At sometime the ether wears off. In my case it was about 2 am. People around me asking this, that and the other (a phrase my grandfather used). You can imagine what they were. One was whether or not I wanted to urinate, which I did. It was very painful and bloody. but after the second round, somewhat successful, a young (maybe 19) nurse’s assistant determined I needed a catheter. Not knowing when a catheter is necessary I was just the stupid recipient.
Well, it was one of the most painful experiences of my life. As I tried to muffle the screams she kept the progress up as blood kept bloodying (not that much). A more senior (30 or so) nurse came in and assisted. Again, torture and foreboding! Would this just be a small sample of the painful immediate future? They finally gave up and pulled out the catheter. Thirty minutes later the doctor came in and asked them why they were using a catheter when fluids were coming out. Well, my Thai isn’t good enough to understand the medical conversation so I just egged on the doctor, hoping he would nix the inquisition and punishment. He explained the catheter was not necessary and let me go on living. Later on the explanation was some prostate issue. To make a long story not as long, the urologist was consulted and medications were put in my daily diet. That took care of everything.
My friend Bob, who, with Chris, forced me to wear just a bottle of Johnny Walker Red on the way back from the Cornell Dorm showers on my birthday (18th) while lining up girls to view the live exhibit walking back to his room (me). Oops, no main verb there. Ok, well, anyway, Bob asked I explain what food was provided. Actually I was originally given the pale face food, tasty scrambled eggs, potatoes and something. Since my mother cured me from eating greasy eggs I just ate the potatoes. It was ok, I was not really hungry, getting used to my restricted intake in my diet routine. I requested the Thai meal after which was a variety of stuff with a bowl of rice, very filling and a little too much for me but much more palatable than eggs. The food was not bad. But then I was not being regular (all you old fogies will know what I mean) and was having some slight pains so the doctor recommended the fruit and salad courses. That was ok except the salad was served with a “dressing” with the English and Thai label “EGG”. I dipped my spoon in expecting the usual way too sweet dressing and, as expected, it tasted like half sugar and half other stuff. Since it would have made me feel unwell I just ate the vegetables without any dressing, healthy and OK but not particularly tasty but that didn’t really bother me since I am used to eating most anything.
The doctor came in later and asked me about the new diet, along with other more pressing questions, and I explained fruit alone would be nice and that is what came for the next meal.
Ok, now I get to coffee but I will let that wait for Part 3.