I had a pretty mellow Father's Day, all things considered. Got to spend the whole day in a comfortable chair, reading. It would have been perfect except that the chair was in the waiting room at St. Vincent Hospital. Valerie woke up that morning in severe pain. By noon it wasn't getting any better so we went to the Emergency Room. Within the hour she was under the knife, being parted from her APPENDIX!
The Appendix is like the 'Vice President of Internal Organs,' [i.e.; no known function] So as I sat reading in Father's Day splendor, Valerie's Appendix was being impeached. The offending organ went quietly, stating only that it "wanted to spend more time with family."
As luck would have it, the surgeon was a Nu Shooz fan. As they wheeled her into surgery, he asked "Are you the Valerie Day?" Turns out he still had his old 45.
We ended up having a great time at the hospital the next day. Her room had a lovely view of the hills above Portland, and the room service was excellent. "Would you like another pain pill with those fries?" We ended up staying all afternoon. While we were soaking up the local hospitality, Valerie came up with this list of "Top 5 Things To Do While Recovering From An Appendectomy " - John
And here's the list...
TOP 5 THINGS TO DO WHEN RECOVERING FROM AN APPENDECTOMY
(Not neccessarily in this order:)
1) Play Words w/Friends Even if you're too gorked out on pain meds to actually find the PERFECT Word (for the most points), WWF is great exercise for the mind and you can still feel connected via messaging with your friends.
2) Watch "The IT Crowd" on Netflix Warning! Practice laughing without moving your abdomen FIRST. This British comedy series HURTS it's so funny!
3) Meditate Get some HEADSPACE. Find inspiration on meditation here or on www.tricycle.com
4) Eat popsicles 'Nuff said
5) Check out the latest news, article, book, video on BRAIN PICKINGS Brain Pickings is…" is your LEGO treasure chest, full of pieces across art, design, science, technology, philosophy, history, politics, psychology, sociology, ecology, anthropology, you-name-itology." I could get lost on this website for decades!http://www.brainpickings.org/
5) Kill some time on Facebook After almost a year of treatments for breast cancer, I have to say that - even with all it's faults - FB can be a lifesaver when you're spending a lot of your life in bed. You can live vicariously, be distracted in awesome ways from how bad you feel, keep in touch with those you care about and who care about you, and, if you share what you're going through, be uplifted and supported in your recovery. Thank you FRIENDS!
OK. There were actually six things. But who's counting!