I had the second surgery on my left arm today from which a thin layer of melanoma was removed a month ago. This was a standard procedure to follow up such a thing, they told me, to make sure no malign cells reside beyond the original removed cells. So, more wide (and longer) incision was made today.

I was a bit nervous beforehand, not about the procedure itself but all the social interaction involved. But it all went well.

Actually it was a pretty interesting experience. Because of the bus schedule I reached the clinic about thirty minutes early. The surgeon’s nurse called me on time of my appointment, and then let me lie on the operating table for quite a while before the doctor arrived. She quickly told me something that I did not quite catch and I told her my French is rather “faible” and she switched to English. When the surgeon arrived she also told her that I speak English. For then on, our communication was a funny mixture of French and English (I understand French better than I can form sentences in it).

When she applied local analgesic to my arm, the doctor asked what kind of music I like to listen: jazz (No!), classic (maybe), with singing (maybe no), and I wondered why. She told me that most patients feel more relaxed with music. I almost said blues, but then chose classic with violins. I barely paid any attention to the music, because of the conversation with the surgeon during  the operation.

After asking me what kind of research I do (cognitive science), she expressed quite strong opposition to animal studies (she mentioned some famous French neuroscientist, whose name I did not catch), and I told her that most CogSci and Psych research is either observational or done on animals that were born in labs (that she did not like either). Then she told me about a documentary about crows she had seen on TV, which completely changed her impression of these very intelligent birds.

Well, now I have a strict procedure of cleaning and applying a new bandage to he wound every day, for the next ten days.