I get spinal injections regularly so I’m getting to know the staff pretty well.
The procedure didn’t take long.
“After about two hours you should be able to return to normal activity,” the doctor informed me.
“Tap dancing?” I asked.
“Do you tap dance?” he asked with a laugh in his voice.
“Not anymore. I’m retired now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I was a tap dancer on a Greek cruise line for over twenty years.”
“Is that true?”
“Nope. Not at all.”
It got quiet.
He looked at his nurse. She shrugged her shoulders.
“Please sit up, Mr. Higgins. The nurse will stay with you for a bit and I’ll be back to check on you.”
He left.
She smiled at me. “How do you feel, lightheaded or anything?”
I looked at the pain scale assessment chart with those ten faces in progressive degrees of distress, from a smile to unmitigated agony.
“See number six?” I nodded to the chart.
“Are you feeling in that much pain now?”
“No. I think I dated her.”
She leaned in to get a better view.
“Yeah, I definitely did. That’s her. Nine looks like her mother.”
The doctor returned.
“He’s fine,” she said.
“OPA!” I cheered.
He smiled and shook his head.
I like this guy.