Bette Midler Tune

I promise that at some point soon I will have room in my brain to think of something other than the train tracks on my head and will be able to talk about something else. However, today is not that day. Also, until that time please use big words. The small words fall right out of that gaping hole in my noggin so put all that old SAT prep to good use!

Tonight, poor Pony Express called. She had a couple of things that she really wanted to do but she wanted to make sure that she didn't need to come home first and keep me from wasting away. She didn't and all thanks to some other wonderful friends.

Despite Kath's being under general anesthesia today for her nose she beat me to checking in and called me first. We exchanged photos of our faces and she told me she'd come over, bring ice cream and change my bandage for me if I needed it. Oh and bring meds because she's pissed I wasn't given good pain management.

Not 20 minutes after we got off the phone my phone rang again. It was the president of PUPS who happens to be a local hospital administrator. Kath had forwarded her the picture of my foreroad (railhead? frailroad?) and she wanted to help and to get more info.

Together they brought ice cream, meds, gave me medicating advice, changed my bandage, taught me that part of the pain is from the tape being too tight, brought me arnica pills from a third friend, took my dog on a very long walk with a beloved dog friend, assured me that the wound looked clean and good (and much better than the picture from last night), also assured me that being denied meds for intense short term pain was stupid and brought reassurance on many of those subjects from medical professionals. Then they sat with me and chatted for a bit. Oh and we took photos of me and Kath together in all of our broken glory.

People sometimes say to me, "I don't see how people have dogs in the city." I don't see how they don't. I know both of these women through doggie connections and through them I have connections to literature, publishing, medicine, community service, government, the parks department and a bunch of other things. How many times do you send a friend a picture of a wound, and she sends it to another friend and in 20 minutes you have a second (and third!) professional medical opinion?

I'm rambling. It's the v1cod1n and the red wine (just a little to "get the vike started"). And the pain.

What I'm getting at is, friends = good. So good. And because they are good I feel much better mentally and emotionally and am ready to fight the good fight with the doc tomorrow when I insist on (as opposed to beg for) proper pain management. Healing can't happen without proper pain management.

So, just checking in. I'm doing OK. I've been reading around the blogosphere today but I'm still quite behind. Congratulations to all you NaBloPoMo-ers, tomorrow marks the end of this round, how are you feeling?