11/12/2008 - Loop de loop

I can't say that Peter didn't warn us about the effects of the sedatives and painkillers.

Today I arrived -- actually, I raced in after the nurse told me his dressing would be changed, which I thought meant surgery. I made it in a little more than an hour (E or F to Roosevelt; 7 to Woodside; LIRR to Manhasset; taxi to hospital), which meant that every transfer went exactly right. They had finished changing the dressing, so it wasn't a surgical procedure.

Terumi was mostly awake, eyes open and talking, albeit softly. Today he had the breathing tube removed even though the last surgery hasn't been done. It's been in too long (maybe they expected to close before now), and so that means surgery won't be done today. They replaced the mask fairly soon with the nose oxygen thingy (it MUST have a name). It looks like he has about 1/3 basketball instead of half for a tummy.

He was in a frustrated, bad mood from the beginning, though (and really, who can blame him). "I'm getting up." "No, you're not." "Just watch me." "OK" "Pull me up." "You can't get up -- you're attached to all those machines." "Can you carry some?" (Should we laugh or cry?) "May I have some ice cream?" "No, you can't eat anything." "I'm hungry!" "May I have a pot of tea?" "No, you can't drink anything." "I'm THIRSTY!!" (At least he could have some water on a sponge.) "Where is it." "Where is what?" "The thing I asked for." "What thing?" "You know -- you went out to get it." "What?" "ICE CREAM." "You have to stay with the tube food for now."
The leg kept sliding off the bed, with the other leg trying to follow. He kept pulling on the oxygen nose piece and touching the feeding tube. He was fascinated with the light on the finger piece measuring blood oxygen. He didn't want the breathing treatment, or anything but ice cream and to get up and out of the bed.

It was the medication talking. He didn't remember it later, thank goodness. During a quieter moment, he pointed out of the window, towards the sky. "There's an Indian girl watching me . . . the one who stayed at our house. Can you get her address?" and later . . . "The (couldn't quite hear) people are celebrating."