OCR Text |
Show 313 as she inserts one ofthe large-bore needle and tapes it into place. I am pleasantly surprised to find that the local anesthetic truly numbed the area. She is finishing her preparations, hanging the bags of some sort of solution onto the hooks, inserting the second needle, telling me all the other precautions to which I must be alert. My blood pressure will be constantly monitored. This procedure tends to lower blood pressure, she is saying. I have no doubt that removing my blood, spinning it through various filters, and returning it to my body might cause my blood pressure to vary. The procedure seems at once very modem and yet very primitive. Removing my blood from my body? Spinning out the bad antibodies? I cannot help but be reminded of leeches and old Dracula movies. It is taking more than a little while to accomplish this. And yet sometime in the second hour, I am noticing a loosening of my rigid muscles. Could this be? Dr. Emerson is coming through the door to check on my progress. He fists his hand and releases his fingers straight, his nonverbal cue for me to attempt the same. My fingers, though not nearly as straight as his, are much more straight than they were two hours ago. |