Monday, March 20, 2023

Bahama Drama


I slept like a log last night. I got in bed about 8:30 p.m., intending to read, but before even an hour had passed I had to give up because I kept losing focus -- and I slept all the way through the night, which is unusual because Olga usually wakes me up at least once. I feel like I slept forever but I guess it was only eight hours. Still, it felt great.

Maybe I'm coming down from all the stress of last week. Please, God, let this week be more normal.

Dave had his colonoscopy yesterday. The photos show the elevator lobby on the lower ground floor of the Royal Free Hospital. I love how they've tried to make it look like a Caribbean idyll. "You're not in the hospital, you're in...the Bahamas!"

His procedure went fine. Meanwhile, I read a book and walked the streets near the hospital, looking for photo opportunities. I suppose I didn't really need to be there at all except to bring him home because he'd been given sedatives. And then, when the time came for me to fulfill my role, I couldn't get the Uber app on my phone to work and he had to call his own Uber anyway. Some escort I turned out to be!

The first thing he did upon getting home was dig into a bag of Doritos and a can of cheese dip. Ugh.


The nurse said Dave's colonoscopy was clear and showed no inflammation from his Crohn's, so that's good. We haven't determined the cause of his hand tremor, which is the reason he had the procedure -- on his neurologist's theory that his Crohn's was acting up and causing his hands to shake. But apparently not. It may be an unsolvable mystery, and in any case the tremors have been better lately.

I'm reading "The Last Confessions of Sylvia P." It's a novel by Lee Kravetz based on Sylvia Plath, and it's good. It reminds me of "The Hours," with a structure that switches between three voices and three time periods. Why is Sylvia Plath an object of such endless fascination? I was fascinated with her too when I was younger, reading her biography and "The Bell Jar" and all her collected poems. I suppose it's the drama, the outward appearance of having so much while being so inwardly tormented. I find all that pathos rather exhausting now, but she still qualifies as one of my favorite poets -- or at least the one whose work I know best. The relative accessibility of her poems counts in her favor, too.

I found 36 comments in my Blogger spam folder this morning, going all the way back to the beginning of my blog. They were all one- or two-word comments. Apparently brevity is now among the criteria for Blogger to pull comments as spam. It took a while to republish them all. Argh!

28 comments:

sparklingmerlot said...

Glad to hear the colonoscopy was clear. Curious about the hand tremors. I am sure that although the décor screams Bahamas they won't have been able to change the smell from hospital!

Moving with Mitchell said...

I thought the photos of Dave's colonoscopy showed the elevator lobby that in turn looked like the Bahamas, and I was fascinated. My colonoscopy never looks anything like that.

Glad it went well. Doritos and cheese dip would give ME hand tremors.

River said...

Good to hear the colonoscopy was clear. I hope you find the cause of the hand tremors and it is something fixable.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

When I am in a hospital I do not wish to be transported to The Bahamas when I am in the lift lobby. I would much prefer images of (female) nurses in pvc uniforms and fishnet stockings.

crafty cat corner said...

I have never looked at my spam, imagine my surprise to see your comment in there, whey does that happen?
briony
x

Andrew said...

You leave my words of wisdom for an extended period in your spam folder!

I too was a fan of Sylvia Path. Tres tragic.

Did Dave's parents have tremors? In my case it is in the genes.

Boud said...

I think that snack would give me the tremors! Here the rules are very strict. Only a relative or friend driving a private vehicle can pick up from the same day surgery after sedatives or anaesthesia. A nurse accompanies the patient to the vehicle to make sure!

They specify that they won't release to any taxi, uber,etc. You even have to register name and phone of your driver. I don't know about an escort like you, who wouldn't be driving anyway, and who would be the official family. Maybe I live in a more car oriented place! Glad the exam didn't show anything worrying.

Bob said...

Looking at those photos I thought maybe you had escaped the Library Drama and were relaxing on a beach somewhere ... with elevators!

Ms. Moon said...

After Glen's last colonoscopy, he insisted on a spicy fried chicken sandwich. I don't think he even remembered eating it later.
I'm so glad to hear that Dave's scan came out clean.
I, too, went through a Sylvia Plath stage. Didn't we all? I think it was not very good for me. Talk about triggers...

The Bug said...

I totally didn't get Sylvia Plath when I first encountered her (in college? The Bell Jar?), but I was such a straight arrow black & white person (who had completely buried all of her trauma). Yes, I had a stick firmly planted you know where. Ha! I'd probably have a lot more sympathy for her now.

Debby said...

I was quite caught up with Sylvia Plath for a while until I realized that I was identifying with her a LOT. It frightened me, actually.

Ellen D. said...

Good news about the clear colonoscopy!
Hope you have a calm week, Steve.

Jeanie said...

I think we all read Sylvia Plath -- whether or not we understood her is a different thing. So glad Dave's procedure went well and hopefully the tremors stay low-key or at least not problematic. Did they give him photos? I thought of including my pix in our Christmas missive a few years ago but Rick talked me out of it. But I think everyone could relate!

ellen abbott said...

Marc's hands sometimes have a little tremor. He says it started after he got overheated and he almost passed out while working outside over at the shop years ago. I've never been a poetry fan. I do remember all the hoopla about Plath and I think I might have read The Bell Jar but to tell the truth I don't really remember. Maybe I started it but didn't finish or maybe it got so much attention that I just think I read it.

NewRobin13 said...

Really glad that Dave's colonoscopy went well and that everything was fine and clear. Yay! Now I'm wondering why his hands have been having tremors. I hope that resolves soon.
I haven't read any Sylvia Plath in years. I think I'll go find a poem to read this morning.

Ed said...

Doritos and cheese dip? No thanks. My daughters brought home a bag of doritos and I had a memory of them being so tasty when I was younger but when I tried one, it just sort of tasted like cheesy cardboard. It was probably the first one I ate in over a decade. I guess my taste buds have changed over the years.

Sharon said...

I just checked my spam folder and I had one in there from 2021 and it was only three words long and was truly spam. Maybe it's one I missed from back then.
Glad Dave's procedure went well. I remember mine and the first thing I wanted was burger from McDonalds. Interesting tropical decor at the hospital.

Boud said...

This is odd. I posted here, it appeared, and now I don't see it.
Anyway the main thing is I'm glad the scan was clear.

Kelly said...

I've rarely met a chip I didn't like (though being plant-based limits my options now), so I wasn't offended by Dave's Doritos (I like the Sweet Chili in the purple bag). Given his history, I'm really glad the colonoscopy showed no inflammation. I'm thinking there are plenty of (non-dire) reasons for hand tremors, so maybe that's not really a big issue.

Elizabeth said...

I loved that fictionalized book about Sylvia and agree that it was resonant of "The Hours." I just finished doing a unit on "The Bell Jar" with one of my students. She's in twelfth grade, and it was such a pleasure to see her experience the novel and the poetry for the first time. I hadn't read it since college, and I got a lot out of it, to tell you the truth. And while I agree about the exhaustive pathos, it actually holds up, especially in these fraught times.

Margaret said...

Always nice to have the colonoscopy over with and clear results. I'm ravenous afterward too but generally make my escort take me out for breakfast. :)

Catalyst said...

When you get an idle period in your life take a look at pictures of Putin when he's sitting in a chair meeting with some foreign leader or another. His left arm is always in an odd position as he grips the arm of his chair in his left hand. It was that way with Xi today and when he was with Trump in the White House some years ago. I think he has Parkinson's or some such disease and does that to hide the trembling in his hand.

Good news about Dave, though, and what's wrong with Doritos and cheese dip anyway?

Allison said...

Doritos and cheese dip for the win! Love that stuff, but don't eat it anymore. We're avoiding foods with that many ingredients. Glad the scan was good and there's no inflammation.

Michael said...

I just went back and caught up on all of your posts. I am so sorry about the library kerfuffle. I just said to one of my colleagues the other day that with all of the charged political issues we are dealing with, I would hate to be a librarian. So sorry that you are dealing with this. I am glad that Dave's colonoscopy came out okay, and I am glad that you got a good night's sleep.

Janie Junebug said...

This is the first I've heard of the SP novel. I wonder if I'd like it. You know I'm a fan of her poetry but not wild about The Bell Jar. I have a tremor. Both hands. No one knows why so I just go ahead and shake.

Love,
Janie

Steve Reed said...

Caro: Ha! Yeah, it definitely still smelled like hospital.

Mitchell: Ha! Leave it to Dave to have photographic murals in his colon. They wouldn't be beach scenes, though. He's not a beach person.

River: It's a good sign that they've subsided. I hope they sort of heal themselves over time.

YP: I suppose they can't afford to give elderly gentlemen heart attacks!

Briony: I have no idea. It's one of the mysteries of Blogger.

Andrew: As far as I know, none of his relatives have had them.

Boud: That seems like overkill. I'm sure they don't want to release anyone who might drive, and that makes sense. But not releasing to an Uber or taxi seems like it's taking patient safety a little too far. Lawyers!

Bob: Ha! Have you watched "Triangle of Sadness"? It's like the last scene.

Ms Moon: Well, I think the allure of the darkness was part of Plath's appeal. But yeah, maybe not the healthiest thing.

Bug: "The Bell Jar" is one of my favorite books. Maybe you should try reading her now and see how your perceptions may have changed?

Debby: Perhaps that's why so many people like her. She helps us all see that we have our hidden dark impulses.

Ellen D: Thank you! :)

Jeanie: They allowed him to watch on the monitor but I don't think they gave him any souvenirs. Many people read Plath when they're young and I'm not sure they all get the depth. But on the other hand, she does seem to resonate for many people.

Ellen: Interesting that he thinks heat triggered it. I don't think Dave has been exposed to any extreme heat.

Robin: Personally, I love "Parliament Hill Fields," especially since I now live near Parliament Hill! (Which is on Hampstead Heath.)

Ed: I have completely lost my taste for Doritos and chips in general. They're just not something I enjoy anymore. Dave loves junk food, sadly.

Sharon: Yeah, among all the comments inappropriately flagged as spam there were one or two that really WERE spam. So I guess I should be appreciative of that!

Boud: It's here now! Maybe I released it from spam?

Kelly: I was happy once we'd ruled out the dire possibilities, but he really wants an answer.

Elizabeth: It does hold up, I agree. There's no question it's a well-written book.

Margaret: Another thing I failed to do! Argh! :)

Catalyst: Oh, interesting! I heard he was visibly limping on his recent visits to Ukraine. I hadn't heard the conjecture about Parkinsons, though.

Allison: Yeah, that's the way to go -- simple and natural! I try to stick to those rules too.

Michael: Library challenges have entirely escaped us until now. I guess I thought since we were overseas and not subject to the same degree of evangelical fervor as American schools that we might not get hit with them.

Janie: Interesting! I'll tell Dave. He's quite frustrated that no cause can be found.

Pip said...

I literally created a blog just so I could comment on the tremors: I have had tremors since I was 30, and figured out that they are Essential Tremor. Check out https://essentialtremor.org/ ...it could be what Dave has.

I met a woman at a place I worked who had tremors, and when I asked her about them, she said her entire family had them (it tends to be genetic, and go can unknown until some sort of stressor - mine was a divorce - kicks them into gear). She had no idea anyone else in the world had them, because she was from a small town in northern Canada and no one they knew did. She actually cried when she found out there were others with it.

Pip said...

Also, it seems you can't comment on others' comments, so maybe you could mention it to Janie and Andrew?