Nurses R us

I had my surgery yesterday at TOSH and I have to say that I had the most wonderful set of nurses caring for me: Rita, Hazel and Zedra. Don't you love those names? Rita was the night nurse and we had several heartfelt conversations through the night (because Oxycodone doesn't really cut the pain for the first few days). We blew kisses at each other before she went home this morning.

Hazel and I talked about getting our graduate degrees around 40, and about the burden she has carried through life: being named Hazel. She's felt better since Julia Roberts named her girl, Hazel.

Zedra was from Peru. She's lived in the states twenty-five years and is trying to improve her spoken English by reading and listening to books at the same time. She, like me, is a visual learner and needs to see the words on the page.

Remember all the hype about nurses several years ago? You know, that if you want to have a lot of job options then be a nurse. That isn't true anymore. There are so many new nursing schools across the country that we now have more nurses than jobs. Hazel and Zedra were both working twelve hour shifts. I don't know how they do it and are so pleasant while they're doing it.

Then, Lloyd, from Physical Therapy turned out to be in Charles's ward and we held a squealing celebration when this fact was discovered. He had me practice using the orthopedic trolley to get around (rather than crutches). He had some Charles stories that were funny. To know Charles is to love him and the same goes for Lloyd.

So the world has been a friendly place these last couple of weeks and I feel the love. Do you feel the love?