Is It Really Valentine's Day Without Chocolate?

I'm back! My surgery went quite well, and although the doctor said he removed a rather large mass, the pathologist pronounced it benign, so we're all doing the happy dance here! I'm not having much pain, just some discomfort, and the last time I took any pain meds was over 24 hours ago.

I was having quite a bit of difficulty at first with choking, but the doctor sent a speech therapist to see me before I was discharged, and she gave me lots of good advice. The most important bit of advice is to tuck my chin when I swallow or cough. This has really reduced the choking, and as a bonus it has virtually eliminated any pain associated with those activities. I'm still on a soft diet, though, lots of jello, applesauce, yogurt, and pudding. I tried some scrambled eggs for dinner last night, and they went okay. Today I've advanced to grits! Still, the yogurt and pudding go down easiest.

The nurses at the hospital were terrific. Columbus Regional Hospital was Indiana's First Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence, and I can see why they earned this distinction. Each shift, the nurse and the nurse's aid assigned to me had only four patients to take care of, and thus were able to devote as much time as we each needed. I think the longest I ever waited for anyone to come when I rang for help was maybe three minutes. This was quite a different experience from my previous surgeries at other hospitals. I know one time I was one of sixteen patients assigned to one nurse, and of course I rarely saw anyone then. Everyone who helped care for me was uniformly kind and pleasant, and all seemed genuinely interested in helping me.

My only real complaint about the care was that they were out of chocolate pudding on the floor, so I ended up having no chocolate at all on Valentine's Day. What a disgrace! Actually, we don't have any chocolate pudding here at home either, so I still haven't had any chocolate yet. I'll guess we'll see just how closely my husband reads my blog and picks up on subtle hints like this now, won't we?