The anger focused on a news topic was good ~ gave him a place to hold onto.
That was a problem with too many surgeries over too short a period with too many different varieties of pain killers. Getting over the pain killers was the battle ~ and quite depressing.
Shouldn't hurt anyone to get a koan in his grasp and devote his or her available (probably limited) resources to it and thereby work his way to health.
BTW, just because they're Buddhists doesn't mean the Zen Buddhists are wrong ~ and maybe a guy could work his way through that philosophy and see what can be improved with the least amount of effort.
A book on the topic that was quite popular was called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".
In these cases I am convinced that those things that work are more useful than those things that don't work.
Thanks for your words of wisdom and for helping others to "get over the net".
A quote from the Tao Te Ching (Chapter 4)
"With patience tangled cord may be undone,
and problems which seem insoluble, resolved.
When untangled by a cutting edge,
the cord in little pieces lies,
and is of little use."
This quote helped me a lot in the initial stages of my recovery. Worthwhile things take time.