Lisa’s life had come to a standstill. She wasn’t insane, but no medication controlled her seizures. So when Dr. Mannerheim appeared, he seemed like a savior. It wasn’t until Dr. Ranade’s visit that she began to comprehend the reality of what was going to happen to her. After Dr. Ranade, an orderly had arrived to shave her head. From that moment on, Lisa had been frightened.
“Is there some reason why he wants local anesthesia?” asked Lisa. Her hands had begun to tremble. Dr. Ranade had thought carefully about his answer.
“Yes,” he said finally, “he wants to locate the diseased part of your brain. He needs your help.”
“You mean, I’ll be awake when …” Lisa didn’t finish her sentence. Her voice had trailed off. The idea seemed preposterous.
“That’s correct,” said Dr. Ranade.
“But he knows where the diseased part of my brain is,” protested Lisa.
“Not well enough. But don’t worry. I’ll be there. There’ll be no pain. All you have to remember is no coughing and no sudden movements.”
Lisa’s reverie was cut short by a feeling of pain in her left forearm. Looking up she could see tiny bubbles rising up in a bottle over her head. Dr. Ranade had started the IV. He did the same thing in her right forearm, threading into her a long thin plastic tube. Then he adjusted the table so that it tilted slightly downward.
“Lisa,” said Carol Bigelow. “I’m going to catheterize you.”
Picking up her head, Lisa looked down. Carol was busy unwrapping a plastic covered box. Nancy Donovan, another scrub nurse, pulled back Lisa’s sheet exposing her from the waist down.
“Catheterize?” questioned Lisa.
“Yes,” said Carol Bigelow, pulling on loose rubber gloves. “I’m going to put a tube into your bladder.”
Lisa allowed her head to fall back. Nancy Donovan grasped Lisa’s legs and positioned them so that the soles of her feet were together while her knees were widely apart. She lay exposed for the world to see.
“I’m going to be giving you a medicine called mannitol,” explained Dr. Ranade. “It causes you to make a lot of urine.”
Lisa nodded as if she understood while she felt Carol Bigelow begin to scrub her genitals.
“Hi, Lisa, I’m doctor George Newman. Do you remember me?”
Opening her eyes, Lisa gazed into another masked face. These eyes were blue. On the other side of her was another face with brown eyes.
“I’m the Chief Resident in Neurosurgery,” said Dr. Newman, “and this is Dr. Ralph Lowry, one of our Junior Residents. We’ll be helping Dr. Mannerheim as I explained to you yesterday.”
Before Lisa could respond she felt a sudden sharp pain between her legs, followed by a curious fullness in her bladder. She took a breath. She felt tape being placed on the inner part of her thigh.
“Just relax now,” said Dr. Newman without waiting for her to respond. “We’ll have you fixed up in no time.” The two doctors directed their interest to the series of X rays that lined the back walls.
The pace in the OR quickened. Nancy Donovan appeared with a steaming stainless steel tray of instruments, and with a bud crash she heaved it on top of a nearby table. Darlene Cooper, another scrub nurse, who was already gowned and gloved, reached into the sterile instruments and began to arrange them on a tray. Lisa turned her head when she saw Darlene Cooper lift out a large drill.
Doctor Ranade wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Lisa’s right upper arm. Carol Bigelow exposed Lisa’s chest and taped on EKG leads. Soon the sonar-like beeps from the cardiac monitor competed with John Denver on the transistor.
Dr. Newman came back from studying the X rays and positioned Lisa’s shaved head. With his pinky on her nose and his thumb on the top of her head, he drew a line with a marking pen. The first line went from ear to ear over the top of her head. The second line bisected this one, starting at the middle of the forehead and extending back to the occipital area. “Now, Lisa, turn your head to the left,” said Dr. Newman. Lisa kept her eyes closed. She felt a finger palpate the ridge of bone that ran back from her right eye toward her right ear. Then she felt the marking pen trace a looping line that began at her right temple and arched upward and backward ending behind her ears. The line defined a horseshoe-shaped area with Lisa’s ear at its base. This was to be the flap that Dr. Mannerheim had described.