Painting the town red

Utterly désolée that I am not in Breda, the Netherlands this weekend. Because it’s Redhead Days, and it would be just awesome to be surrounded by thousands of my people.

I mean:

But since I can’t be there, I’ll pass on a bit of knowledge that y’all might be interested in regarding the flame-haired set.

I will vouch personally for the data on redheads having pain receptor issues. I first heard about this phenomenon from an anesthesiologist during a pre-surgical consultation. She took down all the usual information, then commented, “I’ll administer an extra amount, given that you’re a redhead.” She explained that this had been known anecdotally to her colleagues for some time, but that studies were finally confirming it.

The next time I went under the knife, during the pre-surgical anesthesiologist consult, I merely pointed at my hair. Since he was also a ginger, he just nodded and made a notation on his clipboard. (This is how long ago this was: no iPad in use.)

But this information about redheads and anesthesia would explain why, when I had outpatient surgery using a local back in my college days, I kept kind of jumping around the table. Because the pain was still getting through. It was unnerving the surgeon until the anesthesiologist finally expanded the target area.

(In my case, they also have to mix in an anti-nausea prophylaxis, because the worst thing for me is the post-anesthesia puking. But that's just me.)

Sorry I can’t be in Breda today, my brothers and sisters. Perhaps next year.