"4:00am Blues!"

Back in my previous life both growing up with my father who had the belief that if the sun caught you sleeping you would melt right there in your bed, and in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Government, getting up at 4:00am to get dressed and ready for work, I tended to be well accustom to the “morning world”.

Now that I am semi-retired and living the good life down here in Southwest Florida, even me, Gator D, has no real need to meet the day so early that even the frogs are asleep. However, this morning, my routine of sleeping until my bride Sonja rolls over or comes back into the room to wake me up was drastically changed! Today my surgeon required me to wake early so I could arrive at the hospital at 5:30am to go through all the preparatory requirements for a hernia surgery.

Yep, you heard me right! I had to be at the hospital at 5:30am! Geeze, you would think that a hospital at least would be a little more sensitive to the needs of a patient! SLEEP! The most basic of all preparatory tasks, right? SLEEP! REST! These are the things that help you prepare for most anything! Am I right?

So, thanks to Sonja, who is a trooper for ALSO getting up at 4:00am just to make sure that I was prepared before going to the hospital to get prepared, I arose on time, in fact, at 3:59am, to get myself ready. Now, for those of you who are currently in the mode of “raising before the crack of dawn”, I apologize for dramatizing this event, but trust me, one day, hopefully, you too will graduate from the “need” to get up so early and only do it if there is a “want-to” .

I guess what perplexed me the most in this reawakening of my soul so early in the day, is that I realized as I prepared myself per the instructions of the nice lady from the hospital who had called me a few days before to tell me how I was to show up at the hospital, is that I must not be the ONLY one in this endeavor that had to get up at 4:00am.

So, I took my shower and used a anti-bacterial soap (no folks I normally do not use anti-bacterial soap because I am one of those who believe that eating dirt as a kid and smearing snot on the back of our hands instead of using handkerchief helps make us more immune to disease and if we use too much antibacterial anything, we kill our bodies abilities to fight outside influences that may harm our systems), did not put on deodorant, (yes I DO put on deodorant most of the time because Sonja and my friends would not like me much if I did not), wear loose fitting “old man elastic pants” (yes, as an old man I actually have some), a button up shirt, and shoes that I can just slip into (that was an issue because I wear boots for motorcycle riding and Everglades exploration and flip flops to the beach so slip on shoes outside of sandals are not in my closet).

At 5:00 after properly washing all the nooks and crannies in my body (I have 37 of them - I counted) because I wanted to make sure the nurses didn’t find me disgusting, and getting all ready to go, we climbed into our Jeep which sets real high off the ground and headed to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital I did not pass a single civilian that had to get up and go to the hospital this morning. I did see 3 Lee County Sheriff’s Deputies on the roads (they have to wake up early to protect and serve so DON’T EVER TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED!), and saw another public servant, the 7-11 employee that normally makes my coffee every morning (after I have two cups at home). This is another group of people we should never take for granted (and by the way, I could NOT eat or drink after midnight last night not even COFFEE! That was the worst part of the experience!).

Then, we arrived at the hospital where all of a sudden I realized that if I’m going there for surgery, there had to be OTHERS THERE TOO who had to get up early! The receptionist at the desk checked us in, an administrator took my health care card and money and made sure that no one in the process mistook me for Mrs. Nussbaum, and the wonderful nurses that prepared me for surgery (and man, was it nice to see nurses not dressed all in WHITE! They were styling!). There was the anesthesiologist, and the surgeon (Doctor Jeffery Lewis, a wonderful man), and then the recovery nurses (only remember one of them ‘cause I was recovering and still a little groggy from that wonderful elixir they fed me just prior to me going lala!). Then on the way out of hospital I saw all kinds of other employees of the healthcare system running around and attending to people just like me, civilians who normally would not start their day as early. However, they did, making sure my day was the best it could be!

So, here is the deal! I got cut on by the Doc today, not something I really wanted to do but I had to in order to live the kind of life I want to live, moving, exploring, going on my safaris in the Everglades and helping people enjoy their vacations and South Florida adventures! But with that said, I want to just say, what a great experience and what a great group of people who have dedicated their lives to serving folks like me who need help. I include all those above mentioned and I do not neglect my wife in that group either because she certainly made this day a pleasant experience.

My only regret is that tomorrow I know there is an Everglades Adventure leaving Ft. Myers Beach and I will not be on it! I’ve got to be a good boy and stay home to fully recover! HOWEVER, there is always Wednesday!

So, 4:00am is not so bad, every once in awhile, when you really need it. And frankly, I think it would be good to wake at 4:00am some morning and head out to my bay and see my wildlife friends then. My guess is that they are alright with it!

For now, I am gonna bid you farewell and hope that this day brings you some special blessings! Gator D has got to walk and move and try and work out the cobwebs of the stuff they put in me to keep me from crying like a baby girl! SEE YOU LATER, ALLIGATOR!