Saturday, June 16, 2007

Learning to pee the bed

My first night in hospital was spent in emergency on a gurney. They had me on a morphine drip so my leg wasn't bothering me much. The only thing was the peeing, which I hadn't done in 14 hours.

Overcoming 4 decades of training in mattress preservation is not a simple matter. Mind tricks are needed.

One thing that helps is headphones, both to block out physical surroundings and as a focus of attention.

But especially that first night I needed something conrete. I needed familiarity but also engagement. For a while I tried being in my bathroom at home, but I think it was either too boring or not believeable. Eventually I found something that worked.

The gent's at La Hacienda All the male patrons of La Hacienda will know this painting well. If you had to, you could probably remember how many towers there are on the island castle.

Now whenever I go to the gent's at La Hacienda I remember trying to pee into a bottle at the emergency ward.