Intermediate Listening Lesson 20 - A Trip to the Hospital

I have to get my tonsils out.

I’m not really happy about it, but I’m tired of being sick and having sore throats.

I have to go to the hospital two hours before my surgery.

My mother will go with me.

The nurses will take my temperature and check my blood pressure.

They will make sure that I am ready for my operation.

I will be dressed in a white gown, and I will be wheeled down the hall to the operating room.

I can’t have anything to eat or drink for a long time before my surgery.

My mother will walk down the hall with me;

then she will wave goodbye as they wheel me into the operating room.

The doctor and the nurses will be busy in the operating room.

They will be getting ready to perform my surgery.

The doctor will say hello to me and tell me that he is going to put me to sleep.

He will put something into my arm.

He will tell me to count backwards from ten.

I think that I will only say “ten, nine” and then I will be fast asleep.

I won’t be awake for the surgery.

When I wake up, I will be surprised that the surgery is over.

My throat will hurt, and I probably won’t feel very good.

My mother will be there with me.

The nurses will give me a drink and try to make me comfortable.

I won’t be in the hospital overnight.

I will go home later in the day.

My parents will have to make sure that I have a lot to drink.

I can’t eat any hard foods or they will hurt my throat.

I will sleep a lot, because I will not feel very well for a couple of days.

It won’t take long before I recover from my surgery.

Sometimes, we need surgery to make us feel better.

Hospitals can be a bit frightening,

but the doctors and nurses are very nice, and their job is to make you better.