In the hospital in Pamplona I had to spend a few years on and off and had some 24 operations there. I am not a very good patient because I am petrified of the needle. Strange after all I have been through, that is what scares me the most. anyway, in the hospital they have a room where the do changing of bandages, taking out of stitches, I don't know what you call this room in English, but I called it the Scary room. Pretty soon all of the staff started to call it the scary room and that is how it was know and everyone had a good laugh about it. One day I had two signs made, the kind you hang on a door, in English that said Scary Room, on my next visit I gave them to my doctor. They were a huge success but the doctor said he didn't dare to put one on that door just in case he had an English speaking patient because not all had my sense of humor, so he hung one in his office and I don't know where he put the other but we all had a good laugh. Also, Scary Room, is difficult for the Spanish to say. I think to this day it is still referred to as the scary room. In Spain you go to the operating room under your own steam, you don't get any kind of relaxant until you are down there. In some hospitals they treat you like a piece of meat and it is really frightening seeing all of the equipment and being hooked up to things and you are wide awake. Because I always needed the special anesthesia team, I usually had to wait a while and in Pamplona, where I had most of my operations, it was like going to a party, all of my doctors and nurses would be waiting there for me and everyone hugged me, all while we waited for a special team who knew how to put me out correctly, because I am very hard to put to sleep and don't respond like most people to morphine and other drugs when I wake up. The surgeon always help my hand while they put me under and when I woke up he said," so that is how much you love me, as soon as you were asleep you let go of my hand " so on my next surgery I snuck in under the sheet, a tube of super glue and said this time I wouldn't let go. Of course I couldn't use it because he needed his hands to operate but I guess what I am trying to say here is that I had some great teams of doctors, who took into consideration my particular fears and dealt with them very well plus the Spanish are a very affectionate race..
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