It was for the players and the fans in the stands. Then it became an industry. It got television. The officials became a league of their own with their own bios and stats; a game within a game. Commercials. Announcers. The announcers called what happened during the game. Then they became analysts. Now they’re part of the game; we need them for context. Then another industry sprung up to talk about football even when it wasn’t being played; football shows talking about football every day of the week; entire careers devoted to explaining what we’ll see when we see it; specialists within the specialists to be the first to tell us who is injured, who is going to play, who will be signed for another season and who will be out of a job. Fantasy football that isn’t even football but it has allotted slots on the weekly football news shows. I have some time on my hands right now; watching all the people on television talking about watching football, and I think wouldn’t it be ironic if football was actually just random; if all the results; all the winning streaks, losing streaks, records set, magnificent coaching, incompetence, hirings, firings, superstars, and duds were just statistical aberrations manifesting as apparent patterns; all these talking heads, owners, scouts, coaches, and players fully engaged in explaining what can never be explained; chasing random fluctuations?
So,
What should we talk about now? Anything but spinal surgery? Got to sleep at home last night. That was a welcome change. No machines beeping and nobody had to wake me up to ask if I was sleeping okay. Henry on my lap in the recliner today as I pretended to watch college football. He seems protective; watching over the big dog. We’re not likely to have very many new adventures to report the next few weeks, but no worries. I’ve got plenty of bird pictures I haven’t sent out yet. Here is a great egret.
We were up
Bright and early waiting for the Doctor to arrive. Steve had another great night, only taking one 5mg Oxycodone to keep comfortable through the night. Other than that, he was only getting Tylenol via IV a couple of times a day. He really does look good. He convinced me, and after I had seen him awake and well, I convinced myself he was ready to go. The doctor agreed and gave us his blessing said he would see us in two weeks, and was gone to see his next victim. By the way, the Dr. did say Steve was remarkable, and he had not had a patient who had undergone an 8 hour very complicated procedure recover so quickly. That was 7:30 AM. Just had to get the discharge papers from our favorite nurse Pearl. Shouldn’t take long, give us a paper to sign, make sure we understand our discharge instructions, and off we go. Back to the Valley with a Blizzard stop along the way. Just one paper, two or three instructions, and off we go …… Pearl was nowhere to be found. WE were ready to go. WE were packed. WE (steve) couldn’t wait to get to DQ in Riveria. What could be the hold up? Wait, you say Pearl has 5 other patients? Hey they weren’t going anywhere. Just because they may need some medications this morning, they weren’t waiting for a Blizzard. We spotted her in the hall, she said be right there………..I’m sure Steve standing at the nurses station, clothes on, staring at her didn’t make a lot of difference, but at 11:30 we were on our way. Had a great drive home. Puppies glad to see us, chicken soup delivered to the door by our friends Barb and Henry, We are happy to continue the healing process. We want to thank everyone for all of the kind words, and good wishes sent our way. Judy
Would you Believe
Steve wanted to go home today. 18 hours post- surgery, he was done being here, and ready to ride 150 miles home. 8 hours of surgery, 23 staples in the back of his neck. Not to mention the 5 hours spent in this throat. What’s the problem. The doctors came in and he pleaded his case. They looked at each other, a bit in disbelieve I think, and laid out the criteria. He must produce bowel sounds, done. Pass gas, done. Eat solid food, no problem, pee, he could do that, walk the corridor without assistance , I almost had to run to keep up with him. Score a top 10 Sudoku game, (my idea) done within ½ hour. The docs put their heads together. Verdict: No problem. Well, just one problem. Me. We are still in the hospital. Not all of us are happy with that outcome, although, I think the doctors were relieved. We comprised, one more night. So, tomorrow morning, off we go home. I think he deserves a Dairy Queen Blizzard reward on the way. Judy
Wednesday
Hi everybody, This is Judy. One of us had a long day today. The other one slept through most of it. It’s 4 A. M. and I’m a happy camper. Steve is currently, mostly asleep. The nurse just came in for our 2nd check-up for the night. The last was at midnight. She is very nice and very prompt. 12 and 4 on the dot. Not sure how she pulls that off with several patients that need their vitals taken at 12 and 4 A.M. After 50 years, he still never ceases to amaze and delight me. Yesterday he went through 8 hours of surgery. He woke up late afternoon with his humor intact. He feels great, well as great as one can feel plugged into all of the things one is plugged into in the hospital. He had his clear liquid dinner, asking of course if they served liquid brisket, or at least clear nachos with jalapenos. Right now I’m sitting in the family lounge. The coffee is warm and it’s quite, and I can relax and be grateful we live in a time where doctors can really put Humpty Dumpty back together again. I’ll keep you posted. Judy