tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592022338491181192024-02-19T00:33:02.647-08:00Running With Safety ScissorsJust another annoying blog! I have nothing to say but I plan on saying it anyway, in as many words as possible.nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-13112127700522964762013-12-31T05:34:00.002-08:002013-12-31T05:34:51.975-08:00Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot? <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Okay, I apologize about the fact I haven’t written anything
in over ten months. I would like to say that I haven’t had anything meaningful
to write about but that would not quite be the truth. Let’s face it, I never
write about anything meaning and this submission just reaffirms my goal to
waste your time when you actually be watching cute cat videos on YouTube. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Any of my tens of followers will know I am a bit of a
Holiday Freak. Today I’d like to deal with what is not exactly a holiday, New
Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve or for those people too lazy or way too busy to
write out all eleven letters, NYE, has never been one of my favourite times to
celebrate but I did have few that went well and not so well. I am now going to share these with
you along with a few notes about how my typical December 31’s went.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypyoHO_2eBjNW1VrxaGu5bWwDI8LFugGUBL-FDviuGzWGdnaugsIZ-2uxVzuQi5hq6yeazLS1vt-GJlMkpDHCZzTvm2zkm6TZAFy_kwwXLoKnLi_oUj8ncsPXtxsgLjXkAhUOZy1O-5N4/s1600/NYE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypyoHO_2eBjNW1VrxaGu5bWwDI8LFugGUBL-FDviuGzWGdnaugsIZ-2uxVzuQi5hq6yeazLS1vt-GJlMkpDHCZzTvm2zkm6TZAFy_kwwXLoKnLi_oUj8ncsPXtxsgLjXkAhUOZy1O-5N4/s200/NYE.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And rather than start from the beginning we will begin with
2012/2013. Last New Year’s Eve was a bit out of the ordinary. It was actually
one of the most enjoyable I had experienced in quite a few years. After all, I
spent the evening in a bed watching the Time Square Ball drop sipping champagne
in the company of a very attractive and intelligent woman and then interacting
with another beautiful woman after the first one wandered off into the night.
Hey, I am not lying. This is the Interwebby Thingamajig and there are rules
about posting lies on the Interwebby Thingamajig. Hey, you can look it up! In
fact, check out <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2013/01/how-i-spent-my-fall-vacation-episode.htm" target="_blank">Episode 62 of "How I Spent My Fall Vacation</a>". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I once tried the overpriced packaged night club experience.
It was way back in ancient history when I was still with <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/10/version-30looking-forward.html" target="_blank">Version 1.0</a>. Along
with two other couples, we went one of the first multi-room themed
nightclub/restaurants in Vancouver. The package included dinner, party favours
(read: cheap paper horn and hat) and champagne (read: something extremely cheap
and vile) at midnight. Because they wanted to keep you around buying their beverages
for as long as possible dinner was served quite early at seven or eight. By the
time midnight rolled around you were so bored that the next phrase out your
mouth after “Happy New Year” was “Can we go home now?” My advice to anyone
considering this option is save your money; go out for dinner at a great
establishment the next weekend or so and maybe even go to club to dance if
desired. (Note: avoid waiting more than a few weeks because then you run into
Valentine’s Day and that’s another story altogether.) You will even have enough
money left over to purchase a bottle of bubbly that doesn’t taste like mouldy
soda pop. Besides you may have a better chance of getting "some" on another day. I guarantee on New Year's at least one of you will be having a meaningful conversation with Ralph and vomit has never been listed as a major aphrodisiac. Hee hee! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not all my other New Year’s Eve party experiences have been
disastrous. I have attended a few enjoyable house parties particularly during
my “Tween years” as in “between marriages”. The most memorable of these was a
weekend at Whistler where at least thirty of us managed to cram ourselves in to
a townhouse with people sleeping everywhere including the heated garage. (At
this point I should offer this advice to anyone considering sleeping in a
garage. Make sure you are the one with door opener. Hee hee!) The actual party
spilled out into the village square where the people in all the restaurants and
clubs got to watch everyone having so much more fun and we were doing it all
for free. I believe the following year the powers that be put a stop to revelry
in the square because after the clubs need to sell those overpriced packages
with the cheap champagne and paper hats. However New Year’s Day was not so
pleasant<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and not because I was hungover
because hangovers actually require sobriety. I went up the mountain for one of
my first experiences skiing. Within the first hour I managed to get stuck on a
chairlift for over two hours. It may not have been so bad if I stuck on the
chair with a Pretty Young Thing and if it wasn’t snowing and the wind wasn’t
blowing. But alas, that was not to be. Hey, it wasn’t all bad; they gave
everyone a five dollar food voucher which at the inflated resort prices would
have allowed me to get a half slice of cheese on my burger if only I could have
afforded the burger in the first place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZe3rsSG9iy06ScwY3FCr4qnMTa5uNhjQNAGZv4-aBf7aTBPOv7ERxlVLVCSuc0AUjHnJTg_VX2hlio2MPax6gUXAClAH5FXaxy9fYoUYN3Pi3WxRqUXUidqVJu1RENFrk1jJQ6kORa3a/s1600/Sharon+&+Eric+831231+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZe3rsSG9iy06ScwY3FCr4qnMTa5uNhjQNAGZv4-aBf7aTBPOv7ERxlVLVCSuc0AUjHnJTg_VX2hlio2MPax6gUXAClAH5FXaxy9fYoUYN3Pi3WxRqUXUidqVJu1RENFrk1jJQ6kORa3a/s200/Sharon+&+Eric+831231+1.jpg" width="125" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During this string of “Last Nights” I even managed to attend
a wedding. The fun part of that was it </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">took place at 8:30 AM. Who in their
right mind gets married at 8:30 AM? But then again what moron would be drinking
champagne in the Bloedel Conservatory parking at 9:00 AM after the ceremony?
Let’s just say any further details about that New Year’s Eve are a little bit
blurry. ;-)</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the best things about social media is that over the
past few years, I have managed to reconnect with several of the players from
these Tween years including the aforementioned bride who was kind enough to
bring me a Christmas care package while I was in the hospital last winter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">During the time I was living with Lorraine (Version 2.0),
more often than not I worked at the Coliseum or some other venue on the grounds
and even once at BC Place in 2000 for a Kiss concert. Lorraine never minded
missing out on celebrations because she liked her sleep and I was usually being
paid double time. Because of this the first kiss I received most years was
usually from a co-worker or some random overly exuberant young guest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of those events were not so pleasant. I
can remember coming home one night and the radiator cap blowing off so I had to
leave the car parked illegally on the hill below our condo only to discover in
the morning someone had managed to sideswipe our Toyota. Luckily, the dude that
did it wasn’t a rocket scientist and he parked his bright yellow pickup truck
around the corner. The worst actual event was one year when it seemed that
everyone wanted to fight. My partner and I got the fun job of escorting the
bleeders to First Aid. My shirt had to burned after that one.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeYd3qt1mCOSFLOPk1Q6vI6r6uiIks32UVS935xpNc0MneWpBDTeXXgzx3wgsDbZt2h6Gi_Rgv_lgEtWiSOmJgPYiur9QSNz7lvjFkEOEBUadVfEFzS-Q4RCcBxyftEdzCcg4vWV1_MyQ/s1600/2014-Happy-New-Year-Wallpaper-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeYd3qt1mCOSFLOPk1Q6vI6r6uiIks32UVS935xpNc0MneWpBDTeXXgzx3wgsDbZt2h6Gi_Rgv_lgEtWiSOmJgPYiur9QSNz7lvjFkEOEBUadVfEFzS-Q4RCcBxyftEdzCcg4vWV1_MyQ/s200/2014-Happy-New-Year-Wallpaper-4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tonight I will only be working until early evening so I will
be ringing in the New Year on my living room couch and may even cheat and ring
in the Eastern Time Zone New Year so I can hit the sack early so I can get up
and enjoy an orgy of College Football Bowl Games tomorrow morning. But then I
wouldn’t object if a mysterious woman shows up at my door with a bottle of
champagne again. That would be <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/10/other-n-word.html" target="_blank">n***</a> too. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oh and the answer to the title question – Sometimes it’s not
always bad thing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thank you and enjoy the rest of the day here in the Magic
Kingdom...Oh crap, wrong theme park. ;-)</span></div>
</div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-30073217446016174332013-02-28T18:31:00.000-08:002013-02-28T18:31:31.626-08:00How I Spent My "Fall" Vacation - Epilogue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdC9s0rvPIAzODkIrRlnhg_DN29UVqepHYaaC4wr7CF7U-DyZKoPLw3BxJ_PeCV5hrZSL6Lg67LvxtefHK3J8bVMSVJ6cXwLTGiginkfU0CJzTopJzVkCOVXLmASWxSh978AaUpCFqX0O/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdC9s0rvPIAzODkIrRlnhg_DN29UVqepHYaaC4wr7CF7U-DyZKoPLw3BxJ_PeCV5hrZSL6Lg67LvxtefHK3J8bVMSVJ6cXwLTGiginkfU0CJzTopJzVkCOVXLmASWxSh978AaUpCFqX0O/s200/009.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then what happened?...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning, March 1, four months after my injury.
I will be returning to work.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think would be a good time to put *How I Spent
My “Fall” Vacation* finally to rest and tell you about my return home and the
progress I have made in my recovery.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Going back to <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2013/01/how-i-spent-my-fall-vacation-episode-73.html" target="_blank">Episode 73</a>, you all know I checked
out of the hospital and arrived home at my townhouse on the afternoon of January
11.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aided by my wonderful neighbours, Pam and Dennis,
we were able to set up my bathroom with aids that I would be required for my
day to day living. When I say “aided” I really mean they did all the work while
I hobbled around the house.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After they left, it was time for me to take a
shower in my own home, in my own bathroom. This was the only time I used the
bath seat I had purchased as an actual chair. I discovered the hardest part was
getting back up from the seat. After that I found it was easier just to stand
in the shower and used the back of the chair as a bit of a support. I made a
point of using all the hot water in the tank in that first shower. It was the
first time in over three months that I felt almost clean. It would take a
couple of more days for my hair to get that soft and squeaky clean feeling back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the shower, it was time for dinner. I had
now escaped the disgusting hospital menu and the tyranny of hospital dietician.
What did I do? I ordered a pizza, of course! It was extraordinarily delicious
that day. I vowed that for today nothing existed and my recovery would begin
tomorrow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may remember that two of my immediate goals
upon release were get the mop on the top of my head under control and to get
the claws growing at the end of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my feet
back to normal. I made an appointment for Tuesday for the hair and my dear friend,
Allana, hauled me off to her aesthetician for a mani/pedi the following Sunday.
I finally felt <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MetM68Lr9U8" target="_blank">human again</a> with my short cropped locks and pink, sparkly nails. BTW - Tanya, thanks for the offer! :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My recovery and rebuilding could be split up into
three separate components; physical, mental and emotional.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The physical component is the easiest to deal
with. The biggest hurdle I had is that there are thirteen steps leading from
the main floor of the townhouse to my bedroom and bathroom and the same number
from the main floor to the basement and laundry room. To start with, I always
required my cane and the hand rail; taking one stair at a time moving my left
foot up then bringing my right up to the same stair and using the opposite
going down. I’m still using this slow method most of the time although I rarely
use the cane. Also, carrying anything was extremely difficult. I could only
take a small weight each trip; carrying it in a small shopping bag. This has
gotten a lot easier now because I have at least one free hand especially going
upstairs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One ordeal I still have is getting my laundry
baskets up and down the stairs. Luckily, I have more than most other straight
guys have even though there are an inordinate number of pink and purple golf
shirts. At least this means I don’t have to do laundry that frequently.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other most difficult thing I have had to
conquer is getting up from a seated position. I overcame this originally by
stealing the cushion from one armchair and doubling it up on the other as well
I had three throw cushions stacked up on my dining room chairs. Getting up from
the bed was a little easier because the mattress already sits high but I originally
required the cane as a brace. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of braces, I threw the left leg brace in
the closet the day I got home and have not worn the right brace at all for at
least two weeks. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I still use my cane when I am walking any
distances outside and it comes in handy as a sympathy tool. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am still going back to the hospital as an
outpatient for physiotherapy twice a week where, Leslie, my physio beats me up
pretty good each day and each day I can do more. My left knee is almost at
fighting strength while my right still has quite a way to go. The highlight
last week was when Leslie got me on the mini-trampoline and had me jogging on
the spot. This brought me joy because it gives me hope that I will be able to
run again. This is important to me because running the trails below my house
clears my head and I get best writing ideas cruising along side the creek. This
is good news (or maybe it’s bad news) for you my loyal readers because I will
find more things to blog about.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of my lower body rehab, I’m going to have a
few other health issues to deal with now that I’m out. I lost a lot of weight
while inside and I will have to continue my struggle to keep it off and burn a
few more pounds off as well. I will now have to also work on keeping my blood
sugar under control with the aid of exercise, diet and medication. The third
issue is a little more complex. It was discovered while in the hospital is that
I have a vitamin B12 deficiency and could lead to anemia. I’m treating this
right now with supplements and may eventually be forced to eat more beef. This
does not get me that excited because beef and I don’t get along that well. I’d
rather have a slab of salmon than a juicy steak.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The mental component struck me shortly after getting
out of the shower when I saw the huge pile of mail sitting on the dining room
table and realizing the place had needed a thorough cleaning even before I went
into the hospital. There were also all kinds of regular maintenance that needed
to be done around the house. I spent a lot of time tossing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and turning in bed that first night thinking
about all the things that needed to be done. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Waking up the next morning, I realized that I
would just have to take everything in baby steps doing just a little bit at a
time. This was the same approach I was taking physically. Once I realized that my
anxiety levels dropped quickly. I worked at dealing with all the paperwork a
few minutes per hour and then resting rather than tackling it all at once. I
took this approach with cleaning up the place as well. There is still a lot of
work to do around but I’ve now taken the attitude of looking after myself first
and worry about the house later.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One big mental block that has come up and still
occurs is the idea of standing up. As I said before this is one of the most
difficult physical things I have to do. There is also a mental component because
every time I get ready to stand up I know there is going to be some pain so
sometimes I have position myself and then I will think about what I’m going to
do for several seconds and occasionally it will run in to minutes. I’m still
having some of these difficulties. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The emotional component has become a little more
complicated. Several of you know that awhile back, someone special had walked
into my life or rather limped into my life. (Actually you could even say she
rolled in if you include the gurney she arrived on into room 621) This would
have been the purveyor of the “...er...um...sparkling apple juice” on New Year’s
Eve that I told you about in <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2013/01/how-i-spent-my-fall-vacation-episode.html" target="_blank">episode 62</a>. She was there to understand and share
all those simple small victories and feel the pain from the setbacks as well.
She made the tough seven weeks that I had been home so much easier to deal with
and she had made me happier than I had been in many years. The storybook ending
would have been her becoming <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/10/version-30looking-forward.html" target="_blank">Version 3.0</a> and we ride off into the sunset. Sadly, the “happily
ever after” isn’t there at least for now. She felt that she had some emotional
healing to do on her own and that I wouldn’t be able to help her along the way.
I cannot bear her any ill will because she is a beautiful woman inside and out
and she made me extremely happy for that tiny sliver of my life. I can only
hope she can resolve her issues and she finds peace. Perhaps she’ll realize her
happiness was right in front of her all along and that would be <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/10/other-n-word.html" target="_blank">n***.</a>
Regardless, I know she knows at least she will always have a loving friend in
me. Thank you, C, for a few weeks of happiness; you will always own a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJb7cBfrxbo" target="_blank">piece of my heart</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you and enjoy the rest of the day here in
the Magic Kingdom...Oh crap, wrong theme park! ;-)</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-79288378523347094622013-01-11T14:01:00.000-08:002013-01-11T14:01:10.609-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 73<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Episode 73 –
January 11</b> - I have almost run out of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>things to write about and even things to repeat writing for the fifth or
sixth time so today I thought I’d start with something different.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First I would like to send my thoughts and prayers
out to Sergio’s family, friends and co-workers who succumbed to cancer last
month. I was perhaps a bit harsh on him when he was my nurse but he probably
should not have tried to return to work when he did. I was shocked to hear how
he was actually a few years younger than me. The disease had obviously made him
appear so much older.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to thank all the nurses on 6 West
especially Denise, Layla, Esther and Kevin. All the nurses on 5 East especially
Katha, Via and Maria. All my physios, Jennifer, Adrienne, Lisa (x2), Leanne and
Amanda. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to Dr. Dana Haaf for his support and
even thanks to Dr.McConkey because even if he lacked bedside skills he did a
great job putting the big guy back together. And Dr. Brown the
anaesthesiologist for administering the right combination of goodies the ease
me through the surgery.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to everyone who dropped in to visit and
or call. With very special thanks to Pam, Dennis and Bryan (aka the Crown
Prince). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My three worst days here were October 31 the day
of my injury, November 2 when i had the anxiety attack just before surgery and
December 19 when they moved me into 623 and I had my worst anxiety attack.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favourite three days in chronological order
were December 21 when I first walked, New Year’s Eve <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2013/01/how-i-spent-my-fall-vacation-episode.html" target="_blank">(see Episode 62)</a> to figure
out why and the third would be ...um...did I happen to mention I am posting
this from home. :-)</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-90688018567876109042013-01-11T09:18:00.001-08:002013-01-11T13:47:41.029-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 72
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Episode 72
– January 10</b> – Last night’s sleep was not my greatest, I kept waking and
having to shift my legs because they were a bit stiff.<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
This morning started off quite well. Both nurses
on the floor, Maria and Via were excited to come in and tell me that Dr.
McConkey had given the okay to weight bear with the braces off. I won’t the
real significance of this until I’m done with the physios today. I still think
I may need to wear the right one and use a cane for a bit. However, I did
celebrate by walking into the bathroom to brush my teeth sans any braces or
walking aids then taking a quick lap around the unit with the walker and
no<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>braces. I felt naked and cold but
damn good. It was another silly grin type of walk.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
The braces are the answer to Leslie and Lorraine’s
reason for questioning my sanity the other day about exercising at 5:30 AM. If
I have to strap on the frigging things to get up and pee, I may as well
accomplish a few more things while I’m tied up. Now questioning my sanity for a
whole bunch of other things would be completely justified. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
I have turned my trusty reacher over to my roomie,
Dale. I don’t really need one anymore especially when I don’t have to worry
about standing up to get things on the other side of the room. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
Dale is a couple of years older than me but like
me, he also lost his wife to cancer about five years ago. He’s lead an
interesting life working as a set carpenter on several major film productions
including Romeo and Juliet in Mexico City. He’s only been here at the hospital
for five weeks now but I can see his stay eventually being longer than mine in
total but at least most of it will be spent on the rehab unit. He developed an
abscess on his upper spine after lifting a heavy box on set. Many of his
symptoms mimic those of a quadriplegic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>but he is now able to stand and walk using a standard frame walker but
still has a lot of numbness in his lower body. His ultimate prognosis is a lot
more questionable than mine. That is one more reason I saying there are so many
people out there much worse off than me. I will likely have some permanent
damage but not enough to restrict me from doing most things. Dale will likely
also inherit my window seat when I leave if his doctor gets her way just for
his mental well being. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
My physio, Leanne, came in and she tested me out
without the braces in the room and there was no problem. We then went
downstairs to work more on the stairs. This time we worked with the braces and
a cane and again all went well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
It was great just being able to walk into the
dining room at lunch time with bare legs although I did have to use the walker.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
My afternoon physio session consisted of working more
stairs with just a cane and the brace on my right leg. We were working on the
regular hospital stairs going up<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
down a flight of eleven stairs with Leanne and another physio, Deborah,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>following me up and then walking backwards
with their hands as I came down the stairs. At the bottom we had to rest <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mainly because neither of them could stop
laughing when I asked “ just what do you guys plan on doing if I fall
forward?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I’m going to have a soft
landing.” Everything went well; so I’m allowed to either walk around the unit
with either bare legs and the walker or the cane and one brace. I’ll be opting
for the cane because that’s what I’ll be doing at home. In the room, I can walk
bare legged with the cane. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
So another routine close to an evening with Rachel
and the little blue pill.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
Too be continued...</div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-52401942113074498232013-01-10T09:25:00.002-08:002013-01-10T19:03:15.182-08:00How I Spent My "Fall" Vacation - Episode 71
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 71 – January 9</strong> – Well today begins the
eleventh week of my involuntary vacation and the beginning of week number 2 in
the rehab unit. I’m still waiting to hear from the moron, Dr. McConkey.
Apparently the concept of dealing directly with his patients is beneath him.
Everyone knows that a doctor knows more about your body than you after all they
went to school for a bunch of years. Some of them seem to think that those
extra years of memorizing textbooks gives them a deity status.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have Maria again as our nurse and she’s great
but a little hard to understand when speaks fast.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s the charge nurse today, Kathleen, I can’t
stand. She’s only here part time and I believe she’s semi-retired. She is a
total bitch and needs to go completely. When you hear the phrases “I liked it
better when...” and “The changed the format...” you know you don’t belong. I
wanted to tell that I was still pissed that Plymouths no longer have tail fins
either. Then she chastised two staff members for not staggering their breaks
and she had to do some work while they were gone. That would be her job to make
sure breaks are organized. Okay lady, you’re a lousy manager, a miserable
person so get the eff out! I will give her credit she is very good at the front
desk talking about her grandchildren.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first physio session went great. Rather than
wheel me down; Amanda asked if I wanted to try walking down. (Via elevator of
course). We started off with a few warm up exercises on the stairs before
actually walking up and down the stairs using only one handrail which simulates
the condition at home. Then we moved across the hall to do more quad work on
the shuttle machine. And the best part of this is that my favourite ex-cellmate
and new found friend, Cheryl got to witness all this. Cheryl was there for her
outpatient therapy. Sorry, Cheryl I forgot to bring to bring
the...er...um...sparkling apple juice. But don’t worry there will be many other
chances. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I doubled down on great friends today. When I got
back to the room, my former classmate, Janice was waiting with a big bowl of
homemade soup. It was delicious and filling. The only bad thing about it, I
missed out on the tuna sandwich from my usual lunch. Damn, I may have to wait a
whole two or three days until they bring us another one. Janice also
volunteered to put her old lifeguard skills and help out with some water
therapy at one of the local pools. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amanda put me through a good workout in my
afternoon first on the bike, then the shuttle and finally more stairs. For the
first time I was actually tired by the time I was back in the room. As a reward
for abusing me I shared with her my not-so-vast knowledge of Palm Springs
recommending at least one restaurant and a few other things. Like me, PS was
not on her radar until someone offered her husband use of their condo in La
Quinta next month. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of travel, I figured I’d ask my nurse,
Maria, about Columbia, because I was originally thinking about going to
Cartagena. Good thing I didn’t book early for once. She sang high praises about
the area. It has both the natural beauty of the Caribbean and a lot of history.
I did as her what part of the country and she said Calli and by coincidence the
care aide working today, Karen was from Medellin. I would likely leave both
those cities off my itinerary. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully, I will have enough time between being
reasonably fit enough to get around and having to return to work for a little
getaway to recharge the batteries. I immediately ruled San Francisco or Vegas
as destinations at this time because my knees would hate me if I sentenced them
to those hills in SF and I know I wouldn’t be able to relax enough in Las
Vegas. A week or two by the pool in Mexico or even Palm Springs may be in the
offing. We shall see.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other day, Dale and I made a pact regarding
meals, if the dinner fairy appeared while one of us was out of the room we’d
order for each other. Simple rule: everything trumps the fish, order chicken
only when fish is the other option and jump all over the salmon whenever it’s
available. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. McConkey finally resurfaced at dinner time and
I impressed him when I stood up in the dining room and stood and talked to him
without any support. It looks like he’s going to let the physios work me without
the braces and possibly lose the left brace altogether. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As per custom my night was capped with Rachel
Maddow, a orange and one of Pam’s delightful chocolate goodies and a dash of
Zopiclone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-59567739578457773682013-01-09T19:01:00.000-08:002013-01-09T19:01:01.356-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 70<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtlTfCvKGwMGovLsKI5YmqTkHOiu8dyhJGZ7FPhEs8qlXecnQk6J07GKYfOns0vjgUTuRd2CWxZENp2VYO_ExLtpf6Qj_tcLx_V__skz2U2XGJych17WAq26ojf1B9JeE2n3dxRO_WbXz/s1600/Coliseum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtlTfCvKGwMGovLsKI5YmqTkHOiu8dyhJGZ7FPhEs8qlXecnQk6J07GKYfOns0vjgUTuRd2CWxZENp2VYO_ExLtpf6Qj_tcLx_V__skz2U2XGJych17WAq26ojf1B9JeE2n3dxRO_WbXz/s200/Coliseum.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <strong>Episode 70 – January 8</strong> – Today is the 45<sup>th</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>anniversary of the opening of the Pacific
Coliseum. Growing up a block away, I watched this ultra-modern grow up each day
as it was being built and I’ve spent <a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2011/04/100-or-is-it-101-or-is-it-55-or-is-34.html" target="_blank">36 years working in this building</a>. When it
was less than 30 years some “very wise men” particularly in the sports writing
field deemed this building to be old and obsolete and a bigger and shinier new
arena. I guess none of these “wise men” had ever been to Europe. How many of
you live in a house built over 30 years ago and find it old and obsolete? Does
anybody see the irony in the fact that this obsolete building was completed in
1968 and the newest secondary school in Vancouver was built in 1962.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By coincidence, my friend, Nancy, posted a report
today on FB about the new arena being built in Lincoln, Nebraska which her
husband is helping construct working on the high steel. I am happy for Lincoln
and even happier that this is a union project. Nancy, Shane would be proud that
the bridge I take to work every day is named in honour of his union brothers
who perished during its construction, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing" target="_blank">The Ironworkers Memorial Bridge</a>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday, I opened by speaking of focusing on two
things. The first being the Notre Dame football game which turned out to be a
disappointment but I was still happy for the team; they made all Irish fans
proud for a remarkable season with only a small blemish on its record. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other focal point of my day was making
progress on the stairs. If you read my journal yesterday you would know I
wasn’t too pleased with that either. I didn’t feel much more confident this
morning when I found one of the physios on the floor was off sick.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had another tantrum that began with the OT, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bringing in what they called a heavy duty
commode/shower chair that was huge. Any first year physics student could tell you
that it was actually structurally less sound than the regular weight unit which
by the way worked fine when I had my shower on Sunday. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically, it reminded me of the bridge
collapse I was referring ti above. She made the error that they were just
trying to be cautious and then went into the “if you lived on one floor”
bullshit that I’d be out of here. It’s the stairs in your townhouse that are
the problem. This is when I went ballistic. They weren’t even challenging me.
How could they know if I can or cannot do stairs without even trying? I still
want to talk to that idiot surgeon. If he doesn’t want to cooperate sign
himself off the case and assign someone that knows something about patient care
rather than just anatomy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I even implied if something isn’t done soon, I would
be walking out of here on my own because I would be getting the same treatment or
more at home. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well the squeaky wheel does get the grease. Sabina
talked to the physio, Amanda, and because of it Amanda agreed to try me out on
the shallow stair set they have in the outpatient clinic. Well, I tried it out
with no problem up and down several times. She then asked me if I wanted to try
the set of regular stairs today and I did and conquered those just as easily.
The only problem I had was remembering rather than alternating feet I have to
take one step at a time. Left leading going up and right leading going down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second physio session in the afternoon built
upon this morning’s session doing more quad strengthening exercises and more
stairs. We ignored the low stairs and went straight to the regular ones. Amanda
did want to try walking without the braces but the idiot...er...I mean surgeon
had specific instructions on the chart that the braces must be on when weight
bearing and the effing clown is nowhere to be found. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One problem with the rehab unit is it is obviously
meant as a stopping off place for elderly patients before moving to or back to
an independent care facility and not really geared for relatively healthy
people my age. Dale and I are the only patients under 80. Believe me there is
nothing therapeutic about eating your meals with a room full of elderly sick
people. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joanne was my night again. And I had to laugh when
she heard who my surgeon was and said “I met Dr. McConkey when I was working
downstairs and I have to say I liked his father better.” She had worked with
the senior McConkey at UBC Hospital. The elder surgeon started the UBC Sports
Medicine Clinic along with Jack Taunton and Doug Clement. I have never met his
father but I already like him better.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a standard finish to evening, a fist full
of delicious pills, an orange, a chocolate goodie while watching the Big Bang
Theory and Rachel Maddow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued... </span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-41720660180273122162013-01-08T19:03:00.000-08:002013-01-08T19:03:16.542-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 69<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Episode 69 – January 7 – My mind today was focused
on two things, the Notre Dame – Alabama Championship Game and the desire to
attack the stairs. The first could bring some temporary joy and the second
absolute ecstacy.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night’s sleep was the same as the night
before but I was much more alert in the morning and I was up doing my exercises
at 5:30. Of course, if I hadn’t made another decision based on pride over
convenience, I may have been able to sleep a little longer. I have decided to
forgo the urinal bottle altogether even if it means tying myself into the
braces in the middle of the night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Katha is back is as my day nurse and she’s always
fun. The thing is that on this unit, your nurse isn’t as critical on this unit
where you are no longer totally dependent on them. I can do most things for
myself. However, they still get cranky when I help myself to the meds cabinet.
Nurses can be so picky!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fatport, the wireless provider for the hospital
was still working on correcting my billing issue but they have provided me with
another access code so I can maintain my online presence while they correct it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first physio session was scheduled for 11 but
</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZz0J65kb14" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amanda</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was running late but at least I was informed of the situation. The
problem is that I have to suit up with my braces then sit and wait. This is a
lot like when you get dressed up for dinner and then you end up sitting waiting
for your partner to finish getting ready. It always seems like hours. She
arrived at 11:30 and took me downstairs to the main physio department where we
basically repeated a lot of the exercises we worked on last Friday with Leanne
on the parallel bars with a few more repetitions. She showed up for my 2 PM
session and did more of the same plus some work on the shuttle machine where I
did some horizontal squats. I keep asking to take to the next level but we keep
going over the stuff I can do already. At this rate I’m never getting out of
here. Let’s kick it up a notch. Hopefully I got my message through to Amanda.
Stop babying me and start challenging me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The options today for lunch were a chicken salad
sandwich or meatloaf. I chose the meatloaf. Well, when I lifted the cover I
couldn’t believe the amount. There were two huge slices of meatloaf and two
mountains of mashed potatoes. The old guy, sitting beside me, eyes just about
popped out of his head. There wasn’t a square centimetre of empty plate. On top
of that they sent up two salads. However, they did send up another packet of
French dressing for the fourth day in a row. Does anyone actually like French
dressing? I ended leaving those giant mounds of spuds alone and I hate leaving
stuff on my plate. The nurse that was responsible for increase in my portions
saw the plate and even she thought it was way too much. The portion of
shepherd’s pie at dinner was more reasonable. And there was no French dressing
either.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They did some more bed shifting with my first
roommate, Mona and sent her upstairs to neurological floor where Dale came from
while she waited for more surgery on her degenerated disc. The nerve block the
tried didn’t take. She was in terrible pain all the time she was on this floor;
so I hope all will work out for her. I know she appreciated my short little
visits to her room. She wasn’t exactly popular with the nurses because she
wasn’t really into the whole program and in many ways I can see why. The unit
is designed primarily for geriatric patients to get them back to their care
homes and independent living facilities. I don’t really fit in here either.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I received another surprise visit from a former
classmate, Ray. I’ve know Ray since elementary school. He grew up one block
over from us. He happened to be over on the North Shore to quote on a roofing
job so he thought he’d just drop by. We chatted awhile about his business and a
lot of other things while I relaxed on the bed letting my legs cool off without
the braces between therapy sessions. Thanks again for dropping by Ray.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After my afternoon therapy session, I took it easy
caught up on my writing and even drifted off a little. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My plan to get to the TV after dinner, worked.
Those old people eat so slow so I just ate at a normal pace and hurried down to
the lounge and the remote was mine. Unfortunately, my Fighting Irish<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>were not as cooperative going down 28-0 at
the half so I headed back to my room. However it was worth listening to those
self-entitled old men and ladies grumble that the News Hour wasn’t on. Look
it’s 6:15 so the actual news has been over for at five minutes and don’t worry
Mike McCardle will do the same sickening sweet story at the end of tomorrow’s
news just with different characters in a different location.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay so my favourite lost tonight and they lost
big. I think Notre Dame fans everywhere are proud of the Irish. They won all
twelve regular season games during a season they were not even picked to finish
in the top 25 and they ended second best in the nation losing to the odds on
favourite to repeat as national champions. The team was led by one more ND legend
in the making, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manti_Te'o" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manti Te’o</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who overcame personal tragedies this season and
became the best defensive player in American college football. Notre Dame
student-athletes are students first and athletes second unlike many of the
football factories in the south. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now back to the hospital, my nurse tonight,
Joanne, is another part timer from paediatrics and even she couldn’t figure
what I was doing here when she saw me walking around the unit. I told her the
magic word “stairs” and she sighed. But one knows if I can do them or not
because the physios are afraid to overstep the surgeon and he’s nowhere to be found.
Surgeons should leave the healthcare to healthcare professionals and stick to
cutting and sewing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so to bed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-67472018698025455332013-01-07T16:58:00.000-08:002013-01-07T16:58:57.336-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 68<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 68 – January 6</strong> – Today is Epiphany, the
twelfth day of Christmas and the last my tree would be up and my lights burning
outside. Oh well at least my Hydro bill should be way down. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sleep last night was quite weird. Obviously the
Zopiclone and Benadryl combination were working in full force. I’d be sleeping
on my right side and wake up to turn over to my left; I’d get as far as lying
on my back and automatically flop back to my right. I repeated this process
several times with the same result, I think, or I may have just dreamed up the
whole thing. Either way I had a great sleep and even had a hard time waking up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was able to clear my head enough I began my
exercise regime including the homework Leanne. This included working my legs
using Theraband. For those of you not familiar with Theraband it is lengths of
latex sheeting available in various thicknesses and used for resistance
exercising. Some others of you may be familiar with it for its original use,
dental damming. Yes, that nasty sheeting they shoved in your mouth and then
clamped around the tooth about to be filled. (Lee, I believe your dad may have
shoved a few pieces in my mouth in the past). The real neat thing about new
Theraband is the smell from the powder used to keep it from sticking together.
It smells like cookies and mint. I reached to get it out of my drawer and I
thought to myself “Wow, I can smell Pam’s goodies through the Tupperware”.
Pam’s goodies do smell great but it was the Theraband. Another boring fact
about Theraband is that I along with a couple of other salespeople at Ammunden
Medical we responsible for introducing it to physiotherapists in BC. (Sorry,
Lisa, but as much as I hate giving that man credit for anything; I have to give
you dad most of the credit for this.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maria is our nurse today. She worked on the sixth
quite often when I was there but she seemed to be missing during the time
Graciela was in our ward. Maria would have been quite useful being from
Columbia. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the past two days, they have brought whole
apples on my breakfast tray. Although I don’t mind them; I don’t normally eat
whole apples for a couple of reasons. The first is just me being wierd; I get
turned off by bruising on any fruit and in particular apples. The second is
more of an orthodontic reason. I have a very distinct overbite and huge gaps
between my front teeth and my bottom teeth are jammed together. Rather than
bite I sort of scoop and break off with my bottom teeth and my uppers play no
part. This is the same reason, I rarely eat corn on the cob and when I do I
usually peel the kernels off with a knife.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today was my shower day. Because of my mobility
restrictions, I still require assistance even though I could do it myself. At
least this time I walked into the shower room on my own. I am still required to
use the braces and the walker so Pacita, the care aide had to assist me and I
had to sit while showering. I could have easily done it on my own but the risk
was greater than the reward. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the shower, I was finally going to get to
wear fresh clothes with a fresh clean body. I put on a purple striped golf
shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts with red stripes down the legs.
Colour coordination be damned! The fashionistas can kiss this! Besides it’s the
shoes that make the outfit but we’ll discuss them in a few paragraphs later.
While putting on the shorts it didn’t dawn on me initially but I was standing
on my feet without braces and there was no real problem.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I was strapping on my braces, Dr. LeNoble,
the doctor in charge of the rehab unit came into visit and did a full check on
my flexibility and my senses such as sight , sound and feel. He asked me if
there was anything they can do that they haven’t been doing. I told him the
same as I’ve told everyone. Keep pushing me to do more so we can find out what
I can’t do rather than concentrating on repeating what I can do. He at least
made a note of this. He also remarked that my toenails need to re-done. No kidding!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One more thing about the doctor; he was checking
my lungs with the stethoscope on my back and told me to take deep breaths which
I complied. Then he wanted check from the front and said “Okay you can stop
breathing” and once again I complied. In a slightly panicked voice “I didn’t
mean for you to stop breathing completely!” Dude, I’m just following orders.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I actually discovered another little flexibility
victory by accident. When I completed strapping on my braces I realized I
hadn’t put my shoes on. I was able to get them on and tie them up while still
strapped in. I had a hard enough time doing this before my injury. My fancy
Puma Clydes with the roses are almost as admired as my toenails. Unfortunately
I can’t show off both at once. (see photo below) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because there is nothing going on here on the
weekends, I thought today would be a good day to pop up and visit Six West. Bad
idea!! I stepped off the elevator and turned right towards the orthopaedic unit
and I was greeted by a big whiteboard saying “Gastro-intestinal Outbreak” with
further instructions underneath. I stuck my head inside the door to see if I
recognized anyone but I only saw Ruby who was too busy with a patient and the
little Iranian cleaning lady, Parvin, who was delighted to see me up, dressed
and walking. I made a hasty retreat to elevators. I ran into Maeve, the OT and
she was shocked at my progress. She also told me that I had made it out just in
time. The outbreak started just after I left. The thought of still being there
bedridden was frightening. I would have still been on bedpan orders at that
point as well. All I know is that if it kicks in down here I will not be
worrying about strapping on the braces as I make a mad dash to the bathroom. I
may even leave the walker behind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just before
getting on the elevator, Liz, one of the charge nurses, walked by and did a
double-take. She was shocked to see my progress and she also did not realize
how tall I was. I keep getting that about my height but I’m only 6’3”. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spent most of the afternoon in my room writing
and listening to the Seahawks game because the TV in the lounge had already
been taken over<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by a couple of people
watching one of those home renovation shows. I have a plan for commandeering
the TV for tomorrow’s Notre Dame championship game. I was somehow only able to
find today’s game on a station from Juneau Alaska. The funniest thing about
that was one commercial for Stihl logging equipment which finished with the
tagline “A majority of Stihl products are built in the US with domestic and
foreign parts.” Could we get any vaguer? Have we covered our asses on the
American Made thing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now there is something about the Sunday edition of
the Province that always puts in a mood to rant. Today it was a two page spread<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the entertainment section with the bold
headline “Do Album Reviews Still Matter?” Did they ever matter? Has there ever
been a need for music, movie or art critics? Critics are a self created
profession not unlike lawyers who created a need for themselves. Most critics
are either frustrated musicians, actors etc. or mediocre writers who can’t get
off the lifestyles desk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My roommate, Dale’s dad, Jack, is a hoot. After
visiting with Dale for a bit he left his wife and daughter and came around the
curtain to chat with me and then he headed out into the hallway to chat with
everyone else. This is his daily routine. He’s just a social butterfly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best advice today came from Via my night nurse for
the last three nights after a discussion about what I might need at home, “Oh
and try not to do it again!” Sounds like an excellent plan. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m still having a few billing problems with
Fatport my wireless. It showed that my account expired again after two months
but I paid for three. Last month they gave me a code for an extra month so I
had to put that into play.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmGvVvxIEbhV4eiAhgiEkebdc7DIQ7VoC3zghiQqgVYIx-9AZlMX7e0qHEGus6SpkqRLNzb5Al_hnl_OE2BNofsmusgARhHh_1UDQUM6JstSQ83yyiGzbLo12pK-6f6tVBfvaMy5x381-/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmGvVvxIEbhV4eiAhgiEkebdc7DIQ7VoC3zghiQqgVYIx-9AZlMX7e0qHEGus6SpkqRLNzb5Al_hnl_OE2BNofsmusgARhHh_1UDQUM6JstSQ83yyiGzbLo12pK-6f6tVBfvaMy5x381-/s320/005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After finishing up my notes, I took my happy
pills, orange and goodies and drifted off.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-19253036901484543052013-01-06T19:07:00.001-08:002013-01-06T19:07:43.407-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 67<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 67 – January 5</strong> – I ended off last night
perfectly. After planning out my end of evening affairs, I neglected to fill up
the water chamber for my Bipap machine. I hit the call button and rather than
that constant pinging noise I had finally tuned out, it was a constant alarm
sound. Two nurses were in my room in a flash. There are two outlets for the
call button; one for the regular ping and one for the alarm. Apparently there
is a circuit fault in my call box that allow the signal light go on when the
cord so someone switched it over to the alarm button. Not such a good plan.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Putting on my braces is getting easier and easier.
The one lesson I learned is immediately upon undoing a strap fold the Velcro
piece back onto itself otherwise you end up with a tangled mess with both
braces clinging to each other like they may be trying to breed. I find it is
easier to get them lined up better with the knees by putting them on in while
sitting on the edge of the bed and fastening the middle strap first. The only
problem is they are fastened by holding the brace under the back of my knee
while fastening the straps over the top therefore I end up <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlMBcTGJ4YM" target="_blank">defying gravity</a>.
(See Marla, I was able to slip that one in just for you. Taking them off is
such a liberating feeling! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tangling thing brings to mind another thing
that puzzles me. How do the wires of my earbuds get so tangled up and knotted
in the drawer when I roll them up and put them away carefully after using them.
I am constantly untying knots in them. I guess if I can solve this mystery I
will have the mystic knowledge to figure what happens to strings of Christmas
lights when they are hidden away in the crawlspace between January and
November.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I spoke too soon about the pancakes, today
they only brought me one about four inches in diameter and yes it even the hard
edges that required power tools to cut.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anne-Marie our day nurse today, so it’s the first
day I actually have a nurse that works regularly on this floor. Similar to the
sixth floor there’s not much going on here on weekends but because I can wander
around and relax when I want to so it just feels better. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday, I ran into the floor social worker while
out walking and she was concerned because she knew I was one of the few on this
floor that was of working age. I told her I was okay with both EI and my
pensions and it made realize once again that I was blessed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being here has made me appreciate the small things
in life every new thing I re-learn to do is a small victory. It also drilled
home that even here on this floors there are patients worse off<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>than me including my roomie, Dale who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has so much further to go before he can walk
again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the woman, Charmaine, cleaning the rooms down
here is much better to deal with. You can actually have a conversation with
her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Crown Prince came into loaded up with a couple
of bags of clothes and other goodies. So now I can discard the shirt and shorts
I’ve been living in for the last three days. The orange shirt was the one I was
wearing when they hauled me in here on Halloween. And he brought a grooming
item I haven’t used in since 2005, a comb. My hair has been cut short since
that time and I was able to slap a little gel get that unnatural natural look.
It’s now overgrown and I’m getting that sheepdog look. My apologies to all you
guys out there that haven’t used a comb for that long and more and will never
need one again. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let’s face it; I am at the age where I make old
guy noises when I exert myself. You know those grunts and groans that you make
when you stand up or move around. These noises actually make nurses’ ears perk
up. I groaned a little shifting on the bed and Anne-Marie who was helping Dale on
the other side of the curtain immediately asked if I was okay. The funny thing
is I had the same reaction when Dale had made the same sort of noise. I
attribute these grunts and groans to the same reasons karate experts give a
yell before breaking a board or the noise that Maria Sharapova makes while
returning a serve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grabbed a few of Pam’s goodies and an orange
wolfed down my little blue pill and called it a night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-42062821655436326142013-01-05T19:03:00.000-08:002013-01-05T19:03:45.175-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 66<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 66<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>–
January 4</strong> – The physio, Leanne, was a bit concerned yesterday afternoon that I
may wake up a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bit stiff and sore after
all the work I did but I was able to work out all the kinks during my morning
bed stretching and exercising. I ran into Leanne on my first little walk this
morning and she was quite surprised that I had no problems. The only problem
I’m actually having is that my feet normally pronate and the braces force me to
supinate so my lower calves twitch a bit. In simple terms, I’m knock-kneed and the
braces force me to walk bow-legged.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The words supinate and pronate bring to mind
another irksome thing; that being those squiggly lines lies that Microsoft Word
keeps slipping under a lot of my scribbling. It doesn’t even recognize either
word; and it was even snarkier until I switched to the UK version of English.
They don’t even have a Canadian version which is different than both American
and English, eh? We use “z” not “s” but we use “our” not “or”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And regardless, Word still does not always
know the difference between it’s and its. I do realize I use a lot of
incomplete and run-on sentences and I do quite often end sentences with
prepositions which by the way Word never catches. I write like I talk not talk
like I write. Oh yes, in both instances I tend to babble on. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There really is some sort of staffing shortage
around here because once again we have a retired nurse that is on the part-time
casual list, Shirley and both days our nurses were replaced in the afternoon
with senior nurses from another unit. Yesterday, it was Brenda from Cardio and
today it was a familiar face, Sonya from 6 West. (Gotta love those East End
girls!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning’s breakfast was a change of pace.
They sent me a couple of pancakes. They were bit better than the last time still
a bit dry and chewy but at least they didn’t have the hard edges that required
sawing with a knife to get through it. This may seem familiar to at least one
of you. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While eating breakfast, Mona was sweet and offered
me part of her breakfast. Any guess what it was? Hint: I politely declined.
Damn! I’m making it too easy for you. Don’t bother memorizing this part, it
won’t be on the final.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mona found out after breakfast they were moving
her across the hall to a three bed room. They gave her the same kind of
mumbling excuse they gave me when they moved me last month. They said something
about wanting to keep men with men and women with women. Then they said the guy
coming in needed extra space because there was also<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a lot of equipment coming down from the
neurological unit. I then rolled my eyes thinking “oh, oh!” I fully understood
why Mona was distraught. They moved her while I was out at physio so I wasn’t
even sure that she wasn’t going to check herself out. After dinner tonight, I
walked over to see how she was doing. She was definitely pleased with my
gesture and she seemed to being doing okay. They had also moved a woman in, she
knew from her mosque. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made out okay with my new roommate as well. Dale
is in maybe around sixty and quite alert but he’s confined to his bed and
wheelchair after having a abscess on his upper spine operated on. My bonus on
this is that the bathroom is all mine. Before Mona had a commode over the
toilet and I needed a raised seat when I sat down so they had to be switched. I
was capable of doing it but she kept trying getting staff or her visitors to do
it. I had no problem with her son doing it and it didn’t bother me to ask him
to put the commode back. I drew the line when she got her elderly aunty
visiting from Lebanon to move it. I was not going to ask her to put it back. Oh
and no one cares if I leave the seat up. Actually the seat has to be up to put
on either device.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one thing about the washroom is its windows.
They are clear glass. It dawned on me as I was sitting on the throne and
admiring the view of the mountains while looking in the mirror. Hey wait a
minute! I now make a point of waving to the people in the tower across Lonsdale
before getting down to business. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One the things, I have to learn to do here is plan
my outings and prepare everything so it is in reach before I snap on the
braces. Otherwise I end up climbing over the bed to retrieve things like
toothpaste. This came to mind when I thought about dumping the non-slip socks
for my fancy flowered Pumas. In order for me to do this I had to put on the
socks , strap on the braces, retrieve the shoes from the closet on the other
side of the room, return to the bed, take the braces off, put on the shoes and
then put on the braces again. It was worth it. My ankles and feet are very
happy. The shoes are now kept next to the bed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today for physio, Leanne took me downstairs to the
main department and worked me out on the parallel bars and one of the knee
exercise machines. After she wheeled me over to the machine, she and another
physio set up the device and then asked me to climb on. I stood up from chair
and walked about four steps before they both realized I was walking without any
rails or my walker. They both basically said “Oops, let’s pretend we didn’t see
that.” And I smiled smugly. My afternoon session was all done in my room where she
gave me a bunch of “homework” to do over the weekend. Some of the things she
wanted me to work on she normally wouldn’t trust most patients on this floor.
But as she said “You’re young, alert and healthy”. Everything is relative; a
near sighted man is king in a community of blind men. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before lunch, Jennifer, the dietician came in to
talk to me. Apparently I had requested my dinner entrees be doubled. I was
puzzled because I wanted no part of most of the entrees in the first place for
example yesterday’s chicken and tonight’s fish. It turns out it came from one
of the nurses on the floor and it was based on the fact that last night there
was Caesar salad with dinner but each cup was a third full. The nurse came to
me with two more servings of salad from extra trays sent up. Jennifer and then
discussed my weight and blood sugar intelligently realizing it wasn’t a major
problem at the time and could be dealt with at a later date.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, it seems there is an overabundance of
Jennifers in this place even though my regular readers know I have a special
affection for the name. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jennifer also may have let something slip out of
today. Apparently, on my chart I’m expected to be out early next week. Dr. Haaf
said basically the same yesterday but he added the caveat that it is up to Dr.
McConkey and the physio department. Leanne and I talked about it today and her
main concern is the stairs in my house. She implied that I could have likely
been out today if I lived in a one level environment but I’d still have to come
back for therapy. None of my possible options made sense so I told her to keep
throwing more challenges so we can find out what I can’t do so we can work to
that goal. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pam and Dennis came by and were pleasantly
surprised by my progress even though they were regular readers. Their last
visit was Christmas Eve a few hours before the braces came off so I was still
lying in bed in my blue gown and stretched out on my back. And they once again
brought more oranges and more goodies which I took advantage of before bed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Too be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-22099617783923466812013-01-04T19:04:00.000-08:002013-01-05T09:00:58.726-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 65<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimFTvqEepDbysMlL9d00-0ZMCgT7xgT2FsfBack9kLdWnLEqYRwBovRIUGSrCxnosJQaUWFTFvLtXfD2vRMdtDCK3-6RHyWSQEdpExDu0g2xlCxkw44jzszs8DLeygZvJ_nAMj-rI-DpcR/s1600/Darryl+Sturdy+%2526+Dennis.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimFTvqEepDbysMlL9d00-0ZMCgT7xgT2FsfBack9kLdWnLEqYRwBovRIUGSrCxnosJQaUWFTFvLtXfD2vRMdtDCK3-6RHyWSQEdpExDu0g2xlCxkw44jzszs8DLeygZvJ_nAMj-rI-DpcR/s200/Darryl+Sturdy+%2526+Dennis.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Daryl and some old guy with beard</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="goog_922719792"></span><span id="goog_922719793"></span>Episode 65 – January 3 – It was a bit different
waking up in a new environment where I can appreciate the fabulous view of
Grouse and Seymour. I’ve lived in this area for over 56 years and I never get
tired of the looking at the snow capped mountains on a clear winter day.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you include my stay in Emergency, this the
sixth room in this hospital I’ve slept in over these two months.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I feel for anyone that was stuck in
another Port Mann Bridge fiasco this morning, I get this smug look every time I
hear about something going wrong on that billion dollar boondoggle. I’m so glad
my tax dollars went to something important and not wasted on health or
education. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides if you on your to
work it really doesn’t matter if you’re stuck in traffic. It’s only important
if you’re on your way home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hoped this wasn’t going to an omen but breakfast
came and there was a banana on my tray. The food service woman recognized me
and grabbed the banana and took it away. She knew! I checked the menu card and
it was supposed to cantaloupe cubes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After breakfast, I got dressed and pulled on my
braces, grabbed my walker and flew solo around the unit. In my journey I ran
into Leanne, the head physio on the unit and she told me that McConkey had at
least authorized unlocking the hinges on the braces today. I really wish that
guy would leave patient care to caregivers .</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My morning nurse is Luanne who was called in for
half a day because of a nursing shortage. I had overheard her in the hallway
saying that she had not worked since August. From the looks of her she’s
probably been retired for several years. There is no excuse for constant
staffing shortages; this shows that the organization is poorly managed. Perhaps
if you started with more staff they wouldn’t be so overworked and burned out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While writing this and looking out the window, I
realized that I can see the peaks of The Lions from the edge of my bed. If it
wasn’t for another of those ugly condominium towers going up I’d be able to see
the whole slope.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another small victory this morning, I was able to
wash my face and even better shave in a sink standing in front in front of a
mirror. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leanne came in around 10:00 and unlocked my braces
and we started a new phase in my therapy. We experimented a bit in the hall
with walker and then we went downstairs to main physio department via
wheelchair to progress a little further. Leanne should know better than to ask
me if I want to do more. I want to do everything! We started working on the
parallel bars working on weight shifting progressing to lifting one knee and
finally a simulated stair. I jumped through all of the hoops again so Leanne’s
is going to talk to McConkey about removing the braces sooner than later.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My new roommate is Mona. She thought she shock me
by telling me that she already been in the hospital with a disc repair for two
and a half weeks. I win again! She is having severe pain problems so she can
only either lie down or stand up and she can’t sit. I turned around and saw her
standing in the doorway and looked down at her feet. Anyone care to guess what
she was wearing? Oh that one was too easy! I’ll have to compose a few more
difficult questions for the final exam.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s great to actually lie back on the bed for a
bit of the afternoon when you have to option not to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a good rest I decided it was time for a
walk. Okay, I lied I needed to use the bathroom but I figured if I was going
through the trouble of tying myself up I may get some walking in. When I came
out of the room, Martin, a co-worker was waiting for me so he walked around the
unit with me and then we sat down in the dining room and chatted about a few
things included a couple of union related that I had some details on and I gave
him the answers he needed. While talking with Martin, Leanne came by and asked
if the equipment in the physio department downstairs was free would I be
interested in doing a little work today. Again, well duh! It turned out that
the department was almost empty so she brought my wheelchair and we put Martin
to work pushing my chair to the elevator.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the elevator on the fifth floor there is an
interesting double door with windows that leads to nowhere except a large drop
to the roof.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Down in the physio we did a short review of what
we did in the morning to make sure I hadn’t stiffened up the knees. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got back upstairs and laid back on the bed. No
sooner had I begun to relax and a woman comes in and said “Hi Mr. Donnelly, I’m
Brenda from the Cardiac Care Unit”. Okay, at that point I was pretty sure I was
going to be shipped downstairs because that introduction almost put me there.
She was just there filling in as my afternoon nurse. Phewww!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This afternoon, I received another surprise
visitor, Daryl, my grade 5 teacher. Apparently I still had some outstanding
homework that hadn’t been turned in. Darn, I thought it wasn’t due for another
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was on his way home from snow
shoeing on Seymour. He still looks great and a lot younger than some of his
other students I’ve run into over the years. Thanks, Daryl! It’s always a
pleasure seeing you!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Katha is back as my night nurse; at least they are
fully staffed on nights. I heard the charge nurse scrambling to fill spots for
dayshift tomorrow. This is not the way to run anything let alone a hospital. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-63616922764600132712013-01-03T07:09:00.002-08:002013-01-03T19:08:49.262-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 64
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Episode 64 – January 2 – This marks the beginning
of Week 10 in this hell hole. The sleep part of this is getting easier being
able to flop around as much as possible.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am going to warn all of you now that this
episode may contain quite a bit of anger, frustration and venom. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first annoying thing was the fact that some
care aides and nurses seem to have the need to hand you a wet face cloth first
thing in the morning and a bib before meals. The face cloth may seem like a
good thing but then you have to find locations to place it afterwards where it
won’t get something wet. I have refused to wear a bib from day one. This may
seem like stubbornness but I had to draw the line because this place sucks all
the pride and dignity out of your soul.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It didn’t help that I drew Barb as a nurse. She’s
competent but not a very good advocate. The good thing is it could have been Maggie
who appeared on the floor today. If that was the case I probably would have
just got up and tried to walk out of here. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a bit of foreshadowing or maybe it was psychic
thing because I had the urge to throw something at the wall but when Barb came
to give me my blood thinner shot I went to move my overbed table and it caught
something and my breakfast tray went<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>flying. Who knew those things were so aerodynamic? Unfortunately I had already finished my breakfast.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The charge nurse from the rehab unit came up to
talk to me and tell me absolutely nothing. She told me that there was no room
but I was first on the list. I nearly blew up because they had told me they had
a bed on Monday and then the line was that they couldn’t take me Monday because
they were short staffed but the bed was waiting and Tuesday being a holiday the
situation would be the same. Let’s just say this nurse got an earful. And Edna
was practically applauding as I vented. The worst line I heard was that if
emergency was really busy then there would likely a bed for me on the fifth
floor. I thought I had heard wrong but this is true. If Emergency is
overflowing each floor has to open extra beds. Whichever idiot thought this
made sense needs to be fired. Hospital accountants are penny wise and pound
foolish. Right now I am costing you, my insurance company and I time and money
but this clown will probably get a bonus for making budget.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest problem is surgeons and hospital l
senior managers do not give a damn about patient care. The surgeon basically
washes his hands of the day to day stuff which would be fine if he would let
the physios and nurses that have one hundred times the knowledge of patient
care. Surgeons are amazing at what they do cutting and sewing after that don’t
let them deal with human beings. The system needs more nurses,
nurse-practitioners and therapists. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is probably a good thing that I’ve been almost
caffeine free for over two months. I may have been even more irritable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, someone heard my complaints because
Lisa, the physio came in for my therapy at 10 rather than the usual end of the
day. To prove a point, I put both socks on myself and then she asked me if I
wanted to put the braces on as well which I did relatively easily. I then got
up into the big Arjo walker with little effort. Little effort is a relative
term when your legs are bound straight out. I showed off by pushing that
cumbersome thing twice around the ortho unit. Lisa realized I wasn’t actually
using the arm supports she asked me if I wanted to give a regular walker a try.
Of course, just keep throwing me challenges and I’ll go after them head on. So
she sat me down on the edge of the bed while we waited for the assistant to
find a suitable walker. It then dawned on me I had to pee and for the first
time in two months I was able to do it almost standing up albeit into a bottle.
Small victories and baby steps! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The assistant measured up the walker, I stood up
in it and found walking just as easy in it. The next test was to see if I could
get into the wheelchair with the braces on and again it worked out on one
attempt. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About a half hour later, the charge nurse came in
with a porter and told me there was a bed in 5 East waiting and we had to pack
up. These people haven’t got a clue about what is going on. Communication is
not a big thing around here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I gathered everything up and we headed
downstairs to room 512. It was a bit of a culture shock coming from a unit
where you are totally dependent on the nurses to a unit where you are expected
to do so much more for yourself. I like the idea but it is a little bit
overwhelming.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It did help that my nurse is Tara who had looked
after me during first week upstairs on 6 West and was able to help me along.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure I’m crazy about meal arrangements
though instead of being brought to your room there is a dining room where
everyone eats together. Let me put it this way; once again I’m the youngest one
on the floor by at least thirty years. This is not exactly the most appetizing
situation. The other stupid thing they did was transfer me in the middle of
lunch delivery instead of waiting until I had lunch on the sixth floor. So here
I was sitting at the table while everyone was eating their lunch and waiting
for someone to track down my tray.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first visitor on the floor was Lorraine’s
brother, Rob who also had to track me down from the sixth floor because
according to the front desk I was still. Unfortunately, Rob’s original reason
for being here was not to see me but to look after his mother who had just been
brought here to Emergency because of a respiratory problem. Hopefully she will be
okay.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the best things about being here is I no
longer have to wear a gown all day so I was able to wear a pair of shorts and a
shirt for the first time in months. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The physio came into see me after lunch to assess
how I would be doing my transfers and other things. One of the main other
things came into play and the original was to revert to the old method until I
was assessed by the occupational therapist in the morning but Tara thought we
could actually try getting me into the toilet. So although there was some
dignity restored we still aren’t one hundred percent there. Sitting on the
throne with your legs locked out straight still presents problems. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tara did share something encouraging with me after
helping me get set up on the side of the bed so I could work on my writing
facing Grouse Mountain. She told me her and the physio were recommending that I
lose the braces entirely. Hopefully, McConkey will listen to people that know
what’s going on for once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I appreciated everyone’s words of encouragement on
Facebook this morning when I had posted about being so frustrated. As you can
see now my frustration was with the stupid system that was letting me progress
as opposed to me not getting better. I am better; I just need to be able to
prove it. I want to thank all of you for you kind words and I would especially
like to thank Cheryl who had a screen full of my venting this morning and was
able to empathize with my struggles today and the roller coaster ride I’ve been
on all day because she had just been through a mini version of this last month
and is making great strides in her recovery. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And just to add one more hill to the roller
coaster my wireless server was down this evening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It also helped that my night nurse, Katha, is the
same one that came up to interview and assess me last week.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will miss the fun I had watching everyone come
and go from my bed in 603 and the all the great people working up there on 6
West but I’d rather sit here and stare at the mountains and deal with the added
stress of actually making progress here on 5 East. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am on the mailing list for Ipso-Reid’s online
surveys. In a beautiful touch of irony, they sent me one today about healthcare
and in particular doctors’ performance. You talk about timing being everything.
Hee hee!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I finished my first night in my new home with
and orange and one more of Eric’s delicious biscotti. Note to self: Eat orange
before sweet thing not the other way around.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-60148520403770198452013-01-02T08:44:00.000-08:002013-01-02T08:44:53.808-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 62<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 62 – December 31</strong> – Yes, today is New
Year’s Eve and even under normal conditions I would have said so what. For the
most part I find this to be one of the most contrived and overhyped holidays,
amongst a myriad of contrived holidays. In the past thirty years, I’ve worked
more New Year’s Eves than actually celebrated. I made a pocketful of coin
rather than blown a paycheque each year. It doesn’t sound right but of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the twenty-one New Year’s Days I had with
Lorraine the first kiss of the year more times than not came from a co-worker
or a stranger but Lorraine always got the last kiss of each year. Mind you I’ve
had some memorable December 31s including the one at Whistler I had talked
about in a previous episode. I was reminded of a daytime New Year’s Eve 29
years ago. When my friend, Sharon, was visiting last week, she said almost
smuggled in a piccolo bottle of Henckel Trocken so I would have something to
toast the New Year with. I laughed because the only time I had ever drank from
those tiny bottles was in the parking lot of the Bloedel Conservatory at 9 AM
after her wedding. Hey, we couldn’t be expected to knock off whole bottles at
that time of the morning. 9:30 maybe! 10AM without a doubt! There was a very
attractive loophole for those getting married on December 31 in those days. Happy
Anniversary, Sharon and Eric! </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ironically the event I would have worked tonight
had already been cancelled. Damn. I so wanted to be able to book-off!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before going off shift, Cat checked my glucose
levels and they were still stuck at 4.9. The muffin was good for me; maybe not
so much for Regina who came on as my day nurse. I put her to work right away.
(Repeat mantra – “I never want to be a nurse.”)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has now been two months since I was locked up
here. I keep hoping it’s been a season long dream sequence a la </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Ewing" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bobby Ewing</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The toaster at Evergreen thought it would be
fitting to let us know one more time before the New Year and the alarm went off
again at 7AM. Actually I’m beginning to believe Edna’s granddaughter and it’s
really because the little old dears down there just want to ogle the
firefighters. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as lunch arrived, Regina came in and told me
she had to help pack up my things because they had a bed ready on 5 East, the
rehab unit. So I obtained a small plastic bin and loaded everything in my bedside
drawer into it and began organizing everything else within my reach to get
ready for the big move. As soon I was already to go, Regina came in and told me
that the move was on hold probably until tomorrow. I just left everything in
the bin because as soon as I unpack a porter will be at my door to move me. The
bad part is because of the move, I got moved down on the floor physio’s list
therefor<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no walking. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I’ve said before, I somehow manage to lose
things in my twenty square feet of a bed. This time it was my cell phone. I
used the old trick of borrowing the portable phone and calling it. Sure enough
I was pretty much sitting on it. Damn, I should have had it on vibrate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just read a post by the daughter of a friend
about her accomplishments during 2012 and it made me feel proud. I really
believe that our definition of family has evolved some for bad but more so for
the good. We are in a way reverting to more of a tribal system where a friend’s
children become our own. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Village" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It really does take a village</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Well done, Missy and
remember the good things in life will always outweigh the bad as long as you
let it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talk about serendipity, just as I had finished
typing the Henckel Trocken story above, I received a message from a former
cellmate, Cheryl, asking if she would be allowed to bring me up some bubbly.
Nurse’s official answer: “No!” Nurse’s unofficial answer: “You never asked me
that...I have no idea what you are talking about.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheryl showed up at about 7:30. It’s amazing how
much better a person looks in something other than a blue hospital gown and a
face grimacing in pain. We got right down to it and popped open the bottle of
...er...um...sparkling apple juice. And then compared battle scars with Layla
as the judge while she was taking my blood pressure. (BTW – my blood pressure
tends to rise in the company of two beautiful women, hee hee!) Cheryl won on
actual length and length proportionate to body size and I took the quantity and
symmetry prizes. We chatted and sipped our...er...um...sparkling apple juice or
rather I babbled on. I tend to do that when I’m nervous and hadn’t had any ...er...um...sparkling
apple juice for two months. We toasted the Eastern Time Zone New Year watching
a live feed of the ball dropping in Time Square. The ability to tap into the
EST feed of New Year’s celebrations has been a godsend to west coast parents of
young children and retired party animals which are not necessarily mutually
exclusive groups. It was </span><a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/10/other-n-word.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">n***</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to add a new NYE memory by getting to know a new
friend a little better. Thank you so much, Cheryl! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My year ended on one more good note. A few minutes
after Cheryl left, I received a call from my beautiful niece, Jennifer calling
to wish her ailing old Uncle D a Happy New Year. The poor dear was sitting in
the dark with Molly due to a blackout. Knowing that I was better than okay
brightened up her night at least figuratively made my even brighter. After
saying goodnight, I made a quick call to the big guy upstairs and her night was
brightened up literally; her lights came back on. Hey! Prove me wrong! Love
you, Jen Jen!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And with the aid of Zopiclone, Benadryl and...er...um...sparkling
apple juice, I was out like a light. (pun intended)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued... </span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-74042031119936179262013-01-02T07:27:00.004-08:002013-01-02T20:21:26.882-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 63
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 63 – January 1</strong> – I have definitely always
liked New Year’s Day better than the night before. Family dinners were always
far less stressful than any other holiday get togethers. And January 1, was
always my big day to veg out in front of the tube. I would start out with the
Tournament of Roses Parade and graduate to the smorgasbord of college football
bowl games. We had always a tradition/rule of no TV especially sporting events
on Christmas Day and New Year’s was the exact opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess I’ll miss out on that today but there
is always that tiny thread of hope that I’ll be home by next Monday night to
watch the championship game featuring my beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
*crossing multiple fingers and other body parts*</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One Scottish/Irish superstition about the New Year
is it is good luck if a dark skinned man was the first visitor through your
front door. This was usually the guy that delivered your coal or a chimney
sweep. During my time with </span><a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/10/version-30looking-forward.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Version 1.0</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, it was my duty to go over to her mother’s
place each New Year’s morning and knock on the front door. (We normally always
went in through the kitchen.) In a family with all lily white skin, beige is
dark.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to vow that this would be the last
holiday I’d spend in this joint but being a good Catholic School boy I forget
about Epiphany this Sunday marking the twelfth and last day of Christmas. I
normally keep my tree up and my lights burning until then. At least I won’t
have the headache of packing up the countless boxes of Christmas decorations
this year. However, I still have to pack up my Halloween decorations and my
Halloween curtains are still up next to the front door. Over the years we had
found fabrics commemorating a number of holidays and seasons so I now have over
a dozen different sets for that one window. The Christmas curtains caught a
break this and got to take the year off.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The...er...um...sparkling apple juice did not have
too much of a detrimental effect on my blood sugar. Layla took it at 6:30 AM
and it was only 6.2. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Must have been a special day today, they sent up a
waffle and scrambled eggs with tropical fruit salad. The waffle was a change
from the usual slice of whole wheat toast and it wasn’t quite as chewy as the
pancakes they sent up a couple of weeks ago. I think you were in on that tasty
repast, Cheryl. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before lunch, my good friends and fellow Night
Owls, Christine and Tim dropped in and of course the paid the toll and brought
some goodies. We took turns verbally ganging up on each and rehashing old war
stories. They get better and funnier every time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This brings to mind another thing. How many of you
have seen that eye roll and bored look on your son or daughter’s face and heard
“Dad/Mom, we’ve already heard that story.” Crap, we are not just becoming our
mothers and fathers we are becoming our grandparents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of sons, the Crown Prince came in again
today and we chatted away for a couple of hours. That’s two days in a row just
because he was in the neighbourhood. His mom raised him well. :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the time of year that we all sit back and
reflect on the past year. For the most part 2012 was pretty good. Work went
well and I earned a lot more respect for the people upstairs while I assumed a
bit more responsibility. Seeing the Panama Canal in operation was fabulous and
I’d highly recommend for any mechanical geek. You can read about it on this
blog in “</span><a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2012_08_01_archive.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Journey to the Big Ditch</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">” or get a more visual experience in my
Facebook Album “</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150624107062090.449051.585222089&type=3" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Las Aventuras de “La Sombrera Rosada” y Dennis en Panamá Feb 12</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">”.
In July I was able really get to reacquaint myself with a very special person
and met a precious little dog in Palm Springs. Again you read about in “</span><a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2012_07_01_archive.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ButIt’s a Dry 110°</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">” and view more photos at “</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151083655612090.496107.585222089&type=3" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen Jen & Den Den's ExcellentAdventure in Palm Springs July 2012</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">” Oh yeah and something happened to me on
Halloween night. If only I could remember. Damn, now my medium term memory is
going along with my short term.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner arrived and I guess because it was New
Year’s we got hammy kind of stuff, What bugged me was I saw Edna’s tray go by
and there was a big slice of pumpkin pie. I looked at my tray and all I had was
a dish of diced pears. *insert pouty face* Oh well at least there was no chunks
of core this time but<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there were a few
bits of peel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we are still in a holding pattern with regard
to my move to rehab.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Layla brought me my little blue pill to go with my
orange and chocolate goodies. Now only if I had something
...er...um...sparkling apple juice, perhaps? ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-50322920871784658682012-12-31T07:33:00.001-08:002012-12-31T17:20:35.213-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 61
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 61 – December 30</strong> – Another Sunday. These
are always the slowest days around and tend to drag on the longest. For some
reason they seem even longer than Saturdays. Yes, Kris, there really is
</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxpTZYIbE6g" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">something in a Sunday</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. I really shouldn’t have posted this link because I found
myself singing along with it. At least, at home or in the crowd I can belt out
his songs. The funny thing listening to this song it reminded me something I
missed from long ago. Since moving to North Vancouver, I have not heard the
sound of church bells on Sunday morning. I remember growing and always hearing
the bells coming from Our Lady of Sorrows. Jen Jen, I may have to borrow your
new/old clock.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am definitely sleeping better with the
combination of a much quieter room and being able to sleep on my side with my
legs curled up a bit. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Layla is back again today and that’s a good thing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking at myself in the mirror while shaving, I
have come to the conclusion that I’m in dire need of a haircut as well as a
pedicure. My eyebrows desperately need clipping; I’m beginning to look a lot
like Andy Rooney. I’d also swear that the hair on my legs is getting longer and
thicker. A spa day may need to be in order. And I think I’ve even earned a
facial after all this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doing some statistical analysis, I have figured
out that my followers are almost as pathetic as me when it comes to night life.
It seems that the highest page visits during the week are on Saturday.
Interesting though, the lowest day seems to be Friday. I will respect all of
you more if you tell that you partied so hard Friday nights you are too
hung-over to do it all again Saturday night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I almost made a terrible fashion faux pas today
and I have to at least partially Layla. They were out of larger sized gowns
when I washed up this morning. The horror! The horror! I would be wearing the
same outfit two days in a row. People will think I slept in my Saturday night
clothes. Luckily, Layla was able to find a new one before company arrived. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My company was my good friends, Scott and
Lorraine. They came by this afternoon bearing more goodies! Muffins! They took
me downstairs again to the cafeteria for a cappuccino. We had a great visit,
yakking about everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m sure glad Layla was around to supervise my
wheelchair transfers today over a less confident nurse or one who is more
by-the-book who probably would have freaked out because to and from the bed at
one point I was full weight bearing on my right foot without braces. This is
supposed to be a no-no. Layla alos made sure I was upgraded on my chart to
“Stand-by” as opposed to “one person assist” on my transfers. This means the
nurse or physio is just there to supervise my swan-like bed hopping. At one
point, I was rated as “four person assist” with the overhead lift.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have come to the conclusion that the bed scale
is totally effed up. Layla weighed me again and it had me down 36 kilos from
the maximum reading and 31 down from the figure last week. I could only wish.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Layla and I had both forgotten to check my blood
sugar before breakfast so we thought we would do it before dinner. When she
came in to do it, I spoke loudly “If the reading is way off, blame Edna and
daughter. It’s their fault!” I was actually referring to Carol who kept
bringing me over the Cookies by George but her other daughter, Janet was here
at the time and totally out of the loop on the joke but had a good laugh when
she realized what was going on. The reading happened to be 4.9. So Layla<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>exclaimed “Quick get Dennis another <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cookie!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner came and because I missed the dinner fairy,
I got roast beef. I hadn’t had beef that tender since Panama last February. In
other words, I could just as well be chewing on my flip flops. I had to saw
through it rather than just cut it. Poor Edna, with her broken wing, she would
have had no luck at all even with her daughter helping. They ended up just giving
up. The calories I burned up just cutting and chewing earned me a muffin. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again I must reiterate that semi-private is
truly an oxymoron. Nothing is really confidential in this room. I hear
everything that goes on with Edna and the converse is the same. I am lucky that
she has such a friendly family but they have to stop tempting me with all those
cookies and beer. And turns out that Edna’s granddaughter, Kim’s aunt is my
friend and co-worker, Trish. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxvlKp-76io" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another small world moment.</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Lorraine’s going to haunt me again for that link*
;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finished off one of my berry muffins and hit the
sack.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-63150783772173800172012-12-30T07:16:00.002-08:002012-12-30T19:02:14.331-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 60
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 60
– December 29</strong> – Well I guess you could call this the diamond jubilee episode
even though 75 is also considered diamond. Hopefully we won’t have to deal with
that controversy.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good thing is that I have Layla back as my day
nurse so the weekend won’t be totally boring.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pam called around 11 to let me know Clarabelle is
okay and running fine. That’s one less thing to worry about.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adrienne came by at 10 and told me she had a lot
of free time so if I was up to it she could come back before lunch and we could
walk some more and then transfer into the wheelchair to sit up for lunch. I, of
course, was more than up for the idea. We doubled the amount of walking I did
yesterday with even less effort and we didn’t even bother with a physio
assistant being that the only thing the assistant was used for was to carry my
water cup. We then got back to the room and performed another graceful bed to
wheelchair transfer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had Kelsey, the on-call OT came by and made
some adjustments to the angle of the wheelchair legrests in hope of reducing
the pressure on my coccyx. The changes helped but I’m still having tailbone
problems. It doesn’t make sense why I don’t get the same problem in bed. In the
chair, after about an hour my tail bone feels brusied. In bed the butt pain is
caused more by sheering and feels more like a scrape or a burn. The sheering
effect is unfortunately normal but is lessened now that I can shift around much
more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I discovered that Adrienne has the same form of
directional dyslexia, I have. She told me to turn left and I made her point
instead. She was relieved to hear she wasn’t the only one with this problem.
I’m a great navigator on road trips but the driver has to watch for my hand
signals through the corner of their eyes. BJ’s sister, Sue who was an
elementary school teacher once told me of a hint she would teach her pupils.
“Look at the back of your left hand and it form an L for left.” Me: “but the
right hand doesn’t form an R”. She just gave up and wrote me off as hopeless.
This is a warning to anyone getting spoken directions from me, make sure I go
over them one step at a time and let me think them through. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had another small victory getting ready to get
up to walk. I was able to put my left sock on myself and was only an inch or
two away from getting the right one on. It may sound trivial but anyone who has
any injury to your knees, hips or back will know how difficult this simple task
is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m also quite proud of my wheelchair to bed
transfer today. Layla came into assist just in case I had problems but I
managed to do it smoothly in just a couple of moves basically hopping on my
ass. Layla only had to deal with the aftermath of moving my tables back in
place and returning my wheelchair to storage. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do believe I’m ready for the next whatever it
may be. I think I’ve proven that I can weight bear and need to get past the
Frankenstein walk. Unfortunately, the next step has to be authorized by the
doctors and they are nowhere to be found over the holidays.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, doctors are not the only ones who take
time off during the holidays. It appears that there is a shortage of nurses
even in the casual pool. Today because there was no one available, Jayne and
Sonya were working on the directly with the patients as primary caregivers.
Sonya usually handles new admissions up from surgery then turns them over to
other RNs. I had not seen Jayne doing any traditional nursing duties until
today. Her duties normally are more administrative. They even brought in a
casual care aid at around mid-morning. The problem with bringing in a casual
when you are this short staffed is that a casual requires more supervision and
you possibly lose the benefit of extra staff.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being in adjacent the nurses’ station gives one a
great view to observe everything going. It is interesting to watch the families
of new arrivals running back and forth to the counter asking questions and
demanding immediate attention because Mom is apparently the only patient on the
floor. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I keep coming back to this topic but let’s face it
I live in my bed and everything I do; I do it in my bed. Layla for some reason
always seems to do a two for one swap for my urinal bottles; for every one she
takes away she brings me two empties. By the end of my shift I’m well stocked
for a long road trip.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cat took over as my night nurse. She is a complete
change from Layla. Both are great nurses but while Layla is always so
happy-go-lucky; Cat is more serious and caring.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m finally beginning to make a little more
headway reading “Shantaram” and I was able to knock off over a hundred pages so
that’s 300 down and only 600 to go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another Cookie by George, another orange and
another blue pill then it was light’s out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-17796931785568439062012-12-29T06:54:00.002-08:002012-12-29T19:03:19.714-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 59<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SNPEzgvAckuYV-E9B5zshbSvPZMnijVCex_QepyPdzSlQkV5jwlljNpQHEiqjAANgNmQAkVW5FYcKLyarSyH4mBiEfKOgnKbRF0paF4IvgJVioZ9pH3-cXJHC43vhq7L6ZiGW4Fb6-dz/s1600/BJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SNPEzgvAckuYV-E9B5zshbSvPZMnijVCex_QepyPdzSlQkV5jwlljNpQHEiqjAANgNmQAkVW5FYcKLyarSyH4mBiEfKOgnKbRF0paF4IvgJVioZ9pH3-cXJHC43vhq7L6ZiGW4Fb6-dz/s200/BJ.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Episode 59
- December 28 – Today would have been the 61<sup>st</sup> birthday of one of my
most beloved friend, Barb aka BJ. We were close friends for almost thirty
years. She was always there for me if I needed a hug or a swift kick in the
butt and believe there were many times both choices came in to play. I still
have to urge to pick up the phone and call to tell her about the happy things
and to ask for advice the not so happy things. If you’re on Facebook you can
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.71165287089.96991.585222089&type=3" target="_blank">click on this link</a> to my photo tribute that tells you all about our special
friendship.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This also marks the end of the eighth week since my
surgery.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sleep was not quite as good as last night because
Edna had some issues and the nurses were in and out several times. None the
less, I was reasonably well rested being able to sleep on my side finally. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cat is back was back as my day nurse again so I
knew I’d be well looked after under the assumption that my big move would not
likely come today. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jayne, the charge nurse for the floor came into
see me about a minor thing but ended up talking quite a bit longer. Basically,
she is extremely unhappy with my progress but not because of me but the
slowness of my treatment. She thinks that they should have weaned me off the
overhead lift at least a week ago and I agree. She also felt that the physios
should have me up walking at least twice a day and considering that there are
very few elective surgery patients on the floor at this time of year and mostly
long term elderly patients there is no reason not to treat someone that could benefit
from it and get him up and going quicker.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMJEdYtvGC3NAQfK_SHKFN47aKKkVBOZfJdxIgzCJX7PDMVCiUWvSxyN4aKQrnDn5r2wvBVdnOkH-NBx64jgBqVW4lwK6gqKwCtiHiLAhjgWGqdtl-RA8nlWDfxiedMoRrx96Zb_GPYxE/s1600/cookie_monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMJEdYtvGC3NAQfK_SHKFN47aKKkVBOZfJdxIgzCJX7PDMVCiUWvSxyN4aKQrnDn5r2wvBVdnOkH-NBx64jgBqVW4lwK6gqKwCtiHiLAhjgWGqdtl-RA8nlWDfxiedMoRrx96Zb_GPYxE/s200/cookie_monster.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edna’s daughter, Carol, is almost as bad an
influence on me as her husband. Edna’s financial advisors sent her a very large
assortment from Cookies by George and Carol made sure I acquired a couple. Me
like cookie!! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bryan stopped by before lunch just because he was
in town. What a good kid! :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adrienne, the physio came in and wanted to know if
I was up to doing some walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
the answer to that was obvious. They got everything set up by adjusting the bed
and the walker and then we were in business. I surprised everyone by walking a
lot further than they expected; at least three times longer than I did
yesterday and I’m sure I could have gone further. Besides the fact that they
are obviously going to slow with regard there is a time constraint on the
physios. We also had another project to work on; the wheelchair transfer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is something that I had been mapping out in
my mind for the last couple of days now that I could sit in the chair. Having
worked in the wheelchair business I knew the basic mechanics of wheelchair
transfers and had done it many times for demonstration purposes. Adrianne and I
went over what we were going to do while we waited for Cat so she was aware of
what we were doing and how I was getting back into bed. Our timing was great
because one of the physios, Leanne, arrived from the fifth floor to find out
how I transferred. Apparently they don’t have overhead lifts on the fifth
floor. As a precaution Adrienne kept the sling in the chair in case we couldn’t
get back manually. I made it no problem so we decided to try the reverse. I did
it again on my own although it was pretty. Imagine a drunken walrus flopping
onto a rock. Hey, I wasn’t auditioning for Swan Lake. So once again, I had to
get back to the chair and managed fine. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adrienne did something that so reminded me of BJ.
Every time Barb would come over to my apartment, the first she would was run to
the kitchen and grab a pitcher of water and perform emergency resuscitation on
my plants. Adrienne took one look at my poinsettia on my table and rushed it
over to the sink. Gardening indoors or outdoors has never been my forte. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing I am beginning to realize is that the
longer one is laid up in bed the worse their concentration and short term
memory gets. This evening I could not remember if I had my meds with my dinner,
I hit the call button and asked Cat if she had brought them already and she
said she had. I do remember us discussing some issues regarding a couple of
them but I cannot remember taking them. Cat says it is on the chart so I guess
maybe I took them. And before anyone says anything, I will point out that none
of the drugs involved are any of the fun ones so that’s not the reason. And for
that matter, none of my meds excluding my sleeping pill are in the fun category
any way. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had asked the Crown Prince to move Clarabelle
out of the carport into another space to provide room for a friend’s daughter
to park in while she’s in class at Capilano University. He called me back and
told me she wouldn’t start. I found this puzzling because Pam had emailed last
week to tell me that Dennis had been starting her up weekly and she was purring
like a kitten. I called Pam and she said she’d get Dennis to double check and
sure enough she wouldn’t turn over. He would have tried jumpstarting but he
couldn’t find the battery. This is not a surprise because it’s hidden under the
floor board on the passenger side. Dennis will try again tomorrow. I hope she’s
okay.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While doing my leg exercises tonight, I realized
that I could still see the tan lines caused by my flip flops. God has a sick
sense of humour.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With compliments of Edna and her co-conspirators I
enjoyed another Cookie by George and my orange and with the aid of my little
blue pill, I drifted off to la la land.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-21903563352354341152012-12-28T07:36:00.001-08:002012-12-28T19:14:30.018-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 58
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 58 – December 27</strong> – I did something I
haven’t done in over 8 weeks, I slept on my side with my legs partially curled.
It felt so much more natural than the way I’ve been sleeping for all this stay;
flat on my back with my legs locked straight out. I woke up with a few different
old guy aches and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pains but I worked
those out quickly. And I’m expecting a thank you note from my butt for giving
it a few hours rest.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My nurse for the day was Cecelie who is very much
on the ball. I may have spoke of her before. She and her husband moved to
Shanghai to work and as a way to see the world and she’s back home on a working
holiday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again, I would like to point out that my main
purpose in writing this journal is not to elicit sympathy but more for my own
therapy. In the process, I have shared my feelings both positive and negative.
In doing so, I have always hoped to bring you a few smiles, a few tears and a
few giggles. I was reminded once again last night that my ordeal is just a
temporary setback when I received a note from a friend about a family member
who has also been hospitalized for almost the same amount of time as me but
with a much less optimistic outlook. My thoughts and prayers go out to her and
her family. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday was Wednesday and normally it is my
regular shower day but because of lack of staff on a holiday it got postponed
until today. Cecelie had the nurses’ aide, Jane go upstairs for the shower
stretcher. Neither Cecelie or Jane had done my shower before and Cecelie did
not realize that moving me would take two people but we figured out that
Cecelie wouldn’t be necessary for the actual washing just to help push the
stretcher to and from. The big change for the trip today was that I suggested
that if we got the bed higher than the stretcher I could probably do the
transfer without the overhead lift. I was more than successful and did not
require any assistance at all back and forth. It was also great being able to sit
up on the trolley and wash myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I’m finished my shower and I’ve been for the
most dried off with towels, the procedure is to wrap my body in a couple of
warmed up flannel sheets so it looks like a shroud and I have a towel on my
head the help dry off my hair. I always have the urge to pull the towel over my
face while in the elevator and then pop my head up at the right time and freak
out someone passing by. I am a very sick and twisted man. Hee hee!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do not know how it took me so long and if you
know me and my clumsiness you would be wondering the same but after 58 days I
finally did it but it did take some help from Cecelie. After getting back into
bed I was reaching out to roll my bedside table closer and she saw and tried to
help. We managed to knock a partially full urinal bottle onto the floor. It may
have been the first time but I’m sure I am quite capable of doing it one or two
times more. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I received a professional visit today from the
charge nurse on the rehab floor, Katha, who needed some more information about
my general health and then informed me that I should be transferred down to the
rehab floor by the end of the weekend. . Maeve the OT came in and got some more
details about my townhouse layout. On the rehab floor, I will be getting much
more intense and consistent physiotherapy. I can’t wait to abuse my body more.
I’m such a masochist. We are moving in the right direction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dad and Betty came by just before lunch and beefed
up my mandarin orange supply. I better get out of here soon. The supply of the
actual Japanese ones should be just about depleted in the stores. And before you
ask they, no, they did not bring up another milkshake. They did bring me the
latest issue of Liverpool FC and he brought me up to date about his younger
brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, we talked about
the big Notre Dame/Alabama game coming on January 7. That was my new goal for a
release date because I so want to watch that on my big screen at home but
because of all the lost therapy time over the holidays I’m betting it’s going
to be at least the end of the week. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was almost beginning to think that I wasn’t
going get any therapy today and likely wouldn’t have if I didn’t ask about it.
The physio on my side of the floor only worked a half day but Jennifer who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had been treating me originally came over
from the other side and got me up in the walker or actually for the most part I
got myself up in the walker and I ended walking about twice as far as Monday
and I made a point of not letting Jennifer or assistant help get back in bed.
Even Jennifer who had been working with me since the beginning was amazed at
the progress I’ve made since last week. The only thing she helped with is
taking off my socks and braces. The non-slip socks are provided by the hospital
so I’d to thank you all once again for paying your taxes. I love socialized
medicine! Actually, I think the hospital also provides them provides them as a
cheap way to polish the floor because most patients shuffle not walk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have become so used to the call bell ringing all
the time; I’m tempted to hit my button when it isn’t ringing. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m so glad I decided to hold off eating the
turkey dinner Santa Andy brought me Christmas night. There was only one entree
choice tonight, baked chicken. My plate arrive beige again; chicken with gravy,
cauliflower and mashed potatoes. On the other hand, the turkey dinner was
delicious and plentiful. It smelled so tasty the nurses in the hall could pick
up the scent. Thank you again, Andy!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found a new pastime...I use my reacher to draw
pictures scratching the dead skin on my feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ewwww!!! ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A friend posted a clip of Anne and Nancy Wilson of
Heart performing “Stairway to Heaven” at the Kennedy Center Honours Gala paying
tribute to Led Zeppelin one of this year’s recipients. I made a point of
rewatching it a couple times. </span><a href="http://ultimateclassicrock.com/heart-led-zeppelin-stairway-to-heaven-kennedy-center-honors/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here for the link</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The arrangement is
fabulous. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Esther was my night nurse tonight for what could
be for the last time if I move downstairs in the next few days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just before retiring for the evening at 10:30, the
Code Red signal went off again in Evergreen. I was always a bit skeptical about
the cause but I confirmed it from Edna’s granddaughter who works there it
really it someone burning toast or leaving things in the microwave.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-47382143621460374742012-12-27T07:12:00.000-08:002012-12-27T19:13:49.322-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 57
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 57 – December 26</strong> – Today is Boxing Day in
Commonwealth countries. I would like to explain its origins to my American
followers but that’s a bit cloudy. These days it has become a shopping frenzy
where retailers try to dump the stock they weren’t able to move and morons line
up all night outside electronic stores to buy outdated devices at prices that
their next generation will be available within four months.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This also starts the ninth week of my
incarceration.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barb is my day nurse again today. While checking
my vitals she mumbled something to the effect of “This has been the weirdest
Christmas ever”. Uhh...you’re telling me this. I have also pretty much given up
on convincing her to call me Dennis. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was one of these days where the boredom
really sets in. I find that I can find myself even too bored to read, write or
even watch a video. This happens even sometimes at home but I least I can
change my scenery. Weekends and holidays suck especially when you have a
tediously slow nurse. You are constantly waiting for even the smallest things. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good example today was getting into my
wheelchair today. Barb came in at 11:50 and asked me if I wanted to get up in
my chair. At that time, Ruby was there to assist. Because I hadn’t been in the
chair since the brace order had been changed so I asked if they needed to be
put back. They both went off to re-read the order and to get the chair. They
were gone for at least five minutes meanwhile I got organized to move. Then
Barb came back and got the bed moved over and the sling put underneath me. She
then went off to find Ruby. The problem is that every time a nurse leaves a
room she gets distracted by another nurse or patient and delays the process. By
the time, both of them were back for the lift it was 12:20. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the transfer was going on the food service
dude arrived with my lunch tray. He had no access to my overbed table which was
stuck in the corner of the room and my laptop and other stuff were piled up on
it. Barb told him to hold on a few minutes. When he asked where should he put
it my patience was already at the breaking point and I just snapped “Figure it
out”. Barb smiled and looked at me and said “I’m glad you finally said it. I
have been wanting to say that to those guys for a long time.” The simple
solution was just go do the other rooms in the row first and bring the wagon
back thirty feet and do our room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had Ruby do one more favour and that was to
fetch the sushi Ed and Lois had brought me from the patient fridge and to check
the medication fridge because Denise had told me last night she was going to
leave me some more munchies . I was able to supplement my chicken salad
sandwich and Italian vegetable soup with cocktail shrimp, Rosita’s spring rolls
and California rolls. Thanks Ed, Lois, Denise and Rosita!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was much more pleasant being in the chair
without the braces. I was able to bend them quite a bit more than even in the
bed and it also relieved the pressure on my coccyx. I was also able to cross my
feet and even get a glimpse of the bottom of them. This is when I discovered
that they were in even worse shape than the tops. The calluses were breaking up
and peeling around the edges. The aesthetician who gives me my next pedicure is
going to get a big tip and she is going to earn it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The little Iranian cleaning lady is driving me
nuts. Rather doing everything at once she is in and out of the room constantly
and of course like everyone else here she will move curtains to do something
and leave them where there are. Do they leave their front door open at home?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, the physios didn’t show up again today.
Realistically, the biggest problem about being here over Christmas and New
Year’s is that this is my most crucial time for therapy. I walked on Friday,
nothing Saturday, stood a bit and walked a tiny bit on Sunday, walked on
Monday, nothing for two days and supposedly will get therapy on Thursday and
Friday then were back to the weekend and another day off on Tuesday. With a
good run of consecutive days of therapy I could at least be able to walk a
little with a walker on my own and then I could be well on my way. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without the braces the flexibility in my knees is
improving but I’m just shy of being able to apply the cream on my snakeskin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edna’s
daughter, Carol and her husband, Terry came in to check on her and Terry
stopped at my bed and pulled a Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale out his
pocket and handed it to me. I originally turned it down but he told me to keep
it for the future if I didn’t want it now. I was in the middle of my arm
workout so I put it on the bed beside me. As I was doing my exercises, I could
feel the cold can on my hip through the bedsheet. I finally gave in and when Terry
heard that distinctive sound of the pop top, he came over and pulled my curtain
across so I was out of view of the nurse’s station. I normally don’t drink beer
but I do enjoy one occasionally. This one tasted so good! And it hardly
affected my pre-dinner glucose count at 6.3.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Demetrios was my night nurse. Although it was the
first time I’ve been one of his patients, I’ve worked with several times as
part of the team and he is quite good at his job.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As per my usual routine, the night was completed
with an orange, a chocolate goodie and a blue pill.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued... </span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-36991226617239983602012-12-26T18:58:00.000-08:002012-12-26T18:58:59.553-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 56<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4jsyvwW8fIv6lVsaTMShP7q4JjuDFpIb_G4oZrnWJm8tWKdXDoMWYqjiylbTkdAnm-MuKC_PdMQseg8oznIgcimMU4ulsHNv4VVa61Fhyphenhyphen3c0F1lLDX3wo-srC3qJfUzIZBM2akHxmB1G/s1600/25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4jsyvwW8fIv6lVsaTMShP7q4JjuDFpIb_G4oZrnWJm8tWKdXDoMWYqjiylbTkdAnm-MuKC_PdMQseg8oznIgcimMU4ulsHNv4VVa61Fhyphenhyphen3c0F1lLDX3wo-srC3qJfUzIZBM2akHxmB1G/s200/25.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 56 – December 25</strong> – Yes, everyone today was
Christmas and I hope you all had a joyous day with your family and friends. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just like every other Christmas I was up too early
but at least I wasn’t scurrying around the kitchen at some ungodly hour. I was
always the first one up. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought with the big turkey feed and the
sleeping pill I’d be gone for awhile. The great thing is I got to do my leg
exercises with bare legs and it felt so good. And the view from here is so
Christmas-y with fresh snow on the mountains. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well one lucky streak has ended. The fire alarm
went off at Evergreen and it’s been quiet for a few weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This of course, means that my other winning
streak is about to end and a banana is going to end up on my tray soon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barb is my day nurse and she has Sam and Esther
helping out so it’s all good. Still seems silly that they don’t have a nurses’
aide on holidays. This would be the kind of day they need because most patients
on the floor require much more attention. Barb spent two hours washing up her
other patients and she was grateful that I was able to wash myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The regular floor nurses were for some reason overly
busy so the weekend floor manager, Liz, not to be confused the weekday floor
manager, Liz, answered my call bell. I’ll give her credit when she didn’t just
delegate the job to someone else. She started to prepare and even when Esther
came in she was willing to continue but let Esther take over.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night, the evening nurses had a bit of a
potluck dinner and Denise was thoughtful enough to stash some goodies away for
me in the medication fridge. So I supplemented my lunch with sushi and chicken
curry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Crown Prince showed up and was followed
shortly by Mom and my sister, Kathy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just after mom arrived, my friend and co-worker,
Ed appeared with his wife, Lois. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the best part is that they all came bearing
gifts and goodies! I’m such a spoiled little boy! Thank you, everyone for
helping make the best of a bad thing!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At one point when you included Edna’s visitors I’m
sure we were violating some sort of fire code bylaw. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After everyone cleared out I laid back for a bit
and then got into my exercise routine that included working out my newly
liberated legs. By the way, they are still shedding worse than Nala used to.
Next time I do something stupid like this remind me to wax first</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.I think next year, I’m going to find a better travel agent and look into spending Christmas at a snowy ski lodge or somewhere tropical. I’m definitely firing the last guy. He sold me a real nasty bill of goods when he booked me into here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santa Andy struck again. This time instead of
sending one of his elves, he personally delivered another turkey dinner.
Because I was still full from lunch I decided to eat the mediocre turkey dinner
sent up from the bowels of this institution and save the good one for tomorrow.
I will eat well on Boxing Day. I am now going to tell all of you a secret about
Andy that he will probably kill me for. He is actually a very </span><a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/10/other-n-word.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">n***</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> guy and has
a heart of gold. Thanks Andy, I owe you big time but hopefully I will not have
to repay your generous deed under similar conditions but under much more
pleasant circumstances.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems I’ve also become the go to guy for the
wireless around here. The nurses just bring family members to me to fill them
in on how the system works and the costs. I don’t at all mind helping out and
my fees are quite reasonable. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denise is my night nurse tonight and hopefully
this will be her last turn as my nurse which is very likely. She’s great nurse
but she’s off on two weeks holidays and I will likely be either out of here or
down on the fifth floor in the rehab wing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rosita who hasn’t been my nurse for a few weeks,
slipped in and snuck me a few homemade shrimp spring rolls that went with my
orange and one of Pam’s brownies for my late evening snack.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of Pam’s chocolate goodies, I thought I
had a disaster on my hands. While putting on my bipap mask, I managed to knock
the tin they were in, onto the floor and it flipped upside down. I had to get
one of the nurses to retrieve it for me and the good news is that were wedged
into the tin enough that they </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g4ekwTd6Ig" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">defied gravity</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. (No Marla, I’m not going to link
the song again. Oh hell, why not I love “Wicked”)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-71603706818454084562012-12-25T16:23:00.000-08:002012-12-25T16:23:55.164-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 55<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Merry Christmas - Remember It's All About Love and Family</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWnBfG2zuZH-RYKExE36w3SlK_yt9vfIWJhIyQQJ5i4-KcD3LgPDY0gxZ2ydva2k4jKnWPNp1PCmzr-4o_6WhWnQNiauRB-c8el-tZ70s00PtZi9cYepPtTRAmP73M9fcF1YYzXJoYxwd/s1600/24.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWnBfG2zuZH-RYKExE36w3SlK_yt9vfIWJhIyQQJ5i4-KcD3LgPDY0gxZ2ydva2k4jKnWPNp1PCmzr-4o_6WhWnQNiauRB-c8el-tZ70s00PtZi9cYepPtTRAmP73M9fcF1YYzXJoYxwd/s200/24.JPG" width="129" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="color: lime;">Episode 55 – December 24</span></strong> – This being Christmas
Eve, after my morning exercises, I listened to<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjCJd9Bc-qA" target="_blank"> Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’sChristmas in Wales” </a>before settling into my busy work schedule. This included
reading both morning papers before breakfast.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone that knows me I’m a Christmas freak and
love keeping old traditions and creating new traditions. This is one tradition
I don’t plan on creating. Now if we can only get rid of those silly Christmas
Crackers at dinner. If you go back in the archives you can read about it in
<a href="http://nightowl24.blogspot.ca/2010/12/yes-virginia.html" target="_blank">Yes, Virginia.</a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christmas Eve has always been special to me.
Rumour has it that I may have even gotten engaged one Christmas Eve a few
lifetimes ago. The Crown Prince and I have made a tradition over the past few
years of mixing a vat of mulled wine and watching Christmas themed movies like
“Apocalypse Now”. In the past six months, I have been able to reconnect via
Facebook with members of two families, the Burmas and the McIlroys<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that I shared a few Christmas Eves during my
tween years (between marriages). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Kim,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Donna
and Jean, remember I did such a mean “five golden rings”) Actually I spent more
than few Christmas Eve days at the Burmas during my childhood as well. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My second big project for the day put me into nerd
mode. In my mail that the Crown Prince brought up on Saturday was Canada Post’s
quarterly stamp category. For reason Canada Post and my laptop have not been
getting along for the past year or so and won’t let me order on line. I have no
problem<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>placing orders on my desk top but
that’s obviously not feasible at this time so I did it the old fashioned way
filling out their order form. The one thing I never do is extend the prices
then calculate the taxes. A government agency can calculate its own taxes. I am
not about to do their work for them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Katarina was my nurse for the day. An excellent
and very efficient nurse but a bit on the dour side. My goal for the day was to
get her to smile or better yet laugh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure if this is a good thing or bad about
being on the north side of the Orthopaedic wing we get fed first. Our gruel
wagon arrives 10 to 15 minutes earlier than on the south side.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay as you know I basically live in a twenty
square foot condo, also known as my hospital bed but I somehow still manage to
misplace things. I usually find them hidden beside my hip. Of course, I sleep,
eat, wash and everything else in this little space. To shave, I have small
mirror that folds out of the overbed table so the angle is an upward view getting
a great shot of my nostrils. I lathered up this morning and then I looked in
the mirror and what should a see but a tiny little booger safely hanging inside
my left nasal passage. At this point I could not just blow my nose because I
would have a tissue full of shaving cream. So I every time I looked down at
mirror it seemed to grow exponentially just that minute stain on your shirt
that looks more and more huge every time you look at it especially when you’re
face to face with someone. When I realized how absurd I was being. I was behind
curtains and no one be around until I was finished. Yes, before you ask I’m
bored and the littlest thing amuses me. The real irony in this silly story is
the thing I misplace most is my tissue box. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pam and Dennis dropped by this morning to bring me
my mail and drop off some Christmas goodies. They then told me about their son,
Dennis getting engaged. Apparently, he went traditional right down to getting
down on one knee. The story was so sweet I wanted to gag. ;-) </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoiNfcoUpuRAJ4pbjMeGk1hqtpNiyCleIlDAOAgofzdD93VpkF7RtLzwX8HGQCVMCYghRqeRG_tAMEPFneO3IAWThQr_DAl0ZFJsoxsaItniTID-v2DLx92gptKwTNUdhQDqsiyj12Sht3/s1600/Dennis+Rickman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoiNfcoUpuRAJ4pbjMeGk1hqtpNiyCleIlDAOAgofzdD93VpkF7RtLzwX8HGQCVMCYghRqeRG_tAMEPFneO3IAWThQr_DAl0ZFJsoxsaItniTID-v2DLx92gptKwTNUdhQDqsiyj12Sht3/s200/Dennis+Rickman.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sorry, ladies I told you about him on FB a few
years and now you missed out on a good one. That’s him on the right. And not
only that he’s going to be a daddy...of a sixteen year old girl! We will all
pray for you, Den! Congratulations! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And thank you again, Pam and Dennis for being such
great neighbours. :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While they were still here, my good friend and
favourite smart ass, Leslie came in. (Yes, Leslie I know that last sentence ended
in a preposition and I don’t care.) Leslie also came bearing a cup or two of
Christmas cheer. I’m still trying to convince the physios to share some of
their ice. I mean, do they really need that much for a couple swollen knees and
hips? We had a few good laughs and we also...Oh crap, I’m hallucinating again.
Damn medications! ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within minutes of Leslie leaving, Dr. McConkey
came in to check on my progress and he told me that I could take the braces off
while I was in bed and only need to wear them while sleeping and while walking.
I feel naked without them and that’s a good thing. :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lisa, Adam and Nate, the physio and her assistants
came by and got me standing up and shifting my weight. Then we tried the same walk
I did on Friday and this time I made it fine without fainting and no tears. The
light is getting brighter and it gets better every day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I received even more surprise visitors today. My
cousin, Colin, his wife, Susan and their two children, John and Gracelyn. (I
love names that end in ‘lyn” they always sound so cute. And yes, Mrs. B I
include you.) They stopped off on their way<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>from Sechelt to Surrey. I had not seen Colin in many years and this was
the first time meeting his lovely family. They brought me a beautiful
poinsettia plant. Thank you so much Colin and Susan! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because of the wedding last week and Christmas,
Edna has had a lot of visitors<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and they
are all so friendly. The problem is that because the room is so tiny they tend
to overflow. I have no problem sharing some of my space but it always seems I
need to pee when they are here. My choices are too close all the curtains or
just go with the bottle under the sheets or just hold it until they leave. The
first two seem at bit rude so we back to where we started at overflow. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barb replaced Katarina at 3 because they swapped a
few hours so each could enjoy family get togethers on respective nights. I
still haven’t got Katarina to laugh but she did smile when she saw me walking. I
guess it’s just that stoic Eastern European manor and perhaps a small language
barrier.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poor Edna. Just after 4 we heard a group of
carollers (employees and volunteers) coming down the hall and Barb had just
gotten Edna onto the bedpan. Barb was a bit worried that they might come into
the room and all three of us started laughing about with Edna leading the way.
Actually, the laughing probably helped Edna’s cause. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They didn’t come in but sang outside each doorway.
Now I said earlier there were no tears but that was just about walking. I am a
big pussycat and I get very sentimental at anything Christmas related. I was
tearing up a little as I was listening. (Happy tears) But I nearly lost it when
I recognized the woman leading was the ostomy nurse that looked after Lorraine.
As everyone leaned in the door to wish me a Merry Christmas the best I could
manage was to mouth the words and wave. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A co-worker and friend, Andy had texted me the day
before telling not to eat dinner. He had a friend bring in a turkey dinner
which was absolute heaven. The problem was my actual stomach has shrunk from
the small portions I had been eating. I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>got most of the turkey and vegetables down but had to forego the
potatoes and half the stuffing. The tryptophan combined with my little blue
pill are going to put me solid into dreamland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got Denise good tonight. I hid the braces behind
a pillow and when she came in to take my vitals I looked at her my best worried
face and told her she needed to look at my legs. She got this concerned look on
her face and asked “are you serious?” I nodded still keeping a straight face.
She lifted the sheet and saw my bare legs and was delighted but I know somehow
she will get revenge.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a side note Denise re-read Dr. McConkey’s
orders and I don’t even have to wear them sleeping because I’m too big to bend
in any abnormal position in this caged in bed. Also we discovered that because
of the constant friction and lack of air on my legs has left a trail of lost
hairs between my legs from my upper thighs to my ankles. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s an interesting gift etiquette question? Is
anyone else a bit embarrassed when you are handed a wrapped gift and you are
embarrassed to open it because you might look greedy or ungrateful but you are
dying to find out what it is? Gift bags work a little better because you can
start by subtly looking into it and gradually increase the apparent curiosity
level until you can ask “So what’s this? Am I nuts or what? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finished the night with an orange and one of Pam’s
chocolate goodies. Hey it’s Christmas! I can indulge a little.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-76527344490524427282012-12-24T17:58:00.002-08:002012-12-24T17:58:21.931-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 54<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Merry Christmas to all of you and your families. Thank you for following my rambling scribbles</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="color: lime;">Episode 54 – December 23</span></strong> – Another great night’s
sleep. I love my blue pills and my new digs. Even though it is physically
closer to the nurses’ station than where I was previously, it is quieter. Room
623 faced the door to the station and 621 was next to their actual work prep
area.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denise is back as my day nurse which is great but
it means the daily curtain wars will be back on but I still have my trusty
reacher. Hee hee! I’ve had another good run of nurses since moving with Layla
and Felly as my night nurses for the past three evenings. Denise is scheduled
to be my night nurse for tomorrow and Tuesday so hopefully I’ll have a decent
day nurse as well over Christmas.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denise decided to weight me again today and if the
finicky bed scale is anywhere accurate, I’m down another five kilos. Hospital
food is at least good for something.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m still having problems training some of the
staff with regards to my name. Unless you are trying to sell me something or I
owe you money my name is Dennis not Mr. Donnelly. This of course just
encouraged Denise to be contrary so she’s been calling me Mr. Donnelly all day.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denise has found a new way to torment me today.
Edna’s family has decorated her window sill with flowers and Christmas
decorations. One of these decorations is an animated snowman that sings “Let it
Snow” when you press the button. She makes a point of playing it every time she
passes it. And you all know how irritating electronic novelty items can be
after the second time after you play with it. Note to Leslie: I’m not referring
to your “special” electronic novelty items. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn’t have to wait long today for the physios.
Adrian and Dal showed up at 10 AM. For the most part, we only worked standing
and weight shifting although I did get to do a little bit of walking both
forward and backward to and from the doorway. We couldn’t push our luck because
for safety reasons, there needs to be a third person following behind with a
wheelchair in case I faint again. At the end of my treatment, we figured out
one of my problems. As another safety precaution, they had a transfer belt
around my chest so the therapists can hold on to the patient. When they took
the belt off, I realized it was restricting my breathing so tomorrow we will
either put it around my waist or not use it at all. There’s something else I
learned today; we actually forget how to walk. When Adrian asked me to start
taking some small steps, I could not remember how to walk and I had to stare at
my feet and think for a few seconds before I could move them forward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denise and another nurse used the lift to put me
in the wheelchair for the first time since Tuesday. I can really do the old guy
routine, pretending to sleep and drooling now because everyone that comes to
visit anyone has to pass by me and try to avoid eye contact. It’s fun to make
people feel uncomfortable. Hee hee!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the time I finished lunch, I was ready to go
back because I’m still having tailbone issues sitting in the chair. Denise and
I cheated and did the transfer ourselves which is probably against the rules. I
think pulled the curtains closed more to hide the fact we were doing it than
for the sake of my long lost modesty.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denise was also kind enough to sneak me a slice of
pizza from the nurses’ lounge. It’s amazing how good something tastes when you
are deprived of it. Hey! I’m down five kilos! I deserve a treat. ;-P</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For some reason, I was more tired than usual this
afternoon so I ended up taking a good nap for about an hour. This will mean
that the little blue pill will have to work overtime tonight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The scariest part of taking a nap between 3 and 4
is that I missed the dinner fairy so it was likely I would be getting the
chicken or the fish which seem to be the default items for dinner. To my
surprise, they sent me salmon which is the one thing they serve that can be
qualified as good as opposed to passable or edible. They seem to serve this
only every couple of weeks and it is frightening to think I’ve already had it
four times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things you learn when you work in a
place for a long time is how to subvert the rules. Denise qualifies in that
regard. Besides doing the one person assist earlier today, she is extremely
resourceful. Following strict rules, each section is supposed to order supplies
from stores and wait for them to show up. She knows which sections are likely
to have things and she goes and borrows them. This was the case today regarding
cream for my feet which are getting reptilian again. She had ordered some and
it never showed up. She went and found some elsewhere and now my feet look a
lot better. I really do need a pedicure soon with some heavy duty exfoliation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Haaf stopped in this evening and Layla gave
him a glowing report about my walking on Friday and told him I was a good
candidate to get moved downstairs to rehab unfortunately they are pretty much
down to a bare bones staff over the holidays so I wouldn’t be moved until the
New Year anyway. This wasn’t really news for Dana; it just reinforced his
opinion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Layla and I were joking about me wasting everyone’s
tax dollars being here and then she told the biggest drain on hospital costs is
actually hospital related infections. The causes include airborne transfer from
a patient or visitor, invasive procedures like catheters and contact infection.
These infections can add several days to a hospital stay.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have another entry in our poolside story
contest. Tanya has weighed with the kinkiest story so far. It has to do with
doing something nasty and fun on a trapeze. We have to work on the details on
this one. Hell, I want to see the video on this one! And of course, we have to
figure out what happened to the other party/parties. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Layla brought me my evening stash of
chemicals, I settled down to watch a couple of non-descript comedies on Shaw
and finished off the shortbread.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-44644610857542772792012-12-23T19:05:00.000-08:002012-12-23T19:05:02.749-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 53<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 53 – December 22</strong> – The new room is so much
quieter at night despite being beside the nurses station. I have slept soundly
for 7 or 8 hours both days I’ve been here.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, I was told a story about a hospital
reality that made me a bit angry. Hospitals are usually full to capacity at
Christmas time. Considering there is very little elective surgery going on
during the last two weeks of December this seems contradictory. It turns out
that a lot of people that are caregivers find a doctor that will come up with an
excuse to hospitalize grandma for a couple of weeks so they can go away on a
holiday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My day nurse today was Denise which is always a
good thing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having spent so long here and seeing so many
patients come and go, I can safely say that slipping, tripping and falling are
not great ideas, nothing good ever comes of these. My survey isn’t totally
scientific but merely anecdotal but I am pretty confident my conclusions would
hold up well in a double blind study.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Crown Prince made his weekly appearance and
brought up my mail. Obviously there are a lot of people out there that I’m
going to have to send notes to when I make bail and get out of here. His two
big missions today were to replenish my mandarin orange supply and to pick up
my computer power cord and transformer and find a replacement. He had
previously passed along some wise information he had learned in his electronics
courses. If it’s warm it’s no problem; if it’s hot but not singeing any flesh
it’s probably still fine; however it there is smoke, sparks or flames it’s not
so good. Mine was getting very hot and at the junction it would spark and
crackle if I moved wrong and at one point last week there was a little puff of
smoke. This was not a good thing. Hospitals frown on you setting your bed on
fire. They have special ward for patients who make a habit of that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He told me about a birthday dinner he went to last
night at a restaurant “Dark Table” that served the meal in complete darkness. I
had heard of a couple of places in other cities using this concept/gimmick. He
enjoyed it immensely. It does sound intriguing so if a group of you are out
there feeling <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>guilty <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about poor old Dennis lying in his hospital
bed for two months and want to do something n*** for him when he gets out...
But you can’t invite Croft apparently his probation order forbids him from
being in dark places amongst mixed company or any living thing for that matter.
;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This afternoon was a day for royal visits. I heard
a very distinctive voice at the nursing station say “Oh never mind there he
is!” and I saw a pair of the most outstanding blue eyes you could imagine. It
was one of my old drinking buddies, Sharon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were known to have closed a few bars like
the Rose & Thorn and Pharaoh’s. We had worked together many years ago at
the PNE. I mention royalty because in her youth Sharon uncannily resembled a
certain member of the royal family. I won’t go too much farther on that because
it used to drive her crazy when we were in our youth and people would approach
her and comment about it. She spent a good deal of her career in law
enforcement listening to it as well. I always thought she was much better
looking and her good looks have gotten even better over the years. Okay, I admit
it; I’m a sucker for blonde hair and blue eyes which is no surprise to most of
you. We had a great chat about my walking yesterday and her past career and how
she’s working much harder now that she’s retired. She was also kind enough to
bring a few goodies including some biscotti hand made by her husband. It’s
about time that little guy made some good use of his time. Thank you very much,
Eric! And thank you, Sharon for making that long trip to brighten up an old
friend’s day!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, Bryan and Sharon missed each other
twice by minutes because Bryan returned from the computer store right after
Sharon left. Of course, if Sharon hadn’t been too stubborn to ask for
directions and ended up looking for me on the maternity floor and the morgue,
they probably would have met the first time. That stubbornness must come from
being both Scottish and a retired cop. ;-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of Scots, they aren’t the only Celts that
are stubborn and thrifty; the Irish can be a little of both. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been trying for the last week to
squeeze every last glob out of my toothpaste tube and finally had to give in
when I had the thing rolled thinner than a pencil.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, I was at the wrong end of the
priority list for the physio so I didn’t get to walk today. I have to assume
they are trying to get everyone they can ready to be discharged by Christmas
Eve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tonight I tuned into Shaw on Demand and went
British with my viewing and watched the season finales of “Hunted” a
suspense/conspiracy drama and “Hit & Miss” a very edgy drama that would be
very difficult to categorize in any genre because of its many tiered story
lines and back stories. The Brits do so much better at television drama.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Along with my orange, I tried one of Eric’s
biscotti. It was tasty with a bit of a surprise. I’m guessing it contained chili
peppers and chocolate. There is a synonym for the young lady’s name that
provided these treats and I have no plans of doing such. They are mine!!!!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-83943171608518065012012-12-22T18:08:00.000-08:002012-12-22T18:08:23.204-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 52<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Episode 52 – December 21</strong> – Today marks the winter
solstice so the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGKPHFrHVVY" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sun is on its way back home</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to the northern hemisphere. If you
are reading this I guess those wizards reading the Mayan calendar were off on
their estimates by an eon or two. The biggest problem I have with the solstice
is how it may affect the title of this series. “How I Spent my ‘Winter’
Vacation” excludes the intended pun so I’ll have to stick with the original
title until the end as long as there is no equinox involved in the mix.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This also marks the start of week eight post-op
and the beginning of a new phase in my treatment. Let’s get vertical.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first thing this morning, Liz, the floor
manager popped her head in the door and asked me if I was happy with my new accommodations.
I thanked her for making the change and now all is forgiven. I have never been
one to hold grudges or worry about who made the mistake. The trick is to find a
solution then keep moving forward. (Also I didn’t realize how hot the floor
manager is when you’re not looking up at her through teary eyes.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Layla was my day nurse today. This is probably not
the best idea to pair us up because we play off each other’s warped senses of
humour and no work gets done because we’re laughing so much. Today for some
unknown reason we were discussing the “Great Bed Pan Conspiracy”. (Okay, the
reason is actually obvious). We determined there has been a much more
comfortable way to look after your business in bed invented but the huge Bed
Pan Lobby on K Street in Washington. They have been even more effective in
suppressing this secret than the Oil Lobby with the electric car during the
seventies and eighties. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another silly exchanged when Layla was struggling
to get my wash basin out of my bedside table that was turned towards and pulled
close to my bed so I could access the drawer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You
know, it’s on casters. It may be easier to turn it 90°.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Layla: “no, I can get this.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: “Are sure you’re not a man.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Layla (laughing as she freed the basin): “I get
that a lot from people.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Graciela, the Salvadoran woman from 621,
travelling with her walker, was being escorted by the physios past my door, and
her face lit up seeing me. She was even happier when I greeted her en Espagnol.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I receive news updates via email from News1130 and
on Wednesday<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they made a bit of a
shocking SNAFU the other day and my heart sank thinking, “not again”as did that
of hundreds of other I’m sure. The news item was about BC Ferry cancelations
but someone forgot to change the subject line from a week ago and it read “Dozens
may be dead in Connecticut school shooting”. Needless to say a correction was
posted within minutes. I’m quite surprised an apology didn’t follow. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Question regarding today’s lunch: Does anybody
really care for French dressing? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just after two, Maeve the OT, Adrian the physio
and a rehab assistant showed up with an Arjo walker, a device that allows the
patient to support themselves with their elbows. My grin must have looked like
the Cheshire Cat. Today was the day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first step was to put on my flip flops...not
wait ...make that non-slip socks. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We started off by me scooting over and Maeve and
Adrian held my legs out straight (I was still locked in at 0° flexion on my
braces) and they slowly lowered my feet to the floor.It was the first time my
feet had touched solid ground in 52 days. It was a wonderful feeling. Adrian
slowly raised the height of the bed and my weight slowly shifted to my feet
until we hit the maximum height of the bed. The next move was up to me so I
leaned forward into the walker after a pause to catch my breath and let the
blood flow. I then straightened up my back and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0tyAHoJEyo" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was standing</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">! I felt </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MetM68Lr9U8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">human again</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">! Then a few tears started to sneak out and I was grinning from ear to
ear. We then went some exercises to shift my hips to switch the weight from right
to left. I will admit now that my best hip movements are definitely in the
“middle aged white guy dancing” category and in no way close to Shakira. While
I was doing this Layla and Sandra were standing in the hallway watching,
smiling and giving me the thumbs up. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the shifting exercises Adrian asked me if I
had enough and my answer was simple “I want to walk” and she said, “Then let’s
do it”. I started taking what could best be described as baby Frankenstein
steps. I made it to the doorway which was only a three feet away. When asked if
I wanted to do more I agreed so Maeve went and got my wheelchair just to follow
me in case I had problems. They asked me if I was feeling any pain. There was
no pain in my knees or my quads. The only pain was in my ankles which have
always been a problem and even </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dOsbsuhYGQ" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that was a good pain</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Damn, I was walking and no
little hurt was stopping me. Then Adrian pointed to the corner of the nurses’
station and told to head there and then turn around. I made it fine to the
corner and in front of me was Liz, the floor manager standing in her doorway watching
and smiling. I stopped at the corner and asked for water. At point I was
starting to feel a little dizzy so I continued to rest when I suddenly started
to feel faint and nauseous and cold sweat started pouring off my forehead. Liz
immediately switched from administrator into nurse mode. She ran over and
grabbed a towel to wipe my forehead and started giving orders to the nurses
around the area. Adrian meanwhile talked me through the turnaround and the walk
back to my room. There was no gradual involved in getting me back into bed. Liz
was still giving out orders. Sandra was taking my temperature while Layla and a
student were trying to take my blood pressure and someone else was applying a
damp cloth to my forehead. It all seemed surreal and reminded of every
emergency room scene on TV. Meanwhile I was still smiling. It is possible to
feel sick and stupidly happy at the same time without the aid of alcohol or
drugs. My vitals were all okay. Adrian came back about ten minutes later and
told me she wasn’t surprised by the head rush but expected it more when I first
stood up. I expected the same. I was still overwhelmed and even while I was
writing this up, I was still getting teary-eyed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My new roommate, Edna is another elderly lady who
what I gather fell and broke her arm and leg. So far she’s been an ideal roomie
I rarely hear her and because of the curtain. I’m probably more of a
disturbance to her with me adjusting my bed constantly to relieve pressure on
my butt and chatting with the nurses and other staff.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The smile part of the story is that Edna’s grandson
was getting married today and the bride and groom had chosen to be married in
her church but for obvious reasons she sadly couldn’t go so before the wedding
the bride and groom and other members of the wedding party came into visit her
and take pictures for their album. Grandma was obviously more important than
superstition.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And just for good measure on a smaller happy day moment,
someone screwed up in the kitchen. My choices for fruit at dinner were apple sauce
or fruit cocktail. The fruit cocktail is that crap that comes in the can with
the maraschino cherries in it and the apple sauce is bland. I went with the
sauce but they sent me something off the menu instead; their tropical fruit
salad with pineapple, mango and papaya. It at least tasted fresh. Little things
that make you smile are good too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So along with watching Rachel Maddow’s last show
until after Christmas, I finally finished watching the fifth season of “The
Wire”. Like most American series, I think they went one season too far.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As per usual I had my orange and my cookie and
snuggled up to my little blue pill for the night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059202233849118119.post-58995756253342139722012-12-21T19:06:00.000-08:002012-12-21T19:06:19.415-08:00How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 51<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Episode 51
– December 20</b> – Obviously with all the stress yesterday, I did not sleep
well yesterday and I really try to avoid any kind of a prolonged nap around
here because I want save all my “sleep energy” for overnight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barb came in just after 6 and did my glucose
reading and it was down to 4.5. This could mean only one thing; more cookies
and chocolates. Bring on the pie! Hee hee!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cat was my day nurse again and the first thing she
told me is that the move was scheduled for today but the patient in the bed in
the semi-private room would likely not be going until around 11. Knowing that
hospital time was even worse than “Rock and Roll” time, I didn’t hold her to
this time. She did re-assure at around 1PM that the move was still happening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before each shift begins, the nurses have a
meeting to discuss the upcoming day’s schedule and this meeting is called the
“Daily Report”. This explains a lot because you cannot have a report before
something happens. You can have a daily briefing before hand and a report after
the shift. This terminology is not unique to this hospital. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>things that definitely adds some flair and improves the atmosphere
around the hospital is the fact that nowadays the nurses and other staff are
allowed to express themselves in the style and colour of scrubs instead of the
drab blues and greens. The last time I had an overnight stay at St.Vincent’s
there were still a lot of nurses in the starched whites and of course, quite a
few nuns in habits. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was so upset yesterday; I even forgot the Dr.
Haaf came by to see me yesterday just after I moved. I don’t even remember what
we talked about except even he was starting to admit that Dr. McConkey was
being a little too cautious with my treatments. Speaking of McConkey, while she
was abusing my body, Jennifer, the physio, she and I were talking about him
watching my treatment on Friday and she could tell he was impressed with what
he saw. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just before lunch, a volunteer from the hospital
foundation came and gave each patient a poinsettia from the foundation, the
Deep Cove Lions Club and GardenWorks Nurseries. A lovely gesture and they are
pretty to look at but I have nowhere to put it. My space is so limited. But
thank you for this. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I’m hidden behind curtains a lot I’ve
learned a lot about listening to footsteps. I can usually tell whether it’s a
nurse coming, an administrator or a visitor. Despite my damaged hearing, I have
developed a knack for this. Some people have very distinctive cadences to their
walk. There was one facilities manager at the Coliseum that I could pick out
coming from at least thirty metres around the corner of the lower concourse.
Another example is my friend, Mona, although I did know she was on her way to
visit, I could pick out her footsteps from down the hall. I recognized them
from her walking past my bedroom every summer morning. Hey! Get your minds out
of the gutter! She was walking on the sidewalk outside my bedroom window on her
way to work. Jeez, what am I going to do with you people?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may have noticed a more upbeat tone to my
scribbling today over yesterday. I am absolutely elated to be out of room 623. Caitlyn,
the resource nurse, came in and told me the room was ready and then she and
Angie started moving my furniture and my bed to room 306. My mood changed
immediately and it didn’t hurt that Caitlyn would be looking after me. Although
I didn’t get the window seat I got a fun view any way. There’s a window to the
hall beside the door, I look directly at the nurse’s station. Layla walked by,
saw me and dropped in to say hello. When I told her where I had just been, she
rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t blame you I hate that room.” Amy took over
for Caitlyn (one cute one for another) and when I told her where I was she
confirmed my suspicion about 623 being the geriatric room and where they put
patients that aren’t that cognisant about their surroundings. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would like to point out my enjoying the fact
that Caitlyn and Amy does not belittle Cat. The nursing change came about
because 603 is on the other side of the orthopaedics floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cat was great the last two days. It’s easy to
look after someone who is happy but it’s difficult to help out a patient that’s
down and out. I made a point of thanking her for all her help these past couple
of days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting back to the view, from my window in 623
had a panoramic view of the harbour and the city skyline but view is no better
than looking at the wall if you are not happy. Even more ironic, because of my
height my direct sightline when sitting up was even with the wide window
mullion so it blocked my city and harbour view and I could only see the
rooftops of nearby apartments. I would have to lower my bed to the minimum or
raise it to the maximum to take advantage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Room 603 has a wonderful view of Grouse Mountain although
because of the separator curtain I can’t see but then again the view of Grouse
I’m longing for is the one looking out my window on Premier. <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Oh crap, another clue for Leslie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(BTW – The final clue can be found on my FB
cover photo.)</span> </span>And a special note to
Marla, just to keep me company and not get homesick for 621, the tap drips in
room 603.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was really thrilled to hear that the </span><a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Contractor+responsible+damage+from+falling+Port+Mann+Bridge/7727886/story.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TICorporation, the company responsible for the debacle on the Port Mann Bridge</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
has agreed to pay the deductible for cars damaged by the falling ice. How
magnanimous of them. ICBC (that would be us) still gets to pick up the tab for
the rest of the damage. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s a line I thought you only heard in poorly
written movies. Two elderly gentlemen were walking by my door after visiting a
friend further down the hall. “He’s seems to be doing well.” “Yes, he’s got
good colour.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natasha was my night nurse and she’s great. So it
was a good day all around.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as always I finished the day with a cookie, an
orange and Rachel with dreams of finally standing up tomorrow. :-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be continued...</span></div>
nightowl24http://www.blogger.com/profile/03385837215388764886noreply@blogger.com0