#160 The Good Patient

Comments overheard at the surgery clinic (rotator cuff) Tuesday and Wednesday between my husband and various staff members.

"Now, you will feel a little giddy, like you've had too much to drink."

"I've never had too much to drink."

"When you wake up you might feel like you have a hang-over."

"I've never had a hang-over."

"Are you allergic to any pain medicine?"

"I don't know; I've never had any."

"You could take Aleve or ibuprofen product--or whatever you use when you
have a headache."

"I've never had a headache."

“For awhile, use the bathtub instead of a shower, so you don’t get the shoulder wet.”

“We don’t have a bathtub.”

The Good Patient, pt. 2

When I helped my husband get ready for his first shower after surgery yesterday morning, I covered the incision with plastic wrap and taped it down with wide masking tape. The bathtub had been removed by a previous owner, but we have three showers.

In the afternoon after a big Christmas dinner, my daughter and I were cleaning up in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher and putting the left-overs away. I opened the drawer with the wraps--plastic and wax and foil.

“Honey, would you go up to the bedroom and get the plastic wrap?”

Her eyes got very wide. “I don’t even want to know,” she said and quickly left the room.