Happy Holidays, Pass the Scalpel

[Elmore Furth]

Surgeons and anesthesiologist are just as good during the holidays as any other time.

Happy holidays.

There were hats and party blowers and papier-maché rabbits for Christine Clifford's New Year's celebration. She counted down to midnight with her husband, children, relatives and friends in the only place where she could be with them that night: her hospital room.

On the morning of December 31, 1994, Clifford had a lumpectomy to remove her breast cancer. She'd wanted to have the surgery before the end of the year because she'd already met her insurance deductible and she wanted as much coverage as possible for the procedure. After the cancer diagnosis, she didn't want to postpone her terrifying operation into the new year, and New Year's Eve was the surgeon's first opening.

"I remember the doctors and nurses thinking, 'This is crazy, here's this woman who's had surgery, and she's cheering everybody else up,' " said Clifford, who is now cancer-free, and has drawn cartoons about her experience. "It helped my mood tremendously, as you can imagine, to have people down there caring about you.

Some people will have to have life-saving surgeries at inconvenient times this month. But others choose to undergo procedures they've been putting off or that they want to have for cosmetic reasons, because it feels like the best time. Surgeons in many specialties are seeing patients who, for a variety of reasons such as insurance and a slowdown at work, find that the end of December is the best time to have an operation.



Happy Holidays, Pass the Scalpel

[SharonAnn]

1. It used to be that the hospitals were nearly empty at the end of December.

One year I had an appendicitis attack on Christmas Day and ended up in the hospital expecting surgery the next day. I felt like the only patient there!

[SocialistLez]

2. Sad sad times indeed. NT