Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Bill writes . . .
This was pretty uneventful for most of it, so far as I was concerned. I was not allowed to eat anything in advance of the operation. So, other than protestations from my digestive system, about the only other somewhat interesting thing that happened prior to the operation was a nurse coming in to shave my face.
Or so I thought. I mean, she did have a small bowl with water and a tiny piece of soap, a towel over her arm and a safety razor in her hand. No blade in the razor, though. She had to dig that out of the bag of drugs and other stuff previously prepared and left in the little bed stand.
She did start with my face and I finally lost my moustache! Not that there was much left anyway. Will Sandra scream in horror? Will she walk out and say that until I get a replacement, she will not see me again? Oh, woe!
However, she did not stop with the moustache, but proceeded to carefully remove all facial and neck hair. She did spare the eyebrows, however.
But, she then indicated that I should remove my shirt! Now what? The armpits, of course. Hmm, a first time for everything, I guess. Then it was all of the 6 hairs on my chest, any other fuzz on my front plus a very careful removal of all the hairs around my nipples.
Now, with a little bit of oil, I could look like those wrestlers on TV. Well, I do have to admit that they are filled out a little more than I am.
Sandra continues . . .
I was able to see Bill for about 10 minutes. He was asleep when I arrived, but woke up when I touched him. He didn’t look bad — I asked him if he had any pain, and he sort of shrugged, as if he might have a little. He cannot speak, as he had a nose tube and a few other tubes attached. I had to remove my sandals before entering the room. The nurses seem to be in constant attendance — they presented me with another bill; this one for all the drugs he’s taking. The cashier was already closed for the day, so I’ll have to pay both bills tomorrow.
After talking with him for a few minutes and giving him a kiss, I went downstairs again and looked for Dr. Thomas, who was still in his office even though it was almost 6 pm. After about a 10 minute wait, I was ushered in to see the doc. He assured me that the operation went well, and was fairly short. Praise the Lord; he said he cannot detect any visible signs of cancer! That was exactly what I wanted to hear, but we must still wait for the biopsy results for confirmation. He said he doesn’t know if it’s due to the Ayurvedic medicines, or Bill’s diet, or what, but it’s good news.
He seemed to think that Bill can be moved out of Intensive Care tomorrow morning, and into his room, which is just next-door, practically. That means I can go see him for as long as I want tomorrow. The only bad news is that it’s sounding as if they’re going to want to keep him in the hospital for 10 days, rather than the 5 to 7 days mentioned earlier. This is because he will probably be slow to heal, due to all the radiation he’s had in the past. If I know Bill, though, he’ll be doing everything in his power to convince them to release him early. He’s already said that he can change his own dressings at home, without even needing to go up to Vikram Hospital, just up the street, and have it done professionally. I guess we’ll see. It will take the better part of 2 months to heal completely.
I got a better auto-rickshaw driver today — the only thing wrong with him was that his meter ran too fast, so it was probably rigged, as so many of them are. He also claimed he didn’t have any change for my 100 rupee note, but I just let it go. It was only an additional 4 rupees, plus a 5 rupee tip, so I chalked it up to giving him an extra 4 for waiting time out there, which was about 35 minutes total.
As we drove away from the hospital, I saw the other driver that I took yesterday, staring at me and giving me the evil eye. He was probably mad because I asked my driver to wait for me and take me home, so he missed being able to put me at his mercy again and ride with him. I don’t want to ever take him again. If I have to, I’ll get the hospital staff to phone for another rickshaw to come pick me up from town, even if it costs extra to come so far. If it wasn’t for these darn rickshaws, I’d have no problem going out to see Bill every day, even if he IS kept in for 10 days.