HUMBLING

It's a bit humbling, being sick.  It's especially humbling when you end up in the emergency ward being trundled around like a soon-to-be-corpse on a gurney.  This is what happened to me, starting quite suddenly yesterday morning.  I had returned the previous evening from a wonderful "One Hour/One Painting" session at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, with a huge, 12-panel scroll painting by the 17th century Chinese artist Shitao--a masterpiece tour-de-force that offered ample opportunity for the kind of prolonged contemplation I offer.

A great session, then, followed up with a stop in Ojai for dinner with good friends and a long drive home.  So in the morning I was up and ready to go out for my usual morning walk when it hit me.  Feeling queasy, I realized a walk was out of the question and lay down on the conch instead.  Queasy, and with a tight knot in stomach just below the sternum.  I went to bed, and lay there feeling sorry for myself for the better part of the day--until Ellie put in a call to the "Advice Nurse" at Kaiser.  The upshot was that trip to the emergency ward.

After multiple tests, including a CAT scan, they discovered nothing more serious than a particularly virulent stomach bug.  The care I received at Kaiser, from doctors to nurses to gurney, was excellent.  I felt like I was in good hands, even though the emergency room was crowded--all the rooms filled and gurneys lining the hall--and everyone was busy.  Six hours later, I was out of there.  Home by ten-ish, and off to sleep.  Then Ellie got it...  That's another story.