How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 63

Episode 63 – January 1 – 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.  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*

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 Version 1.0, 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.

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.

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.

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. ;-)

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.

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.

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. :-)

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 “Journey to the Big Ditch” or get a more visual experience in my Facebook Album “Las Aventuras de “La Sombrera Rosada” y Dennis en Panamá Feb 12”. 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 “ButIt’s a Dry 110°” and view more photos at “Jen Jen & Den Den's ExcellentAdventure in Palm Springs July 2012” 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.

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  there were a few bits of peel.

And we are still in a holding pattern with regard to my move to rehab.

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? ;-)

To be continued...

How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 61

Episode 61 – December 30 – 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 something in a Sunday. 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.

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.

Layla is back again today and that’s a good thing.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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  exclaimed “Quick get Dennis another  cookie!”

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.

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. Another small world moment.

*Lorraine’s going to haunt me again for that link* ;-)

Finished off one of my berry muffins and hit the sack.

To be continued...

How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 60

Episode 60 – December 29 – 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.

The good thing is that I have Layla back as my day nurse so the weekend won’t be totally boring.

Pam called around 11 to let me know Clarabelle is okay and running fine. That’s one less thing to worry about.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Another Cookie by George, another orange and another blue pill then it was light’s out.

To be continued...

How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 59

 Episode 59 - December 28 – Today would have been the 61^st 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 click on this link to my photo tribute that tells you all about our special friendship.

This also marks the end of the eighth week since my surgery.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

Bryan stopped by before lunch just because he was in town. What a good kid! :-)

Adrienne, the physio came in and wanted to know if I was up to doing some walking.  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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

To be continued...

How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 58

Episode 58 – December 27 – 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  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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.  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.

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  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.

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. ;-)

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!!

I found a new pastime...I use my reacher to draw pictures scratching the dead skin on my feet.  Ewwww!!! ;-)

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. Click here for the link. The arrangement is fabulous.

Esther was my night nurse tonight for what could be for the last time if I move downstairs in the next few days.

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.

To be continued...

How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 57

Episode 57 – December 26 – 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.

This also starts the ninth week of my incarceration.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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?

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.

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.

 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.

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.

As per my usual routine, the night was completed with an orange, a chocolate goodie and a blue pill.

To be continued...

How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 56

Episode 56 – December 25 – Yes, everyone today was Christmas and I hope you all had a joyous day with your family and friends.

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.

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.

Well one lucky streak has ended. The fire alarm went off at Evergreen and it’s been quiet for a few weeks.  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.

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.

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.

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.

The Crown Prince showed up and was followed shortly by Mom and my sister, Kathy.

Just after mom arrived, my friend and co-worker, Ed appeared with his wife, Lois.

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!

At one point when you included Edna’s visitors I’m sure we were violating some sort of fire code bylaw.

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

.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.

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 n*** 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 defied gravity. (No Marla, I’m not going to link the song again. Oh hell, why not I love “Wicked”)

To be continued...