Her pressures dropping, the woman at the patients head shares her condition. Thats when I notice the hum of the machines.and the beeps. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..

Shes coding.Hank, lets get this aorta closed before she bleeds out on us. good now start massaging. Come on, Bette, give me a rhythm I can shock this asystole isnt helping. Bette! Did he just say Bette? Thats where I know her from. my God thats me. No I cant die. Tina needs me. I cant leave her without her knowing I love her.. she thinks I wanted to hurt her by sleeping with Karen. Weve got V-fib internal paddles. charge to 20*. clear. Once again, I see my body jump with the shockthis time its only a subtle twinge though. Everyone looks at the machine emitting the beep. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..it still doesnt sound right. Charge to 30*.clear. The twinge again. BEEP. BEEP.. BEEP. I glance in my own chest cavity again to see the movement of my beating heart. Check for a pulse.

Ive got a pulse, the anesthesiologist answers.

Okay people, good job. now lets close her up and get that other bullet. I stand by watching every move.each wire twisted into my rib cage to hold it closed.each stitch used to close the several layers of tissue.each stitch that tugs at my skin as he ties the knot. After the final suture is in, the staff rearranges itself with respect to my body. A few of them leave and new members come in. The surgeon is now standing above my head. Lets make this as quick as possible.Im not sure how much longer she can stay under. One of the assistants helps the doctor out of his gloves and surgical gown.another one helps him into fresh attire. He steps to my head and hovers momentarily then reaches up to remove the bandage. Blood is still trickling from the wound as he sponges it up with clean gauze. This may be easier than I thought, he says after an initial assessment. Forceps, once again, they are placed in his hand by the handlehe grasps the tool and reaches for the small object embedded in my forehead. It slips.he tries again.without success. I was afraid of this. The bullet is lodged in her skull.well have to cut part of the bone away to get it out. Cut part of the bone? Hes cutting a hole in my skull? Wont I need that piece? Scalpel, he takes the small knife and cuts away a flap of skinthen another. Bone saw, his words ring in my ears and follow a path to my chest.I can feel my heart jump.its about to explode. Can I feel the aftermath of the previous surgery? Or is this my reaction to the bone saw? The surgeon takes the power tool in his hands and turns it on.the scream of the tiny motor sends a shiver down my spine.it sounds like fingernails running down a chalk board.or a dentists drill in my mouth.the thought revolts me.I feel as if Im about to double over in agony. The glint of the stainless steel catches my eye as he lowers the tool to my head. The sound pierces my senses. its all I can see. all I can hear. I can even taste the metal in my mouth as the motor revs up, then slows intermittently. After a minute, the doctor turns off the motor and hands the machine back to the assistant. Forceps, he says. He takes the giant tweezers and picks up a fragment of bone. The square is one inch by one inch.the bullet stuck in the middle. He grabs the bone section with his hands and moves the forceps to the inside. With a quick tug, he removes the bullet and drops it with another CLINK in a second basin. Now lets have a look see into our Ms. Porters head. He says the words as he lowers his eyes to look into the square hole he created. Looks like weve got some swelling here. I get closer to look at what hes talking about. Hank, you see how the arachnoid matter is smooth and without wrinkles?

Yeah, its shiny.

Shiny is goodbut it should look like a wrinkled piece of wet cellophanesomewhat opaque but still a little see through. Now see how there are no ridges or valleys?

Yeah I see, Hank answers.

Thats a tell tail sign of swelling in the gray matter. Its pushed the arachnoid and stretched itmuch like stretching a sheet over a mattress. I look in the hole to see to what hes referring. The grayish-brown tissue is smooth and glistening in the intense light of the surgical lamps. If the swelling gets too bad.wed have to cut a larger hole and leave it open for the brain to expand. Ms. Porter seems to have just enough swelling to pull the arachnoid taut, but I think we can go ahead and put this piece of bone back in place. The machines are still buzzing, humming, and beeping as they close the flap of skin on my head. BEEP.BEEPBEEPBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Oh no, not again!

Whats happing here Jan?

I dont know.her BP has been holding steady.

Shes been under too long.lets get the external paddles in here.quickly people, quickly. An assistant hands the doctor some blocks attached by wires to a machine. Charge to 200. Clear. He places the paddles on my chest. one above my right breast. the other below my left. A thud echoes through my head and my body jumps on the table before me. BEEEEEEEEEEEEE Were losing her. Charge to 300.. Clear. Again he strategically places the paddles on my chest and.. again a thud ring through my head. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE One more time.. Come on Bette, nobody dies on my table. Charge to 360. Clear..

To Be Continued

*The values used here are not exact. Ive never been trained on how to use internal paddles so I dont know how many joules to charge the defibrillator to.