Rule #55: Find something you love to do that requires you to be outdoors. You're only half a person if you spend all your time inside.
So, I did some "hard time" in the hospital for the last couple of weeks--hence the lack of fishing posts. Be assured, though, that one of the first things I did when I got out was text the owner of "Fisher Ponds" for permission to fish on Monday.
In the weeks I was in the hospital, the temperature started climbing and a few days the temperature was well over 80 degrees. The redbuds, the flowering apple, and the dogwoods bloomed. The tulips ran their whole course, and almost all of the trees have budded. When I got out, I felt like I'd entered a time warp.
I know it rained a few times, but since I escaped, I haven't been close enough to the river to see where it is in its banks. It'll be a while, though, before I'm up to walking the banks of the White. Today, I walked to the point in my front yard and back--that was enough for a while--it about knocked me out.
Being in the hospital always sucks, but I'm blessed with the ability to close my mind away from the most unpleasant things that happen there almost as soon as they're over. I find I can even ignore the "ugly" parts of being hospitalized that are constant: not being able to sleep for more than an hour or two at a time, hospital gowns, no food (or terrible food), lack of privacy. As Bill Murray said, "So, I got that going for me . . . which is nice."
Of course, I would have been completely miserable without my wife and my mom who were with me whenever they could be. Mom and I watched a lot of NBA, which even under those circumstances, I enjoyed a lot. Peggy was still feeling the chemotherapy that remained in her system, and the various aches, pains, and random "ickiness" that didn't just cease as soon as she finished the last bag of chemicals! If only!! However, like a trooper, she stayed by my side as much as she could before she had to leave for a conference.
The Doc stopped by at least twice that I remember, and so did the doctor who owns "Keep Out Ponds"! He loaned me a book, The Battle of the Atlantic, which I tried to read when I wasn't too high. My family doctor stopped by every day. It was always good to see him--especially when he gave me "popsicle clearance"--for which I will be forever grateful!
The nurses and techs that took care of me were simply incredible. I know they'll never read this--I mean, what are the odds?--but for prosperity: Teena, Ron, Charles--great RNs. The techs kind of came and went without my getting to know most of them, but Meghan was one that would be hard to forget. She was so helpful and along with the nurses, made me as comfortable as I could be. Teena figured out my pain med level quickly. Ron actually got the NG tube into me after it had fallen out because the first team that inserted it didn't anchor it well enough. He then made damned sure that it wasn't going to fall out again! Charles took the time to stop by and just talk now and then.
During the trip home, I was already planning my first fishing trip! Laying in a hospital is no way to spend two weeks of springtime!
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