Feeling connected

I didn't realize how much I feel tethered to family and friends with my iPhone until I didn't have it until Wednesday evening after my surgery.  My sister and nephew brought it up and I breathed a sigh of relief.  I had tunes; I had text messaging to my daughter; I had email; I could read BOOKS.   

My fingers were still swollen and stiff with fluid making it awkward to use the keyboard but not impossible if I held it in landscape mode and swiping thru books was easy.  My sister had brought my iPad too but I had her take it back home as it was too heavy for me to hold for long periods.  Fortunately, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center had a guest WIFI network so I was in business and connected again.

There was a TV in the room that I could have used for a small daily fee but I never turned it on.  I had NetNewsWire to get news and I was glad that in the cooler medium of print I could read about the tragedy as it unfolded in Japan.  As it was, even reading about it was upsetting enough and invaded my dreams, which was not conducive to getting healed.

My only complaint about using the iPhone in the hospital was that the cord for recharging was really just six inches too short.  As the battery got low, I could have the staff scoot the reclining chair back sufficiently to go on reading but that didn't work for the hospital bed.  I am sure I could have purchased a longer one if I had thought of it ahead of time, but I didn't.