There’s a whiteboard in every ICU room with spaces where they fill in important info, like the name of the nurse and nurse tech, today’s date, family member contact, and the goal for today. No one has been filling in the goals for me – in fact, they often don’t fill in the staff names … read more Up and around
Month: November 2015
Yakking, and other verbal skills
I was joking with the neurosurgery staff from the moment I woke up from anesthesia. “Why’d you let me sleep so long? I’m really hungry! I haven’t eaten since yesterday lunchtime!! Bring some damn food!” Smile. I’ve been reading emails twice a day on my phone. I’ve talked to two of my sisters, too. Yak, … read more Yakking, and other verbal skills
Why me?
Why did the walls of my brain artery get thin and balloon out? And then rupture? I’ve asked all the nurses and doctors who have come to my room. Seems like there are a lot of them, but I’m not getting much in the way of answers. “High blood pressure,” they all say. But I … read more Why me?
The gorey details
The neurosurgeons had big grins on their faces when they came to see me today. Because of the aneurysm location, they didn’t know, going in, exactly how it would work – closing the hole in that major artery on the right side of my brain. But they anchored it back together with a metal clip, … read more The gorey details
I almost died last night
I was standing at the stove, cooking a couple of turkey burgers for dinner, when suddenly I felt a sharp headache, very dizzy, and my hand looked strange. Colored with bright speckles. I laid down on the floor so that I wouldn’t fall down – and that turned out to be the first of several … read more I almost died last night
In the care of the birds
The following post was written Sunday afternoon. I am posting it today, Friday, from my hospital bed because it somehow seems appropriate for the events of this week…. This morning I went out to the deck to check on the herbs – they were all green and glowing, untouched by the 30-something lows this weekend. … read more In the care of the birds
It’s never enough
After working through the formula for Positive Predictive Value in my data analysis course, I should now definitely analyze what I have in common with Eminem. But it’s after 9 p.m. and I’m tired, and anyhow, this rap pretty much says it: No matter how many battles I been in and won No matter how many magazines on my … read more It’s never enough
Painting with pieces of paper
Time is a deterrent to painting. By the time I clear a space to work, get out and set up the paints and brushes and canvas and easel, decide what to paint, and then allow time for cleaning up and putting away – well, I need three hours to do a session of any value. … read more Painting with pieces of paper
We gotta get out of here
Would you pay $30 to be locked in a room with a group of strangers for an hour? And be required to solve a lot of problems in order to escape? Well, this is what people do for fun in Atlanta now. It’s called a room escape game, and Atlanta has eight companies offering this … read more We gotta get out of here
The last harvest
I made stir-fry today with Thai holy basil fresh from the stalk. This is a treat I did not expect to be having in mid-November, even in Georgia. Here it is, November 11, and we still haven’t had a freeze or even a frost. I planted these herbs in early March, which means they have … read more The last harvest