Weekend request for OCF postersL hints and tips on thriving instead of just surviving hospital stay. On Ash Wednesday (2/25), I go in to give up half my tongue for Lent. The ENT says 10 days in hospital (3 in ICU and 7 regular) to recover from surgery and learn how to swallow without aspiration and use the PEG. Having only spent one night in a hospital in 61 years, it sounds like a long time.
First idea was from my sister who flew in from San Francisco last night to visit. (It is poignant because yesterday marked the exact 8 year anniversary of our mother's death and Monday, when my sister takes off, is the 22nd anniversary of our little brother's untimely death from AIDS.) She suggests getting a wireless netbook or laptop to send emails, post on OCF etc. My ENT said I would be too sore and have too many tubes, etc to type or read or even position the laptop and I would be frustrated despite the hospital's web page showing a beaming patient swathed in head bandages surfing away on his laptop. The ENT said especially the shoulder and neck would be so stiff and sore that it won't be worth it. Your experiences?
My wife is pushing paperback books - the old standby
My son is saying MP3 player.
My old hippie friends are saying: push up the morphine drip and meditate.
So please feedback on your take on how these well meaning ideas actually worked out.