Jerry’s surgery at UCLA was a big, scary event that
had surprisingly happy moments mixed in as well. In no particular
order, here are some memories from the week:
-
The Safe House. Vivian somehow managed to find an
apartment 2 blocks away from the hospital. By the second day we had
worked out an elaborate short cut where if you went across the hospital
gardens, through the parking garage, around
the corner, through a maze of identical hallways and entered a code on
an unmarked door you would find yourself in a perfectly staged apartment
of brown suede couches and tasteful window coverings. The safe house
felt…safe.
-
We played Trivia Crack in the pre-op area to pass
the time and keep everyone from thinking too much about what was to
come. The pre-op area did not feel safe.
-
Initially Jerry’s surgery was scheduled for 5am, but it got pushed back and back. He didn’t go into the OR until almost 3pm, which meant that we didn’t see him again until 930 pm and we didn’t get back to the safe house that night until
almost 2am. That was a long day.
-
BUT, seeing Jerry in the ICU that night was
delightful. Everyone was a little bit giddy with relief to see him awake
and OK and so very Jerry. He told knock knock jokes. He expressed his
love for each Ashby sister individually. He sassed
the nurse. At one point, after a particularly dry joke the nurse looked
at him quizzically, trying to figure out if he was kidding. Eventually
she tilted her head to one side, narrowed her eyes and said, “I’m going
to write down ‘humor- intact.’”
-
There was a moment when Jerry stood up in his
hospital gown and I averted my eyes to avoid any impropriety. A few
minutes later he said, “Carrie, I have a song for you,” and he serenaded
me with Chicago’s ‘Look Away’. (If you see me
walkin by, and the tears are in my eyes, look away, baby, look away…)
-
While playing trivia, Jerry knew an answer about
the Michal Jackson song ‘Smooth Criminal’. We were so impressed that we
decided we would ask him the same question after the surgery to see if
he still had it. He did.
-
One of his nurses was named Natalia and she had a
thick Ukranian accent. At one point after Claire had arrived, Jerry
asked for another pillow. The nurse nodded and then said, “You haf all
dees women here,” (gesturing at all of us).
We weren’t sure what she meant by that exactly.
-
The Magic Helmet. After his surgery, Jerry had a
truly impressively gauze-wrapped head. The bandage came to just below
his eyebrows and made it look like he was wearing an igloo on his head.
It was somehow really adorable.
