Dear family, friends, and fellow travelers,
So it's been an intense couple of weeks since my belated February newsletter. The mysterious "stomach bug" that I had been dealing with since mid-February landed me in the emergency room on Thursday, March 4th and from there I was admitted to the hospital. It turned out that I had an obstruction in my colon that required first an emergency stent and then surgical removal. I had the surgery on Tuesday, March 9th -- a year to the day on which my workplace closed its doors to the public and went fully remote due to COVID-19. A super weird way of marking that anniversary. Given the wonders of modern laprascopic surgery, I was eating food less than eight hours later and was discharged from hospital to finish my recovery at home on Friday, March 12th.
Image: Photo looking down a hospital hallway toward a window. Taken while walking the halls during my hospital stay following the surgery.
To be honest I'm still wrapping my head around the situation. I'm incredibly grateful for the health insurance I have, for the skilled staff at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center here in Boston -- from the specialist surgeon to the ambulence drivers who transported me in the middle of night from the E.R. to the in-patient hospital --, for paid medical leave and short-term disability insurance, for the laws that protect Hanna's job as she takes family leave to be at home with me during recovery. I'm grateful for the third survival payments, which hit our bank account this week, and mean that Hanna can take that leave, even though it's unpaid, so we have time to rest and fully recover. I'm grateful for all of the kindnesses from friends and colleagues who've come forward with support for both me and for Hanna -- who had to weather all of this mostly at home, alone with the cats, while I was in hospital.
Image: Christopher sunbathing in his favorite dining room window.
Image: Teazle awkwardly sleeping across my thigh after I returned from the hospital and I wouldn't let her knead by sore belly into napping shape.
While I tested negative while in the hospital for any genetic predisposition for colon cancer (whew) the tissue the surgeons removed has been sent away for full pathological analysis and follow-up treatment may be necessary to prevent further rogue activity on the part of my cells moving forward. But for the moment, my job is to recover from the surgery by eating (in the words of my surgeon) a lot of low-fiber "sinful foods," taking gentle walks, and being careful not to lift anything heavier than one of the cats.
Image: Knitting at the hospital while watching "Vera" on my laptop.
Image: A crochet fingerless mitt that I made while in hospital, using the pansexual pride yarn from Fully Spun.
The surgeon predicted a six week recovery period and I made the decision to take that time fully off from my day job at the Massachusetts Historical Society as well as hitting pause on all of my professional/work-adjacent and volunteer/passion project activities. The first couple of days I was in hospital, essentially in a holding pattern while my system calmed down enough for surgery, I worked through the list of pulling out of conferences, handing off committee responsibilities, hitting pause on book reviews and putting things like Persistent Stitches and the #QueerJoyGiveaway on hiatus. It took a lot of up-front effort but was utterly worth it; clearing the decks was exactly what I needed. I'm grateful or everyone who stepped up without hesitation to handle things while I am away and affirmed that healing is my first priority right now.
Image: Screencap from my Audible app showing four genre romance audiobooks I've been listening to during recovery.
For the next four weeks, I'll be focused on healing. Reading books that have been perpetually back-burnered because of books I've promised to review. Indulging myself with crafting projects that have fallen by the wayside because they're not deadline-driven. Writing fic. Putting energy into personal correspondence and other friendship connectivity. Enjoying spring unfold in our neighborhood. And reflecting on what, how, and how much to pick back up at the end of this leave.
Image: Crimson Floyd by S.
Image: Etienne the Incompetent by S.
One final story. When an eight-year-old friend of mine heard I was in hospital with a blockage in my colon, their explanation was that some tiny, feckless beavers had built a dam on my insides where it should not be! At my request they provided illustrations of the two culprits: Crimson Floyd and Etienne the Incompetent. This was truly the best moment of the entire debacle.
Thank you all for being in the world.
In gratitude,
Anna
So it's been an intense couple of weeks since my belated February newsletter. The mysterious "stomach bug" that I had been dealing with since mid-February landed me in the emergency room on Thursday, March 4th and from there I was admitted to the hospital. It turned out that I had an obstruction in my colon that required first an emergency stent and then surgical removal. I had the surgery on Tuesday, March 9th -- a year to the day on which my workplace closed its doors to the public and went fully remote due to COVID-19. A super weird way of marking that anniversary. Given the wonders of modern laprascopic surgery, I was eating food less than eight hours later and was discharged from hospital to finish my recovery at home on Friday, March 12th.
Image: Photo looking down a hospital hallway toward a window. Taken while walking the halls during my hospital stay following the surgery.
To be honest I'm still wrapping my head around the situation. I'm incredibly grateful for the health insurance I have, for the skilled staff at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center here in Boston -- from the specialist surgeon to the ambulence drivers who transported me in the middle of night from the E.R. to the in-patient hospital --, for paid medical leave and short-term disability insurance, for the laws that protect Hanna's job as she takes family leave to be at home with me during recovery. I'm grateful for the third survival payments, which hit our bank account this week, and mean that Hanna can take that leave, even though it's unpaid, so we have time to rest and fully recover. I'm grateful for all of the kindnesses from friends and colleagues who've come forward with support for both me and for Hanna -- who had to weather all of this mostly at home, alone with the cats, while I was in hospital.
Image: Christopher sunbathing in his favorite dining room window.
Image: Teazle awkwardly sleeping across my thigh after I returned from the hospital and I wouldn't let her knead by sore belly into napping shape.
While I tested negative while in the hospital for any genetic predisposition for colon cancer (whew) the tissue the surgeons removed has been sent away for full pathological analysis and follow-up treatment may be necessary to prevent further rogue activity on the part of my cells moving forward. But for the moment, my job is to recover from the surgery by eating (in the words of my surgeon) a lot of low-fiber "sinful foods," taking gentle walks, and being careful not to lift anything heavier than one of the cats.
Image: Knitting at the hospital while watching "Vera" on my laptop.
Image: A crochet fingerless mitt that I made while in hospital, using the pansexual pride yarn from Fully Spun.
The surgeon predicted a six week recovery period and I made the decision to take that time fully off from my day job at the Massachusetts Historical Society as well as hitting pause on all of my professional/work-adjacent and volunteer/passion project activities. The first couple of days I was in hospital, essentially in a holding pattern while my system calmed down enough for surgery, I worked through the list of pulling out of conferences, handing off committee responsibilities, hitting pause on book reviews and putting things like Persistent Stitches and the #QueerJoyGiveaway on hiatus. It took a lot of up-front effort but was utterly worth it; clearing the decks was exactly what I needed. I'm grateful or everyone who stepped up without hesitation to handle things while I am away and affirmed that healing is my first priority right now.
Image: Screencap from my Audible app showing four genre romance audiobooks I've been listening to during recovery.
For the next four weeks, I'll be focused on healing. Reading books that have been perpetually back-burnered because of books I've promised to review. Indulging myself with crafting projects that have fallen by the wayside because they're not deadline-driven. Writing fic. Putting energy into personal correspondence and other friendship connectivity. Enjoying spring unfold in our neighborhood. And reflecting on what, how, and how much to pick back up at the end of this leave.
Image: Crimson Floyd by S.Image: Etienne the Incompetent by S.One final story. When an eight-year-old friend of mine heard I was in hospital with a blockage in my colon, their explanation was that some tiny, feckless beavers had built a dam on my insides where it should not be! At my request they provided illustrations of the two culprits: Crimson Floyd and Etienne the Incompetent. This was truly the best moment of the entire debacle.
Thank you all for being in the world.
In gratitude,
Anna