Here are some ideas to keep you distracted and entertained:

• Movies are always awesome as long as they don't have subtitles.  Before a surgery, load up on pre-viewed DVDs at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, or Netflix.  Since you're just going for cheap entertainment rather than high quality cinema, just stock up on all those clearance films.  For $4.99 a pop, that's like 4¢ per minute of mindless distraction!

• Soap Operas are ridiculous, but can be unintentionally hilarious at the same time.  My friend works for a soap opera and will testify that the plots of these shows are nuts!  Soap opera characters spend a lot of time in hospitals like we do, but they get waaay better living conditions.  I mean, giant hospital rooms with gorgeous windows overlooking the beach with really hot doctors and nurses and amazing-food?  Hilarious.  Plus, it's really the only thing that's on during the day.

• HULU wasn't around when I was going through RED, but I sure wish it were!  Go to this site to watch a ton of TV shows streaming online for free.  There is literally days worth of media on the site at any given time, with new episodes uploaded every week, so you won't have any shortage of stuff to watch.  Visit: www.hulu.com  

• Magazines are great if you feel like reading, since the pieces are short.  Don't try to read a novel or something, it will only hurt your already-sensitive eyes, and can be pretty hard when you have to look under or over a big bar that sits in your line of vision.

• Books on Tape are the alternative for the bookworm going through RED.  They are a great distraction from the discomfort of recovery, but they take virtually no effort to use.  You can even close your eyes and go to sleep while listening to these.  You can get a lot of these for free by checking them out at the library.