A new perspective on tedium...
Last week I complained to you about the tedious tasks I have to accomplish...oh, foolishness!
First of all, I put myself in this position with my almost obsessive compulsions.
Secondly, when you consider some of the alternatives, tedium is nice. In fact, I kinda like it...
You see, last week even as I wrote the words about tedious taskwork, my dad was finding himself in severe pain. I got a call that he and Mom had headed to the ER -- and so began my new-found affection for tedium.
For a couple of days, Dad had suffered with bad stomach pains...but they would subside, so he kept just enduring them...And let me say here for you stoical, high-pain-tolerance types -- it is a "skill" that can turn around and bite you in the butt -- and leave teethmarks! By the time Dad was convinced that perhaps the "11" rated pain on the 1-10 scale wasn't going to go away, it was constant and only relieved by the removal of his now-gangrenous gall bladder.
Gangrene...it ain't pretty...not that we saw it live and in person -- but we were worried to hear that it was even there! We were on secondary infection watch...and though his pain level was down to 6 or 7, Dad was still pretty miserable.
But miserable is a relative state, and since he was much less miserable than he had been, he did feel "better" (In the future, we will ask: "Than what?"). And truthfully, he did make good improvement, but after he was sent home on Thursday, things regressed from not so good, to bad, to horrible. Having learned the vagaries of stoicism, he agreed to return to the hospital by ambulance. There was no way to get him in the car with the nausea and pain he was suffering.
Some hours of testing in the ER identified that the secondary infection we feared was effectively creating a blockage in the intestine...not good, not good at all. Antibiotics, and other measures were taken to relieve his distress, and 18 hours later, he was much improved...A couple more days of ups and downs, finally yielded to more ups than downs, and he is home again -- but finally doing SO much better. We are so thankful and relieved! It was, at times, scary, and all the time, distressing to see him suffer.
And I would have much preferred the tedious week I had previously planned...In fact, I had lots on my calendar last week, and how I hated to call people up and cancel on them...They were counting on me! But everyone was so gracious, and I realized that despite being inconvenienced, they were glad to take it on because they wanted to bear part of my burden, and support me. You guys are wonderful!!
I wouldn't wish my dad's experiences of the last week on anyone!! No way! But I want to acknowledge that good has come out of it -- We felt so blessed by the prayers, expressions of love and care, in words and in tangible ways...We have a freshened perspective --what was previously a bad day, doesn't seem so bad anymore.
And tedium seems less tedious...
I think I'll go scan a couple hundred negatives...For some reason, it just sounds like fun.
First of all, I put myself in this position with my almost obsessive compulsions.
Secondly, when you consider some of the alternatives, tedium is nice. In fact, I kinda like it...
You see, last week even as I wrote the words about tedious taskwork, my dad was finding himself in severe pain. I got a call that he and Mom had headed to the ER -- and so began my new-found affection for tedium.
For a couple of days, Dad had suffered with bad stomach pains...but they would subside, so he kept just enduring them...And let me say here for you stoical, high-pain-tolerance types -- it is a "skill" that can turn around and bite you in the butt -- and leave teethmarks! By the time Dad was convinced that perhaps the "11" rated pain on the 1-10 scale wasn't going to go away, it was constant and only relieved by the removal of his now-gangrenous gall bladder.
Gangrene...it ain't pretty...not that we saw it live and in person -- but we were worried to hear that it was even there! We were on secondary infection watch...and though his pain level was down to 6 or 7, Dad was still pretty miserable.
But miserable is a relative state, and since he was much less miserable than he had been, he did feel "better" (In the future, we will ask: "Than what?"). And truthfully, he did make good improvement, but after he was sent home on Thursday, things regressed from not so good, to bad, to horrible. Having learned the vagaries of stoicism, he agreed to return to the hospital by ambulance. There was no way to get him in the car with the nausea and pain he was suffering.
Some hours of testing in the ER identified that the secondary infection we feared was effectively creating a blockage in the intestine...not good, not good at all. Antibiotics, and other measures were taken to relieve his distress, and 18 hours later, he was much improved...A couple more days of ups and downs, finally yielded to more ups than downs, and he is home again -- but finally doing SO much better. We are so thankful and relieved! It was, at times, scary, and all the time, distressing to see him suffer.
And I would have much preferred the tedious week I had previously planned...In fact, I had lots on my calendar last week, and how I hated to call people up and cancel on them...They were counting on me! But everyone was so gracious, and I realized that despite being inconvenienced, they were glad to take it on because they wanted to bear part of my burden, and support me. You guys are wonderful!!
I wouldn't wish my dad's experiences of the last week on anyone!! No way! But I want to acknowledge that good has come out of it -- We felt so blessed by the prayers, expressions of love and care, in words and in tangible ways...We have a freshened perspective --what was previously a bad day, doesn't seem so bad anymore.
And tedium seems less tedious...
I think I'll go scan a couple hundred negatives...For some reason, it just sounds like fun.
Comments
There is something wonderful about 'normal' and 'everyday' that can be appreciated after a week like your folks had last week.