How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 39

...once upon a time...

Episode 39 – December  8 – Today marks the beginning of week six according to my surgeon’s calendar. This is also the day I was supposed to go to see Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna” with the Crown Prince but the best laid plans of mice and men oft go asunder. Oh well, he and his friend should have a great time. I haven’t ruled out going after I get released either in Vancouver in January or in Seattle the following month depending on my capabilities.

Today is also the 32^nd anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon. There are three events in history that people of my generation remember exactly where there were when they heard or saw them; the assassination of JFK, Neil Armstrong and the assassination of John. I remember being in my living room watching Monday Night Football with the rest of the Four Mouseketeers, Rooster, Junior and BJ when the game was interrupted with the announcement. We all sat there in stunned silence. John made a difference both with his music and teachings about peace and he would have made a huge difference if he was still with us.

It was a rough night sleeping. First just before I was about to retire at 10:30 when I saw a woman heading down the hall carrying a pair of crutches being followed by two very young children. About fifteen minutes later we heard one of the kids screaming which woke everyone up. Then just around 1 AM, I was startled awake by Denise who was concerned my Bipap machine wasn’t working and I had stopped breathing. My nasal attachment had slipped off my nose and it just required a slight adjustment. At around 4,A dementia patient down the hall and started yelling and woke everyone on the floor up and I never was able to get back to sleep. I have also discovered that I am not the only one that snores and actually with my bipap I don’t do it anymore. The two women in my room go at it pretty good.

This reminds of the time I went up to Whistler for New Year’s many years ago. There were at least thirty of us crammed into the reasonably large “cabin” as they called it and people were sleeping everywhere. I was lucky enough to lay claim to a bed upstairs although I was only allowed the box spring. The mattress was claimed by my friend, Sheri. Three more people had claimed chunks of the floor. Half way through the night I found that the other three had cleared out and closed the door. I thought it was my snoring but then it dawned on me that I shouldn’t be able to hear my own snoring and I looked down at the foot of the bed and coming out of this cute little blonde were the sounds of a warthog mating. Her four sisters were laughing about it in the morning because they knew better and slept on the floor downstairs.

Checking Facebook this morning, a friend who does a lot of blogging had posted a note asking all her friends to check out my blog and drop me a line. Damn, I’ve almost gone viral. ;-)

Thanks, Nancy and Go Huskers!

My new nurse today is Maggie. I’ve never seen her on this floor so she must be a pool nurse. She seems a bit green but Esther is also working in the room so that helped.

It was a big bonus day today at breakfast. They gave me two pancakes with some low calorie syrup instead of my regular slice of whole wheat. However, I am pretty sure pancakes are not supposed to bounce and the edges were so hard that I had to saw them with the knife.

During breakfast there was another Code Red and again it was in Evergreen. I guess I know where my got to. Tanya, you have to have a long chat with your friend over there and get her to figure why this happens so often. I’m sure the firefighters aren’t pleased when they have to respond to these calls constantly and I’m sure the city is billing the hospital for all these calls.

The Crown Prince dropped by before heading out to the show with some new ear buds and my mail so I got to visit with some of my new coins before sending them back home with him.

They made a slight error on my lunch menu today. The card read diced pears but they sent me vanilla pudding instead. Because my glucose readings had been so good (5.9 this morning) I decided to eat it. Best way to describe it as it was pudding, plain and simple.

Vicki was finally able to be discharged this afternoon and tomorrow both Cheryl and Paul are scheduled to leave so that means I’ll have a whole new set of party animals coming through room 621. A new woman, Lisa arrived at 6 with a cast on her ankle. It has been quite n*** around here for the last week having other patients to talk to.

I just noticed that I am able to watch programs from the Food Network on line via Shaw On Demand. Somehow this does not sound like a good idea.

Sandi dropped in to visit and tell me all about all the problems she’s having with her dad and the lack of care he’s been getting. She was a bit entertaining because her and Art had been sharing a wee dram or two of the nectar.

Denise checked again tonight as my night nurse so I knew I had to be on my best behaviour or she would find some devious way to punish me.

And at 9:30 once again the Code Red alarm went off and you guessed it, it was in Evergreen and once again the firefighters from across the had to gear and drive the rig around the corner before an all clear sign was given.

Paul and I shared a couple a couple of mandarin oranges before retiring however in hindsight maybe we should have taken up Sandi’s offer to bring the scotch over for a nightcap.

I was obviously tired from my lack of sleep because I could only manage to read one page of my book before the words started dancing. I really would like to get more into “Shantaram” because I am enjoying what little I’ve read so far and even though I had never heard of it at least four people have seen it on my table had commented that they had read it and loved it.

I was so tired by 10 I had to get Kevin to tell Denise to hurry with my Benadryl and sleeping pill so I could call it quits for the night.

...to be continued...