Peekaboo, ICU

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.

-          While waiting for Jerry to get out of surgery, we decided to get some dinner. Vivian suggested Korean BBQ. I was concerned that having a BBQ while Jerry was in the OR was a little too close to singing karaoke while your husband is getting a spinal tap (I’ve made that mistake before). But there was no actual BBQ at the Korean BBQ, so that seemed OK after all.