So this was it, what I had always dreaded; this was what it felt like to be paralysed, trapped in a useless body completely at the mercy of others. I wanted to say ‘Well I’ll be off then‘, but I was going nowhere. I could move my head and arms, I could speak, but I was flat on my back and the rest of my body felt like a trussed oven-ready chicken. No amount of concentration could make my leg move or my body lean over. How dreadful for those left totally paralysed or struck down by a stroke; unable to speak, left to listen fully aware while doctors discuss whether you are a vegetable, alive or dead. I tried to cast these dark thoughts from my mind and concentrate on my own predicament. I had such plans for this year, only this morning I had been strolling in the sunshine, but after tonight my life would never be the same.
I breathed slowly, taking it all in; bright lights, murmuring voices, figures in green moving calmly around, equipment with buttons and red numbers. Perhaps I was experiencing the ultimate human nightmare; the figures all wore masks, everything felt unreal – I could be on an alien spaceship. Had I lost minutes, hours, days of my life?
One of the figures was talking to me. ‘Can you feel that?’
‘Feel what?’ I replied, relieved that he sounded human.
He turned to speak to another figure. ‘No sensation in lower body, blood pressure okay.’ He turned back to me. ‘This is Doctor Campbell, we’re ready to proceed, how are you feeling?’
My surroundings closed in on me. A screen went up, there was only my head which the masked face was talking to, my arms which he was poking things into and a machine above me with its bleeping and flashing numbers. I tried to make intelligent replies, hoping to be seen as an individual not a lump of meat strapped to the table.
The murmurs beyond the screen were getting louder and more excited. Another masked face spoke to me ‘Nearly there now.’
There was a general sigh of relief and satisfaction. ‘Here we are, it’s a Boy!’
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Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
loved the surprise, and happy, ending!
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Thanks Jim, glad you did.
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👍
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Whew! I did not see that coming. Actually I was having flashbacks to my own episode two years ago when I was paralyzed. From the neck down. My blood pressure tanked and I was rushed to the hospital. I was laying somewhere listening to the murmurs around me and I was so very comfortable, I wasn’t afraid, I was peaceful. I was paralyzed for several days due to an infection and ridiculously low blood pressure. After a month and a half in the hospital I came out mostly better. But reading your post literally gave me flashbacks.
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Much more dramatic than mine and comforting you felt peaceful. A month and a half is a long time, not long by COVID standards though. Glad the outcome was good.
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Phew, it wasn’t quite like that when my two were born. But, then again, passing out cigars to the guys isn’t quite the same as actually delivering a baby, is it. Still, cheering on is still an awesome responsibility. Excellent post.
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Cheering on is vital. Cyberspouse saw much more of what was going on than I did, obviously he had a strong stomach.
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…and a better view! ‘Cyberspouse’? He couldn’t be in the delivery?
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Yes, husbands allowed to watch. Don’t know what the rules are now in Covid times.
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When I started to read this I thought you were describing my own experience of 4 days ago ….. a hip replacement! Spinal injection first after which I thought that one leg was on the ceiling and the other on the table! Then I was sedated. I “awoke” to an unfinished operation… the anaesthetist talking to me, but all I could hear was a noise like a dentist drill (which might have been a micro saw) followed by the noise of the stapler!
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You could write a much creepier tale then, Dr. B!
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A delivery, and here I thought it was a alien abduction story.
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I did not expect that ending!!
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I think you got us all with the unexpected ending.
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Hurrah, that’s what I like to do Pete.
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I love surprise endings … especially when they are happy ones!
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Thanks Jill, glad you liked the ending.
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I wasn’t sure whether to carry on reading if I wanted to sleep tonight, Janet so was delighted at my kind of quirky twist at the end. 😀
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Good, glad you made it to the end.
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A frightening scenario, indeed.
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