A Year of Making Art: Day 23

May 12, 2007 Day 23

I'm going to live!  Naturally I feared the worst when I went to the urologist yesterday, and sensing my nervousness, Adrian came along to keep me company.  "If I throw up or something from the pain," I said, "you can drive me home."

The nurse's description was pretty scary:  most women, she said, report that it feels like someone pinching the flesh on your arm.  I couldn't actually imagine how that would feel "down there" in my urethra.  My sister Laura and I always kid about how Mom would refer to any aspect of the female reproductive system as "down there."

In any case, the nurse continued her description by pointing out that in some cases, the procedure would be much more painful:  if the urethra was narrowed or had scar tissue.  Then she left me for thirty minutes lying on the table with my legs spread open to contemplate which levels of pain I might experience.

What if I can't stand it and scream out, I thought.

What if it hurts so bad that I can't lie still?  Will they have someone hold me down?

I was one of the lucky ones--three minutes of "discomfort" (I wouldn't describe it as a pinched arm, myself, but now my arm is black and blue from pinching it to see how that felt.)  And best of all, a report that bladder and urethra are fine.

I felt light and airy the rest of the day.

Maybe that's why I used pinks and purples to draw with today, making a valentine to someone, the urologist, perhaps?

  Drawing #22, 11" x 14"

After that, I continued work on canvas #7, adding lines of various colors.

  Canvas #7

Then, having only one blank canvas left, I started the first layer of background.

  Canvas #9

Tomorrow Blixy and the kids (Mike, 11, and Rachel, 8) are coming for breakfast, so I'd better get up early to make my drawing.

(Note:  There is a gap between the dates I'm writing and posting because I had to give myself time to get ahead in case we travel and I'm not able to post.)