Perked Coffee, Hot Toast and a Bump
Welcome to Willow’s weekly coffee and tea garden. My name is Paul, I’ll be your barista today and I’m happy to be here once again. Please come in and make yourself comfortable. Willow has plumped the cushions and started a cozy fire so we can warmourselves while we have a cuppa and chat. As usual, I’d be pleased to bring a pot of whatever beverage you prefer – we have a wide range of teas and coffees to satisfy our world-wide readership. Also available is a large selection of spirits for addition to your cuppa or in its place. We can relax while we discuss the affairs of the week both personal and/or worldwide. How has your week been?
It’s great to be back after a week off for medical reasons. Last week I had a fist sized bump pop out beside my colostomy (left over from my successful battle with cancer some years ago). I was going to go into the emergency on the weekend and contacted Willow to let her know I wouldn’t be able to do the weekly coffee post. She was very understanding and wished me well. I did eventually go, after chickening out a few times and realizing that it wasn’t going to get any better. Expecting an abdominal surgery to fix the problem and fearing the worst, I packed up some clean clothes and my shaving kit in a reusable cloth grocery bag and made my humble way to the hospital. After some waiting I saw a young resident and he took a history and sent me for blood tests and an x-ray. Upon returning to the emergancy area, the doctor put me into an examining room and went to get his supervisor. I feared the worst.
His supervisor was a cheerful woman of about 35 who whooshed into the room at a pace that made it clear she was a busy person. She was pleasant and asked me to lie down on the examining table. Flipping up my Johnny shirt she inspected the bump and ran her fingers over it. She told me that the blood work and x-rays showed that there was currently no blockage or perforations in the colon. She said that the stoma – the end of the colon that that protrudes into the colostomy – is held in place by a ring of muscles and sometimes, under strain, colon and such will get out between the ring and the colostomy- causing a hernia-like bump such as I was seeing. At this point she asked me to relax and she began to massage the bump, pushing inwards with her fingers as she went from side to side. There was no pain. Amazingly, the bump slowly began to disappear and within a few minutes was completely gone. I patted my stomach and couldn’t believe that it was gone. Here I was expecting serious abdominal; surgery and she just popped it back inside. After telling the resident to book me an appointment with a surgeon for a later time, she took off on yet another mission. Have you had any such positive experiences or surprises with the emergency department (A & E in Britain)? It was rare for me – usually going into emergency means increasingly bad news.
Would you like another cuppa? Perhaps a sweet? So, my good readers, that is the sad story of why I went missing last week – please accept my apologies. I have an appt with the surgeon for later this month and no doubt he will want to discuss how to keep this from happening again. Anyway, my week actually took a very positive turn from thatpoint. The next morning I was checking e-mail when there was a knock at my door. I opened it to a young man who lived in the apartment above mine, He was moving out and had a sad story of how he had made an appt with the manager but the manager didn’t show up. I have no idea why he chose to tell me, but whatever. I suggested he leave the keys in an envelope and I gave him and envelope and addressed it for him. He thanked me and left. A few minutes later there came another knock at the door. Sure enough there was the same lad, this time holding a 3 in 1 coffee maker/toaster/egg boiler. It was an almost new machine and he insisted that I take it for helping him. I objected that I had only given him an envelope and he said that he had no room for the machine and would have to throw it out if I didn’t take it. So I thanked him very much and took the machine.
I haven’t had perked coffee or hot toast for three years now and I didn’t realize just how much I missed it. The smell of fresh coffee and hot toast slathered with butter is so relaxing – one reader to whom I mentioned this suggested that the smell should be cologne. So here I sit writing to you while I munch a toasted egg salad sandwich while sipping hot coffee – all thanks to my new machine. I haven’t been able to find a machine like it on line and although there are no manufacturer’s markings, the water container has lines labeled in German. Ahhh, the simple delights of life. Do you have any simple delights that you enjoy? Foods that say “home”? Do tell.
On that note, that’s about all we have room for this week, so it’s time to settle in with another cuppa and watch the fire. Sweets anyone? Please join me in thanking Willow for her invitation to tea. We are all honored that you dropped by today to visit. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and the conversation and please look around at Willow’s other posts while you’re here. Willow is over there serving her guests and chatting it up. Let’s go see how she is today. Have a great week. We look forward to seeing you back here for sweets and beverages of your choice again next week.
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