January - Hospitalization

Liquid Diets - eech

Since early November my wife has had me on a liquid to soft diet depending on how many and how painful the cramps were. The surgery did not provide any relief. I had to nurse the internal stitches. My appetite was minimal but the memory of food haunting me. I started craving pizza. It would be two weeks before that dream was realized.

Being an introvert I have never enjoyed large parties but visitors were sure welcome. Given my pain meds I probably was more entertaining than interesting. I appreciated the Deacons who came and my colleagues in ministry.   Paul Thwaite really surprised me. He showed up on Sunday after a congregational meeting.

The uncertainty of a hospital stay is a tad disconcerting. The MDs cannot give you a precise discharge date. They do not know exactly how the body will respond. So I figured that I could get a lot of reading done. Wrong. My diet and the pain put me in a "I do not want to do anything" mood.  I was able to pray and meditate but the latter usually ended in a short nap.

By Monday morning I knew that I would not be staying past Wed and probably get a Tuesday discharge. This would be good news because that surgeon at least 3 days and maybe 4 so I figured my body was responding to the removal of that nasty tumor. And it was nasty according to the pathology report.