[nesfa-reading-group] First broadcast after heart surgery

[David G. Grubbs]

This is going to come up again, and I find the info interesting. . .

Two doctor friends (one is Chris Kovacs who was instrumental in augmenting
the quality of NESFA Press's Roger Zelazny Collection) explained the hotel
beds and food exactly the same way.

The mattresses on hospital beds must survive anything in the hospital,
including every fluid that can come out of a human body, every substance
(injected drugs, anything taken orally including food) that can go *into* a
human body, all kinds of cleaning liquids, varieties of things you won't
find at home (such as acids and other chemicals), and all sorts of other
things. They haven’t figured out how to make such a mattress also
comfortable.

Food must satisfy a vast number of dietary restrictions. The primary menu
is designed purposely to be bland and generic. They also have to handle an
even wider variety of choices, each for a small number of people, but they
want to minimize the number of special cases. So the basic diet is not
gourmet. (One of my roommates said, "I was in the Army. This is worse."

My main problem with the food was that everything was as dry as possible,
and I was on fluid restriction. I simply couldn't eat half the selections.



On Tue, Mar 26, 2024 at 11:18 PM cjhi newcastle2.com <cjhi at newcastle2.com>
wrote:

> Good to hear you're well enough to rant about hospital food – and to get
> home. Hope to see you at the April discussion.
>
> /CHip
> ------------------------------
> *From:* reading-group <reading-group-bounces at lists.nesfa.org> on behalf
> of Wesley Brodsky <wesbrodsky at alum.mit.edu>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 26, 2024 9:41 PM
> *To:* reading-group at nesfa.org <reading-group at nesfa.org>; NESFA Reading
> Group <reading-group at lists.nesfa.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [nesfa-reading-group] First broadcast after heart surgery
>
> Glad you are alive and well. Take it easy.
> It would be good if you could attend the next reading group meeting, if
> you are up to it.
>
> -Wes
> ________________________________________
> From: reading-group <reading-group-bounces at lists.nesfa.org> on behalf of
> David G. Grubbs <dggrubbs at gmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 9:30 PM
> To: reading-group at nesfa.org
> Subject: [nesfa-reading-group] First broadcast after heart surgery
>
> I wondered if some people in the reading group didn't care enough about my
> existence to read this. But anyone who comes to the reading group meetings
> listens to me speak about books, so here I am.
>
> I'm not sure what is happening with the group in the long run, but it
> looks like I'll be able to attend the April 5th meeting.
>
> This might overlap with other emails I sent (by me sending to multiple
> groups we share, by others forwarding it to such lists).
>
> The original plan was for the operation to occur on March 13, but they
> moved it to March 18. I was released yesterday, March 25.
>
> Every measurement says that I am moving quickly through the recovery
> process.
>
> My calendar has about 40 medical events (office visits, home visits, and
> procedures) scheduled over the next six weeks.
>
> I will be allowed to drive in four weeks and attempt to regain my life in
> six weeks. The two highest-energy items on my list of recovery goals
> (playing trumpet and surviving the batting cage) were explicitly forbidden
> until after the six-week X-ray, CT scan, and surgical review.
>
> They initially told me, "6 hours on the table, 6 total days in the
> hospital, 6 weeks of initial rehab under a restrictive regime, and likely 6
> more weeks before I'm back to what I was last month."
>
> Those first two numbers turned out to be a bit optimistic. I was on the
> table for about 10 hours. They didn't finish until nearly midnight. It was
> a complicated set of surgical procedures, apparently with no significant
> errors.  I spent 7 days in the hospital, 2 in the ICU, and 5 in the "Step
> down unit". I have no idea how the following two six-week intervals will
> work out.
>
> In summary, I am finding more energy each day. I still have to take lots
> of pills, force myself to get up and walk around when I don't feel like it,
> and survive at least six weeks of restrictions.
>
> There are lots of vivid memories. I'll save most of them for another time
> and venue. But hospital food and beds, even at Mass General, reportedly one
> of the best run hospitals in the world, are absolutely horrible. Luckily a
> facility doesn't need a world-class food supply to employ world-class heart
> surgeons.
>
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