One Week

So it’s been a week since I had my vocal chords worked on. I honestly haven’t done much of anything interesting while recovering, but I do have a few stories for you. 

People do a lot of interesting things when you can’t speak to them. Mostly I think it’s really cute :). The first thing that amused me was a button that I was given after my surgery. It says “I am on vocal rest. Therefore, I cannot speak. Thank you.” The only problem is that in order to read the button, a person would have to practically touch their nose to my boob. They had to make the writing small so that they could fit the hospital logo and information on it as well. I actually wore it around a bit too :). People also think that I’m deaf. I don’t condone pretending to be deaf when you’re not, however I’m not proud to say that I have been guilty of going along with it a couple times. I can’t be bothered to try to explain things to people. I’ve become too lazy to get out my whiteboard and dry erase marker and find myself just letting things go. When I had questions at a grocery store the other day, one sweet worker kindly mimed out everything for me. She was so nice that I just went along with it! What else could I do? 

 

So, as I mentioned, I’m getting too lazy to take out the whiteboard. Because of this, I’m learning a lot! For instance, I found that I correct people all the time. At least, my mother anyway. Probably not a good quality, but it’s one I didn’t even notice I had! I finally realized it when my mother said with confidence “What’s that over there? Oh. Nope. That’s just a Kentucky Colonel.” What she was referring to was KFC. Kentucky Fried Chicken. It really bugs me when she makes things up like that and just goes with it! Normally if I could speak, without thinking I’d say, “KFC”. Easy right? But now, it required me digging through my purse to find a marker, then getting out the white board and writing it. She was driving so by the time she could read the note, A: she’d have no idea what I was talking about which would frustrate me more, and B: she wouldn’t care. I realized that it’s not worth it to correct her. Then it occurred to me... is it ever worth it? If I know that people won’t listen to me anyway, why waste my breath? Why let it annoy me? Along the same line, I’ve just stopped answering what I dub to be stupid questions. Normally I go out of my way to explain things to people if they’re confused, but I really can’t be bothered. I’m finding that by not responding, it’s only a matter of seconds before people realize how pointless their questions are and answer them themselves haha. Okay, ok. No such thing as a stupid question. BUT there is such a thing as a redundant or pointless question ;). As it is... I’m lucky if anyone tries to speak to me right now at all!

I love socializing. I get so bored being cooped up, and being in Seattle for medical purposes also presented me with something else. Friends! Yes, I’m from North Idaho and I have friends there, but the people that are here in Seattle are friends that I know from ships. The head office for the cruise line that I worked for is here so many of my ship friends are in and out. Most of my friends recognized how boring I could be after surgery and therefore rushed to see me in the few days leading up to it when I was allowed to speak. One of my friends I hadn’t seen in a year, and he didn’t get ahold of me until after my surgery. I was frustrated that I didn’t feel well enough to do normal young people things like go to a club or have a drink or... well, talk. After the weekend however, I was feeling well enough for dinner. If it hadn’t occurred to you by now... catching up with a friend you haven’t seen in a year when you can’t speak, doesn’t work very well! I was driving so during the car ride I wasn’t able to whip out the ole white board but it was better once we were at dinner. At one point, I had to remind him that he could talk. It was nice to see him and we had a good (silent) laugh, but the consensus was that it’s weird. He didn’t want to be the only one talking, so he just didn’t! Haha. This is very interesting to me because anyone who knows me is used to, as one friend put it, “rapid Shelly talk”. It’s funny how different people seem when I’m not egging them on with questions or sharing stories. I find it ironic that my biggest flaw (or... endearing quality as I’d like to think of it haha) is speaking too much and here I am without a voice. I’m all ears, but nobody is talking!