Call me Firstelle Nightingale. When Elletu needed surgery, I was there for her. I picked her up when it was still dark outside and drove her to the hospital. I signed in as her 'family,' because I am family. I got to sit with her and make jokes with her while she sat in her little bed in that cute little gown. I took pictures of her, I took pictures of her nurses. Then I waited in the lobby while the doctor explored her inner parts. I enjoyed sipping Tully's coffee and learning how to use my new phone while waiting for word about Elletu. I was relieved when they came to get me and took me back to post-surgery Elletu. She looked wonderful considering she just came from the operating room. She wasn't even groggy like I had expected. She was checked out to my care, and we had a delicious lunch at the tea room before I took her back to my house and had her firmly ensconced in a big, comfy recliner. We watched movies, and I made her hot chocolate and fed her chocolate while we watched "Chocolat." She recovered nicely and was an excellent patient. Later in the day a friend and then Elletu's daughter came to visit, and actually her daughter took her home with her. I knew she would be in good hands. And to be a good friend, I had made and framed a large, beautiful subway art project centered around all the words and phrases like 'barf' and 'praying to the porcelain god' to represent throwing up. This she hung over her toilet to encourage her, because post-surgery people sometimes get very sick. Turns out she didn't, but still, the Barf Art, as we call it, was an act of love. We are BVG's, and BVG's help each other out. Our motto is, after all, 'Love us!'
And so it was that when j had to have hand surgery last month, I was more than happy to be her family, her ride, her caregiver for the day, as her husband was out of town and her daughters live far away. So I picked j up and took her to her clinic, and thus began The Tale of j's Hand. I was happy to be able to sit in her little pre-op room too, and I got busy taking pictures and doing all I could to keep her stay positive that everything was going to be okay. She had opted for a local anesthetic and might have been hesitant about that. I think I noticed her blush when her very handsome doctor came in to label her hand before surgery. Her little gown had a neat feature that Elletu's did not. They had a hose going in to the lining of her gown, and this blew it up and injected warm air in the lining to keep her warm and comfy. She looked so cute like that, looking kind of puffy, with her head wrapped up in something like a shower cap. I'd love to show you some pictures, but we have a blog rule: Unless the eyes are covered with cucumber slices, no face pictures. Rules are rules.
Soon j was whisked off to surgery, and I was sent back to the waiting room. When they came back to get me she was looking good, with her hand all bandaged up. Because of that, she couldn't put her clothes on. And so, j and I took our friendship to the next level: I dressed her, including putting her bra on her. Then she wanted to take me to lunch to thank me--for the whole day, not just putting her bra on her. She took me to what is now my favorite restaurant, a cozy little Italian place not that far from her home. Yummy! And speaking of taking our friendship to the next level, it was in this restaurant on that day that I actually had to cut up her food for her. That hit me as something very special, something we did for our little children and maybe for our aged parents.
Later, back at her house, there were a few more things she needed me to do for her. I had to undress her and help her in to her nightgown. I am not complaining here, I'm just saying that j couldn't do it. This time I took her bra off of her. She also couldn't undo the caps on her bottled water. She couldn't take her pillow out of its sham. She needed me, and I was glad I could be there for her.
I'm happy to report j's hand healed very nicely, and her problem is solved. I don't think anyone would notice her scar. She has since retired (on April 1) and has turned 65 (on April 2). To celebrate both her first day of freedom and her birthday, Elletu and I--Cool couldn't get off work--took j out to lunch, back to the restaurant where j had taken me the afternoon of her hand surgery. We had lots of fun taking pictures and texted them to Cool, letting her know that we missed her. We purchased a $40 bottle of wine for $20, just so we could get the cork of course, and toasted not only j but also Cool in her absence.
And the best part is that j came with her bra on and she cut up her own food!
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