Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

ablation

it without force. I watch the operation in my head; I feel lighter. I tell myself they took out everything including the tough part that contained cancer. I feel reassured. I did not think I was sick at any point in time. A friend told me to undergo the procedure done by robots. It seemed popular in America. I thought about it; a robot is controlled by human hand. It becomes an extension of the human. I preferred Professor J.F.’s hands to do the job. The robot is just a technique used to impress the patient and to gain more money for the clinic. Then came the day that I had been warned about: the day when they take out my catheter. This could only be painful. I imagined this thing passing through my urethra but this time in the opposite

direction. It was important that I didn’t tense up. I was afraid that I would not be able to piss anymore, or on the contrary, to not be able to hold my bladder. In fact, things seemed pretty simple. Professor J.F. prescribed me anticoagulants and told me to keep my compression socks. They took out my catheter. I pissed blood. I felt bad. That’s all. After about a week, I left the hospital. Professor J.F. warned me that I was going to have some moments of depression. I thought back to what they call “secondary benefits” of disease. I was going to profit from my condition in order to spoil myself. I would be surrounded by friends. My kids and my granddaughter were worried, but I reassured them.

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