I was in my car sipping lukewarm English Breakfast tea with a splash of 2 percent milk. It was stronger than I prefer, as I let the teabag sit in it for 2 hours. I felt sweat slipping down my forehead as the sun bore down on the windshield.
I woke at 7 & took my morning mix of meds: 2 antidepressants; Amlodipine, Aspirin, Atorvastatin, & Clopidogrel for my heart; as well as Glyburide & Metformin for my diabetes. I also took several supplements: vitamins A, B-Complex, C, D, E, & K; Chlorella; Collagen; Echinacea; Magnesium; Milk Thistle; Selenium; Spirulina; Turmeric; & Zinc.
I brushed my teeth & had a quick but awkward shower: my left leg standing outside of the stall to keep my bandaged foot dry. The rest of my naked body stood under the warm stream of water running over me as I lathered up shampoo & scrubbed my freshly cut hair. I also used the shampoo on my hairy body - starting with my beard, then working each arm, my chest, my crotch, my right leg & what little I could do with the left leg. After I rinsed, I bowed my head under the stream as my right hand turned the tap from warm down to cold. I wanted to pull away from the ice cold sensation that was jetting down my body but I made myself stand still for awhile before shutting it off.
I made it to the hospital on time, using change to park closer to the building my appointment was in. I waited a bit before having another X-Ray, & then a bit longer as I waited for the specialist, Dr Yao. I laid back on the gurney they had me at in the cast clinic, & scrolled through the Kindle app on my iPhone to organize some of my unsorted book titles into various collections before settling in to read more of @dintyw Moore’s book, THE MINDFUL WRITER. Raymond Carver came up & I went to Amazon to acquire his 1st 2 books of short stories, as Moore described them as being written in a minimalist style, focussing “…on the simplest of daily interactions between people, on quiet exchanges, mundane events.”
“We’ll have to operate to remove some of the dead bone which could result in amputation but we’ll make the final decision in a week.” Dr Yao says as my heart sank.
“Damn diabetes.” I sigh.
(79/366).