Better wedding anniversary despite surgery

July 9, 2011 7:04 PM

Back surgery on my wedding anniversary... I'm looking for suggestions to make it a better day for my wife.

My neurosurgeon is fitting me in on Tuesday afternoon for a hurry-up surgery on my back (revision microdiskectomy, for what it's worth). My wife is incredibly worried about my recovery... and the day of the surgery is my 14th wedding anniversary.

I'm forced to be pretty sedentary due to my back (I'm not impaired, but long hikes are out). She's nervous enough that she likes to stay busy (and not think about the whole thing), but probably isn't going to appreciate anything really elaborate.

Does anyone have some suggestions for making the day more positive for my wife?

posted by underflow to Human Relations (4 answers total)

If ever there were an anniversary to chillax, order a great pizza and have a good bottle of wine, this would be the one. Is she expecting a big to-do?
posted by cyndigo at 7:11 PM on July 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: @cyndigo: No, we're pretty low key, most of the time. Simple dinner out, maybe watch a movie, that kind of thing.
posted by underflow at 7:14 PM on July 9, 2011

If it were me I'd want to be with you. But maybe you can arrange for her best friend to take the day off and you can treat them to a movie, a big burger lunch, some shopping, etc., and wife can come join you in time for prep for the surgery. BFF can even drive anxious wife and keep her company while you're in surgery. That's what I'd probably want, if not to be with you all day.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:27 PM on July 9, 2011 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I think it would be very thoughtful to buy her a book that is impossible to put down and not sad at all, for her to enjoy during your surgery. And stick a sweet love letter inside.
posted by acidic at 7:31 PM on July 9, 2011 [15 favorites]