka nikamwambia not at the moment, akatoka inje kwenda kutafta daktari aelezewe hii maneno.
Bro ya vuja deek kamwambia achukue phone apigie wife tuongee nayeye, kamshow in a very calm voice niko (insert hosp name here)hosi nimelazwa kidogo and there is nothing to worry about, will be out by late afternoon na nikakata simu. Behind the scenes this kicked off a chain reaction, mamake @Mrs4thletter called my sis, my sacco chair and treasurer and a few of my close neighbors, my sis naye kapigia bwanake na hawa watu wote wakashika njia ya kuja spitali. Boss naye akarudi kwa room akaniambia amepigia bibi yangu na ako njiani, hii info ilifanya nicheke, the one my boss referred to as my wife was my baby mama, goodness gracious me, sasa itakua aje, wife na baby mama finally wanakutana, could anything else happen on this day? Nikajiuliza. Kaangalia drip kaona nimekunywa maji kaa kijiko mbili tu, ka angalia saa kaona inasema 12:30pm. it was so quiet little did i know it was the calm before a storm