Monday, November 16, 2009

 

The Past Two Weeks

As I have written recently, my life is packed full. I am working two jobs. My pet and personal assistant had emergency surgery to remove a blockage in her intestine which turned out to be malignant. Last, but hardly least, my slowly degenerating spine is acting up.

Earlier today, I had an epidural series. This is when I get to lie on a table with my drawers dropped, directly under a device that makes x-ray video disks, with which one of my doctors and an assistant views my innards in real time so that they may guide injections of a powerful anti-inflammation drug directly into my spinal canal. As uncomfortable as that may sound, take my word for it, it's worse. I am a veteran of these treatments, and some others just as bad.

My back problems started many years ago, not long after being hit by a car while crossing the street in downtown Chicago, at the famous intersection of Wacker and Wabash, by the courtesy limousine of the Cafe Bohemia. It seemed that the gradual angle of the turn from northbound Wabash to eastbound Wacker allowed the limo driver, no doubt running late for a pickup, to make the turn without slowing down much, and without looking to see if anyone was in the crosswalk at 5:30pm on a Monday. After all, how likely was it that someone would be crossing with the traffic light in the middle of rush hour in a district where almost half of the population of the second largest city in the United States' worked and shopped? According to the driver, my sudden, momentary presence on the hood of his car, against his windshield, and then laying in the street next to the driver's side rear passenger door was a total shock. Imagine how I felt.

Years of doing heavy labor along with bus and van touring in various jobs added to the mess that is my current damaged back and neck.

After the procedure today I was standing at the desk in the Spine Institute of Beth Israel Medical Center where one pays co-payments and makes future appointments. An older man was standing next to me holding a large envelope of films that I recognized from its size as either an MRI or a CT scan. I put my chart on the counter top. He glanced at my chart, which was topped by two freeze-framed moments printed out from my latest video. In high-contrast black & white was an image of my vertebrae and pelvic bones, along with the inserted needles and my spinal hardware, the rods and screws skillfully added six-and-one-half-years ago by two teams of surgeons, also from the Spine Institute. I noticed the man looking at the images. I seized the moment as only a seasoned improviser can. I enthusiastically beamed to the man and the woman who does the scheduling:

"I take GREAT pictures, don't I? The camera LOVES me!"

Hey, I couldn't let the moment pass. I had to get a good laugh.
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?