Me: Ben, what’s your pain level?
Ben: Mmmm?
Me: Ben, what’s your pain level, honey?
Ben: Uh…uh……what?
It went on like this for a while. He didn’t really register a pain level, but he doesn’t when he watching cartoons either, so I persisted. Since he was on the verge of consciousness I figured it’d be a good time to get out the narcotics, just in case. The first dilemma was that he was lying flat on his back and I didn’t want to lift him up, get him all the way out of bed, or even wake him up a lot more. The next dilemma was that we didn’t have a straw and there wasn’t an obvious easy way to get water in his mouth and then drop in the pill. I convinced him that I’d pour a little water in his mouth, which he wasn’t keen on. In fact, he started to get a bit agitated and upset with me. He argued. But I moved forward, Florence knows best.
I proceeded to pour water all over his face, neck, shoulder, pillow, and bed. Oh, he was happy with me then, I can assure you!
And I didn’t get the pill in.
That’s when he was fully awake and unhappy with his nurse. So we got Mark up. We decided to try a towel over the wet spot, but he complained it was itchy. We decided to move him to another location. He had his choice: A) the other side of the bed he was in or B) the third bed in the room which was currently looking remarkably like most horizontal surfaces do at Three Boys Farm…covered with our crap. We tried location A. But he was cranky and not able to maneuver himself into a comfortable position. So we tried location B. That worked…ultimately...but first we had to clear it off. So he had to wait. None too patiently, I might add.
At some point, once he was already situated in the new bed it became apparent that everything I did was just frustrating and irritating or hurting him more. So, I went back to my bed. After I dosed him up with pain killers.
He slept soundly till morning. And we’re just telling him it was a bad dream! (kidding)
**************
Today was a quiet day. Got up slowly, took our time with every step. Mark hunted and gathered a bagel with cream cheese for Ben and coffees for us. Around lunchtime we ventured down to the gorgeous lobby to wander, stretch Ben’s legs a bit and have some lunch.
Everyone at the Ritz has been giving Ben the Royal Treatment. Dan, one of the concierges, greeted us yesterday at the side door of the hotel with a wheelchair for Ben when we returned from the hospital and then happily asked if he could give me a hug. He called a couple times to make sure we had everything we needed. He greets Ben with, “And how are you doing, Mr. President?” when he sees us. A charmer! Kylie and Keisha at the front desk were thrilled to see him up and walking today and fawned all over him. They wave whenever they see us. Violetta, our sweet maid, had tears in her eyes when she saw he was back. The restaurant in the lobby, 10ActLounge, comped us dessert today with our lunch…I like hanging out with a celebrity.
Ben is doing great with increased mobility every day and manageable pain. He was able to walk around the hotel quite a bit; we bring the wheelchair along just in case. However, I’m sure we won’t be needing it in a day or two.
He watched his free movie (donated by Keisha at the front desk) last night, “9”, by Tim Burton (Mark and I thought it depressing, but he loved it) and some cartoons and Olympics. Today there was a lot of video game play and creating on the computer. But he actually was feeling well enough to admit to being bored. I feel this is a very positive sign. We’ll be good and ready to go home a week from now.
I'll leave you with a few shots from our lunch in the lobby.
Oh yeah. Shirley Temples...
Ben's dessert of choice: banana creme brulee with salted peanut sorbet.
2 comments:
Ahhh, the relief of having "it all' behind you. I know, I know, it's not ALL behind you, but this was the biggie and for now we can't deny ourselves a little denial about the rest of it, right? So glad to hear he's feeling better and better... as things should be.
We are in South Lake Tahoe to ski Mon/Tues. but we're still thinking of you guys!
Salted peanut sorbet and the Shirley Temple that ate Philadephia?!
Now that boredom is setting in, what are Caveman (he of hunter/gatherer status), Florence and the President going to be doing this week? I think you should put little runners on some wheelchairs and have some races! Take pics.
Kari
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