You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2011.
The Ganglion Tryst continues. If you stumbled across this post, read this one first.
“Vanessa. Vanessa. Can you hear me? You’re in post-op. You had a reaction to the anesthetic.”
“I think she’s coming around,” said Dr. Tussem. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ganglion Tryst continues. If you stumbled across this post, read this one first.
She began floating peacefully, rising up like a hot air balloon towards the clouds. She rolled over and looked down. It was amazing, she could see the surgeon picking up the scalpel, cutting open her foot with the skill of a pastry chef, delicate yet precise. She dropped down for a closer look as Dr. Tussem pealed back the skin to expose the lump. Sweat was forming on his furrowed brow as he started to untangle the “mass” away from the patient’s tendons and nerves.
Vanessa looked closer at the lump, which was becoming more visible as the surgery progressed. She thought that it looked like a mutant jumbo shrimp.” Dr. Tussem was pulling more and more of the mass out of her foot. Vanessa began to regret asking for her lump to be removed. The mass was almost out now and Vanessa couldn’t believe how big it was. Sinew was dripping off its five pinky white translucent tentacles. As Dr. Tussem placed the mass on the disinfected stainless tray, Vanessa noticed one of the tentacles moved and appeared to be growing. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ganglion Tryst continues. If you stumbled across this post, read this one first.
Unlike the two grandmothers, this was her first surgery since having her wisdom teeth removed. The new nurse led her to the left and down a long hallway, lined with empty beds separated by curtains half drawn back. They stopped at a two-stall consultation area, separated again by the hospital green curtains. The nurse said she would return shortly.
The nurse returned with a clipboard, ran through a checklist of questions and said the anesthetist and surgeon would be around soon. Vanessa felt cold, and swung her legs under her chair to try to get blood flowing. She’d used hair removal cream on her legs that morning and given her self a pedicure (sans nail polish) as well. After all, she’d had a lot of time to fill given she couldn’t eat. As the blood returned, she questioned whether removing the lump was worth the trouble. The lump really only bothered her while walking in the city. Hiking was fine, and so was cycling. Maybe it would be better to leave it in, she wondered. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ganglion Tryst continues. If you stumbled across this post, read this one first.
It had taken place in the older part of the hospital, where former patient rooms had been converted to meeting rooms, offices and examination rooms. His accent wasn’t quite British and not Australian. Vanessa had googled the surgeon’s name and found the hospital’s news release that announced his arrival, including bio details that he was originally from South Africa.
Vanessa had met him about two months ago and gone over the procedure. Vanessa had had another MRI done, which had confirmed the mass, as the surgeon now referred to it, had grown. She had gone through all of her pre-operative tests: ECG, chest x-ray, and blood work. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been dealing with some health issues lately, which I discuss on a different blog. I love to write, which is why I blog, and decided to turn some of my experiences into a short story. I’ve decided to post this short fiction piece on this blog, just for fun. Here’s the first installment of:
“The Ganglion Tryst”
A short story by Gozzygirl (well in the case of this blog since I choose to remain anonymous).
The day had finally arrived for “the lump” to be removed. Vanessa hadn’t had any food or water since midnight in preparation for surgery later that afternoon. Jittery from coffee withdrawal and weak from lack of food, she plunked herself into the bucket seat settling in for the hour drive to the hospital.
After waiting almost a year and enduring countless visits to specialists for consultations, ultrasounds and MRIs, today would be the day that she and the lump would finally part ways. It had begun last summer as a golf ball-sized protrusion on top of her right foot. It wasn’t painful at first, and she wasn’t originally bothered by it because all her summer sandals fit around it. But then a contractor renovating their kitchen had pointed at her foot early one morning. He was staring in disbelief, his eyes wide open, bottom lip quivering as he blurted out, “You should really see a doctor to get that checked.” Read the rest of this entry »
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 7,900 times in 2010. That’s about 19 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 79 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 324 posts. There were 113 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 142mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was June 25th with 119 views. The most popular post that day was Movies on the beach .
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were en.wordpress.com, forum.skyscraperpage.com, statistics.bestproceed.com, google.ca, and claramcwatters.wordpress.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for hintonburger, childfree, childfree.wordpress, westboro beach, and movies on the beach ottawa 2010.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Movies on the beach June 2009
2
Renovation update July 2009
7 comments
3
The reveal September 2009
4
The Hintonburger June 2010
5
About January 2008
Okay, so I’m not sure how new some of this stuff is, but it’s new to me. We took a walk down to Westboro and forgot to bring the camera. The photos were taken with a really old cell phone and are grainy, but you’ll get the gist of what’s where.
Starting at the western edge of Westboro:
- in the Westboro Station building, Pierio Scarfo Salon has opened …. looks very expensive.
- also in Westboro Station, Magpie Jewelry will be opening soon.
- At Roosevelt, in the same building as American Apparel, Snap Fitness has opened.
- Near MEC, it looks like the Extreme Pita has closed. We looked in past the “Closed for Business” sign and the counters were bear, other than a few small boxes at one end. It’s no longer listed as a location on the company’s web site.
- Progress continues on what used to be the old lighting/antique store. It’s being doubled in size for what rumour has will be a new pub: The Churchill Arms.
- The Corner Bar and Grill looks just about complete inside.
- A few doors down in what was a satellite store of The Expedition Shoppe is now Naked Fish Sushi
- And across the street is Jack Jones, a new men’s clothing store.
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- Jack Jones moves into the former design centre
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- Natural Food Pantry moves in where the kitchen design place used to be.
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- Beige is now open beside The Works
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- A view of Richmond near Churchill … lots of change
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- Naked Fish Sushi moves into former Expedition Shoppe
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- Progress on the new Churchill Arms Pub
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- Pita Express near Westboro is closed (almost empty of everything)
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- Snap Fitness
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- Magpie Jewelry coming soon to Westboro Station
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- New salon in Westboro Station
Childfree 
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