This is Hanan, the head nurse of the surgical ward (who is Lebanese), with whom I have had some very interesting conversations over the past three days. We seem very much alike although working in wildly differing fields (me in journalism, her in nursing), but we seem to have the same kind of expectations of and frustrations with our staff and have equally high standards. I must admit I’ll miss her, as well as other people I’ve met, when I finally get sprung from here. It’s funny, even the customer relations women (including the one whose picture I posted a few back) seem to all know me and like to come say hello, even though we can’t communicate very well. One of them stopped by yesterday and was asking me something in Arabic which of course I couldn’t understand, then she said “Third floor, third floor!” and I remembered we had met when I was in the pediatrics ward after my first surgery.

I was supposed to go home yesterday, but that got canceled since one of my doctors wanted to be absolutely that I didn’t have an infection. Then, they all had a really good look at my foot and got concerned that it looked so terrible (like the whole surface was one big, dark red blister), so I got a new course of antibiotics plus must see a skin specialist today. I now have been told I can go home tomorrow, subject to monitoring by the internist and orthopedic surgeon. The consensus seems to be that this whole disaster was caused by an allergic reaction to the Betadine that was put all over the top of my foot after the surgery on Thursday, although personally I think it was more a reaction to the gauze.

A marvelous nurse and the tools of her trade, posted earlier.