A Visit With John Hancock

Made my first visit to see John, at least, when he was able to respond. I arrived at Room 4012 at Kaiser just as Jan and Steve were leaving. John was lucid and warm: that was a pleasure to see!

John felt uneasy, understandably enough, about being in the hospital. "I don't think this is a very good place for me," he said. I respectfully disagreed, saying that the place would help make him stronger and healthier, and that once his abdominal wound healed, he should start Pilates. At first, John thought I was being facetious, but I wasn't: Pilates was originally designed to strengthen the core muscles of bed-ridden soldiers recovering from wounds in World War I. I said we'd have him balancing on a rubber ball before too long.

Room 4012 is well-designed and pleasant, but the place has a history for me: it is the exact same room where my friend, Brian Forment from Woodland, recovered from abdominal surgery for cancer exactly a year ago. Brian recovered from the surgery, but nevertheless succumbed to the cancer, just last October.

Despite the shadow from the past, John's future in the room is bright: all things being equal, it's much easier to recover from an accident than from cancer.

I hope the hospital staff don't mind the distractions of having theater people there - the dancing girls, the dancing boys, the opera singers: divas aplenty - John must have what John must have!