TAKE TWO - 17 October 2025




Friday Trivia - Previously, I mentioned how good the people were at the hospital and something made me think of Joe, who was the “transporter” for her recent surgery. Transporter meant he wheeled her to where she needed to be.

We had met him back in 2022 and knew him to be a character. This time, just as he was about to wheel her away, he asked if we knew what coffee they served on the Titanic. When we told him we had no clue, he replied: "Sanka!"

Thinking about that today, I began to wonder if the joke really "washed." It was quite possible Sanka brand was introduced well after the sinking. I had to check!

Indeed, Sanka well could have been served on the Titanic as it was available after about 1903 and was considered a rather upper-crust drink in France. The name comes from the French words “sans caféine,” which means without caffeine!

A bit of trivia for a nice fall Friday!

Tubes Pulled - Gloria's drain output was even less today, so Sam, Doering's nurse, told Gloria to come in and they would pull the drains. Yay! Another step down the road. The target time for the office visit was 2 p.m.

A single stitch on each near the exit point served as a retention mechanism. Sam snipped the one on the left side first, and then slowly pulled the tube.

A can of Sanka coffee from about 1920

While I could see there was some pain involved, Gloria's facial expression said there was more to it than some slight discomfort. After thinking a moment, she said the feeling reminded her of the movie "Alien." This was understandable because the amount of tubing removed was in the neighborhood of a foot!

Then Sam pulled the one on her right side. I watched more intently that time. I could see the tube end snaking from somewhat above where her breasts would have met along what would have been the lower edge of the breast and finally exiting her body. And that tiny cleavage? Gone!

Gloria reported small tingling sensations along the tube’s previous internal route and a reduction in her chest "tightness." Another step in the process ticked off!

Betwixt Friday and Tuesday - After our Friday visit and our doctor’s-office visit next Tuesday, there have been several small events such as taking two additional showers with no problems. Sunday, we went to Miriam and Mariya’s to chow down on some fish as the seafood truck had rolled into town. But, as the girls acknowledge, the "real" reason Gloria is so excited for the family reunions is so grandma and granddaughter can see each other ... which they did.

L-R: Mariya, Miriam, Diana, Gloria and Art gather for a meal of fish. Can you tell who DQ is really glad to see?

We’ve also been reaping the benefits of Gloria’s friends and former colleagues arriving with food. While our likes and dislikes in that department are pretty similar, there are some differences. I grew up in a family that loved cottage cheese, whereas Gloria doesn’t care for it. Mariya liked it, but Katie did not. While I am the grocery shopper, since Katie is younger, I just got out of the habit of buying it during those years when home was primarily Katie, Gloria and me.

Gloria and I are the reverse on acorn squash! My interest is minimal, so I never think to buy them and Gloria never puts them on the list - probably due to my lack of interest. But Gloria is a big fan. So when former colleague Lou made a couple of halves, baked with butter and brown sugar, and brought them over, Gloria was in heaven!

Monday, we removed the bandages from the openings where the tubes had previously exited Gloria’s lower chest. We were surprised to see that they had healed to the degree that the sites were easy to miss. Even Sam expected they would be weeping some, but that was not the case.

Without the tubes, Gloria is sleeping more and more on her sides - her preferred position - allowing her to sleep more soundly. That generally has her feeling better.

Squeezed Nipples - Our friend Jan's son Paul often has an itch on his left hand he cannot scratch. That's because he doesn't have a left hand. Cancer in his thumb required removing everything from the mid-forearm through the hand. People with significant surgical removals often experience these phantom feelings. Gloria is no exception. Quite out of the blue she will remark, "Someone is squeezing my nipples."


Friend and former colleague Lou brought Gloria an acorn squash

This seemingly somewhat amusing phenomenon is the result of the rather complex nature of the nervous system. Even with the nerve endings from the severed area absent, the nerve cells and their connections to the brain remain. If one of these cells is stimulated by some event, such as a pinched-disc problem in the spine, the brain has no way of knowing the received signal didn't originate in the area of the body that nerve previously served.

While this event is nothing more than slightly annoying for Gloria, some people deal with feeling pain, cold, or heat, which can be quite aggravating as there are no simple solutions to stop it.