Nellie Bly: How’s Atlanta?
PaperGirl: The Quilting LIVE! show is fantastic. Lots of quilters, beautiful quilts, classes — it’s a great show. We did a luncheon event today where I had the pleasure of interviewing my mother and Liz Porter while attendees enjoyed salads and pecan pie — it was kind of a phenomenal event, honestly. Very inspiring, very entertaining. Mom and Liz are amazing. Later, I sold a ton of books at my book signing and there’s another signing tomorrow. So yeah, it’s been good.
NB: (Pause.) I understand that you had a setback.
PG: (Pause.) Correct.
NB: You went to the ER?
PG: Yeah.
NB: In Atlanta?
PG: Yeah.
NB: When? What happened?
PG: I was struggling pretty bad Wednesday but pushed through. At about 3:15am, I couldn’t catch my breath, the pain was so intense. I decided to drive myself to the hospital.
NG: You rented a car.
PG: Yes, and I’m very glad I did when I arrived here. It came in handy.
NB: The pain you were experiencing was related to complications from your illness. Do you want to elaborate on what was going on?
PG: Not particularly. It’s all so unpleasant. I can tell you that I’ve had these issues before and I know when to say “uncle.” Wednesday night — Thursday morning, actually — was as bad as it’s been. I said uncle.
NB: Did you find relief at the hospital? Were they able to help you?
PG: I had better care at Bellevue. It’s hard to be at a hospital in a town far away, on your own. It’s hard to advocate for yourself in the system, you know? And if you’re in excruciating pain, it’s worse. Look, I’ll spare you the details, Nellie. I had a pretty awful nurse. She was…unresponsive. Very cold. The doctor tried order a CT scan, which was absurd. They always want to to a CT scan but 9 times out of 10, you don’t need one. That’s my very unprofessional opinion, but I’ve been around the hospital block enough to know. Anyway, they gave me enough Tylenol 9000 or whatever to crest the worst of it. I returned to my hotel room and got about two hours of sleep before I had to teach my class at 8:30am.
NB: Yikes. Maybe you should’ve cancelled class and rested. You have to take care of your health.
PG: Oh, I thought about cancelling the day, sure. But I weighed the options. Option 1 was to be in pain but push through and grit my teeth and make it work. Option 2 was to languish, feel depressed, still be in pain and miss the committments I had made and let people down, etc. Option 2 seemed worse, so… I went with Option 1. My students were so wonderful I had a great class, actually, and I just sorta made myself stay upright.
NB: How do you feel now?
PG: Better! I got a really good night’s sleep last night. That helps a lot. Thanks for asking.
NB: When do you go home?
PG: I go back to New York tomorrow for about 36 hours. Then I fly to Iowa for the first week of TV. Mom and I go to South Carolina over the weekend for a Quilts of Valor event. Then we come back for the second week of TV in Iowa. Then I go down to the Panhandle for another 3-day event.
NB: Hm. Are you su–
PG: Option 1, Bly. Option 1.
NB: I’d like to ask you ab–
PG: I’m pretty tired. No offense. But it’s been a very long couple of days and, uh, I’m gonna hit the hay.
NB: Of course. Good to talk to you.
[END]
Leave a Reply