What Kind of Nurse?

J during a trip on the delta a few years ago

When you have been asked by your oldest friend in California to help out after surgery, what kind of nurse will you need to be? That is a question I kept asking myself as I drove an hour south to her home. We knew the surgery was coming and I left for Seattle expecting it to be this week. Imagine my surprise when I received a phone call late in the evening a week ago from another friend of hers telling me that J was in recovery and that the surgery had gone well.

She was staying overnight, but would go home the next day. Since I had a report on Convention to give the next day, I knew that it would be evening before I could make the drive. I had no idea how extensive the surgery would be, no idea how much care would be needed or what drugs she might be on. The wonderful news was that the excision had revealed that the problem was not as serious as exptected. Still waiting on the biopsy results, but the news seems to be good.

As it turned out, J was supposed to stay on painkillers for about 24 hours, so she slept a lot. I got up a couple of times during the night to check on her and make sure that the meds were taken, but mostly I got to be a supportive, kind and gentle nurse, not the kind that forces you to eat something you don't want and take a shower before you are ready to. By the next day she was feeling better and I was able to be home shortly after dark. Dinner had been the lovely jam cake from Peabody. I was reluctant to cook because every time I turned on the stove I managed to set off the smoke detector! This friend has been there for me time after time, so it was a blessing to be able to help her out a bit and spend some time, too. Thanks to those of you who wished her well. We both appreciate it.

This is the final travel that I know of, so now I can do some cooking and baking. Whhooo hooo!