Home > Uncategorized > Sherbet or morphine?  Wait I’m thinking…

Sherbet or morphine?  Wait I’m thinking…

May 18, 2009

Kind of foggy, will keep this short. It’s been almost eight days since I tipped that “Hmm, this isn’t indigestion’ threshhold.  The surgeon will not commit to a timetable for return to solid food, let alone getting out of the hospital or returning to work.  She must feel like Barack Obama; the patient keeps asking; “Are we there yet?

My friends from work have been wonderful in coming to visit me, and I am very grateful to the Mennonite church of Normal for their continued help and support for Diane and I.  It’s not flashy but it’s real that they care and are helping.  I will write more about this in a future post.

Yesterday i was finally allowed to have clear liquids and now “full liquid diet”.  The nurse just brought me a small cup of orange sherbet which is heaven.   Om nom nom nom…

When I forget to push the button on the morphine pump it takes about three hours to be reminded forcefully that I need to have one.  Since doses are in ten-minute intervals, it takes forty minutes to get comfortable again. Stability seems to be about three doses an hour.

Sweet merciful FSM this “sherbet” stuff is fantastic…

Categories: Uncategorized
  1. Les
    May 18, 2009 at 05:43 | #1

    Can’t stand sherbet most of the time, but it sure beats the hell out of an IV drip. I’d imagine after a week without any real food in your system just about anything would taste good. That whole “dunno what you’ve got till it’s gone” thing.

  2. May 18, 2009 at 06:07 | #2

    It is good to read your getting better!  As you can see by the comments on your last post you are cared about.

  3. WeeDram
    May 18, 2009 at 10:47 | #3

    Glad you’re beginning to take sustenance again … oral is so much more interesting, isn’t it?  :coolsmile:

    Hope to see you in the AM on the 29th … quick trip for a family event, and that’s the time slot I have.  If you are still in the psych ward (all this perforated intestine talk is a smoke screen, folks,) please arrange for the most comely nurses to be in attendance when I arrive.

    If you have escaped and no nurses are to be found … well, I may have other plans.  ;-)

  4. May 18, 2009 at 11:20 | #4

    I love sherbet.

    Not long ago we ate in a restaurant and I ordered a “flight” of three sherbets (small portions of each) for dessert. A party in the mouth. Neither of us can remember which restaurant it was, darn it!

    Keep getting better, you are missed. Thanks for the post.

  5. May 18, 2009 at 16:40 | #5

    I love sherbet too. And not being able to eat anything for a week makes it that much more enjoyable I would imagine.

  6. May 18, 2009 at 18:46 | #6

    I recall when Margie was in labor and all they would give her for the longest time was an ice cube to suck on.  Like, for 18 hours or so.  Piddling compared to your own travails, I know, but it helps me understand how the whole “sherbet” thing resonates with you.

    Glad to see you on your fingers again, if only briefly.  Holler if there’s anything you (remotely) need.  Rest, recuperate, be well—we’ll keep the Internet burning for you until you get back.

  7. May 18, 2009 at 19:37 | #7

    Ahhhh!  Good to see you progressing!

    Had me worried a bit, you did!

    MC

  8. May 18, 2009 at 21:54 | #8

    Thanks everyone!  I am making the transition from IV to oral meds tonight and may get both IV and abdomen drain out tomorrow.  As usual I’l pushing to get the hell out of here, doubling up on all the up-and-moving stuff they want me to do.  I want my own network back and besides I can be drug-stupid at home as well as here.

    Today my boss brought in a bunch of HR papers to fill out when a medical leave is expected to go on for a long time.  He is taking very good care of me in a time when having someone gone is not helpful.

    Thanks again for all the good wishes :-)

  9. Brenda Tanner
    May 18, 2009 at 23:50 | #9

    It was great to hear that you are back on something by mouth.  Those ice chips just don’t do it. Once the tubes are out you will feel altogether more human.  Best of luck.  We will check back tomorrow to see how you are progressing. Brenda

  10. May 19, 2009 at 02:20 | #10

    Sounds like you’ve got support, and a supportive boss. Plus, you have dessert. Should be back on your feet in no time.

  11. cindy
    May 19, 2009 at 03:36 | #11

    Yay!!  We’re so glad to read of your progress.  Hurry Home, George!

    ~~cindy

  12. zilch
    May 19, 2009 at 08:26 | #12

    I knew, or at least strongly suspected, that you had it in you.  Keep up the good work.

    I will most likely be in the midwest around the 17th of June, with a week to kill before I pick up my daughter from JFK.  Do you have a couple of hours free?  I’m sure that it is possible to get to Normal from Ann Arbor somehow, and as I don’t know that part of my native land at all, it would be an adventure.  I would love to meet you and yours in the material plane.

    cheers from sunny Vienna, zilch

  13. May 20, 2009 at 05:59 | #13

    Hooray for sherbet!  It’s certainly not my favorite but after your recent diet I can understand your excitement.  I’m sorry you’re having trouble concentrating…I think that’s one of the worst feelings in the world…outside of actual pain maybe.

  14. May 21, 2009 at 09:41 | #14

    Wee Dram: “Hope to see you in the AM on the 29th

    Got it!  Alas, there was a mistake in the paperwork and they let me out on an unsuspecting population.

    Zilch: “I will most likely be in the midwest around the 17th of June, with a week to kill before I pick up my daughter from JFK.  Do you have a couple of hours free?

    Oh hell yeah!  Unfortunately I won’t likely be able to travel by then so it would have to be in Normal.  Email me some details and let’s see if we can work something out.

  15. zilch
    May 22, 2009 at 03:08 | #15

    I’d love to see Normal anyway.  As soon as the International Society of Bassists gets off their collective duff and tells me when I’m to speak in State College, Penn, I will let you know my schedule.

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