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When You Have Surgery

When You Have Surgery
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 4
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   1.51

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    antibiotic, recovery, nervous, popsicles, seconds, news, feeling, pump, nurse, hospital, sounds, procedure, blood, okay, sleepy, throat

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When You Have Surgery
By Patti Hutchison 		  
1     Andy is nervous. He is going to the hospital next week. He has to have surgery.
 
2     Andy has been getting very sore throats for the past few months. He has missed a lot of school. The doctor has to take his tonsils out.
 
3     Dr. Jones is trying to make him feel less scared about the procedure. He tells Andy what is going to happen when he gets to the hospital.
 
4     "When you get to the hospital, you will have to check in," Dr. Jones says. "Your parents will fill out some forms. A nurse will take some measurements. She will take your temperature with a thermometer. She will probably use the kind that she sticks in your ear.
 
5     "In my ear!" Andy exclaims. "Will it hurt?"
 
6     "No," Dr. Jones chuckles, "it doesn't go in very far. She will put it in for a few seconds until it beeps. Then it will tell her what your temperature is. Next, she will take your blood pressure. Have you ever had your blood pressure taken before?"
 
7     "No," Andy says.
 
8     "The nurse will wrap a big cuff around your arm. Then she'll pump it up so that it feels tight. She'll listen with her stethoscope while she lets the air out of the cuff. Then she'll write down the information. This only takes a few seconds, too," Dr. Jones tells Andy.
 
9     "It doesn't sound too bad, so far," Andy says.
 
10     "The nurse will also listen to your heart and breathing. We will want to make sure you are healthy enough to have the surgery," Dr. Jones tells Andy. "If you want, you can have your mom or dad with you when these things are done. Sometimes that helps you to feel less nervous. It's sometimes scary to go through these things alone."
 
11     "That sounds good," Andy says. "What will happen next?"
 
12     "You might have to wait awhile, until we have the right room to do your surgery in. But we have games and a TV in the waiting room. Your parents will be there with you, too.

Paragraphs 13 to 26:
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