Last week Cher and I went to visit Alex at the St.Francis Hospital in San Francisco. She had just gotten surgery to repair the perforated disc in her neck, which has been causing her pain for quite a long time. Alex had her surgery performed on Tuesday and we came by to visit the following day.
It was a little surreal riding the elevator to the 10th floor of the hospital. I tried to recall the last time I had been inside one. I think it was while I was in school several years ago- my fingers swelled up like sausages in the heat and my rings started to cut off all circulation in my hand. Yes, that actually happened. My hand was purple. The ER nurse at the time had to slice the rings off with a metal cutter. (I've seen better days). When we arrived at the 10th floor there were dozens of nurses running around in their blue scrubs, clip boards and diet coke in hand. I felt like I was entering into an episode of Grey's Anatomy- except people on Grey's Anatomy are much more good looking than the people in real-life city hospitals. No offense St. Francis.
I had imagined Alex would be pretty fatigued and immobile for the most part, seeing as we were paying a visit the day after her big surgery. But in fact she was just as energetic as ever. Maybe from the pain killers? Ha! Despite the certain pain, she was able to sit up and slowly move around. Cher and I got the play-by-play on her agenda for the day:
1) 9am: Breakfast (Coffee and Prune juice optional)
2) 10am: Walk around as tolerated.
3) 12pm: Lunch (Pudding for dessert. Oh la la!)
4) 1pm: Move from ICU to regular floor
5) 2pm: Learn to take shower
6) 5pm: Call for help
* Evening Entertainment: Pirates of the Caribbean + Brothers Grimm TV marathon.
By the way, none of us could figure out what #6 entailed...
There's an Irish saying: "A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book." I'm glad to see that Alex was able to bounce back in such great spirits- with smiles and confidence. What a relief it is. We're wishing you heal well and fast!
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| Pretty plants and flowers in the room, and a gorgeous view! |
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| Lovin the blue Nordstrom Rack socks. |
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| Classic hospital beverages |
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| The city from the 10th floor |
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| The disc replacement in Alex's neck. Crazy! |
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| Just got the stiches out. |
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| Shattered disc removed during the operation. |
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| The "Pain Assessment Chart." You can learn how to say your in pain in multiple languages. |
I absolutely love this! Thanks Mankatie :) Very sweet, light hearted and funny! Big fan.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why Bosnian is the third language on the pain assessment chart. Haha.