Phantoms

I've heard stories of people who have had a limb amputated, and they experience "phantom pain" in the limb that's not there. I suppose when you grow accustomed to something, it's hard to forget its existence.

Today I have been experiencing two types of phantoms due to our week-long hospital stay.

1. Phantom Beeping--The entire time B was in the hospital, he was hooked up to a machine that read his oxygen saturation level, blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate, and some other things that I can't remember. He had five wires taped to him (chest, stomach, and groin) and a very annoying sensor (for the O2) taped to his foot, sometimes his toe. Those things were *always* beeping. Usually unneccesarily. Granted, he'd get worked up and his heart rate would get too high, so it would beep. (Think: 4:30 a.m. blood draws with NOT-Jim.) But most of the time, it was just that the darn things could not pick up what they were supposed to measure so they would beep. And beep. And beep. Especially the oxygen sensor. We'd wiggle it on his foot to try and get it to pick back up. Sometimes it would and sometimes we'd just give up and let it beep. And beep. And beep. It usually happened when we picked Benjamin up, and I obviously picked him up several times a day to feed him. So now, when I pick him up, I sometimes think I hear beeping and I start squeezing his foot. Poor thing's gonna get a complex.

2. Phantom Bracelet--I was washing my arm today in the shower and started to scoot down the bracelet on my arm. You know, the one that isn't there... Wearing a thick plastic bracelet for an entire week without removing it is quite the fashion statement this Fall. Much like the two-shades-of-blue running clothes you've seen out and about.