Sometimes I'm still surprised

I feel like I've been around the block a few times and generally, I'm not surprised by much. But it seems like no matter how many times I go to North Carolina to see Joanna, something will catch me off guard.


Last week I flew into Raleigh Tuesday morning and went staight to UNC-Chapel Hill hospital, where JoJo was spending some quality time with some very scratchy hospital sheets. She was admitted the day before because post surgery, she hadn't had much success keeping solid foods down and was having abdominal pain. By the time I got there, the abdominal pain issue was under control, but the solid foods were still untested. JoJo was pretty scared to eat because everytime she tried, the nausea would creep up.


After a few hours of coaxing, Nurse Jessica said she would order JoJo a lunch tray and if she could just slowly work her way through some of the food and keep it down, we could go home. Going home was sounding pretty good at that point, so JoJo agreed and we waited for the lunch tray to arrive.


The lunch tray looked innocent at first. A drink, a red jello of some sort, a corn muffin and a covered plate. I lifted the cover and actually had to take a step back in shock and disbelief. The recomended meal for someone making the conversion to solids after 8 days of a liquid diet was fried chicken and collard greens.




Luckily, the story has a happy ending that doesn't involve the regurgitation of anything green. Nurse Jessica had also requested a plain baked potato. JoJo was able to make her way through about half of the potato without any trouble and we were out of the hospital within a few hours.