First graders and hospital patients

After school on Thursday, when I usually just want to go home and collapse after two days of wrangling first graders, I drove to the downtown hospital, only five minutes from Columbia, left my car at the top of the parking garage and walked down four flights of stairs to see my friend Ramona. You remember Ramona, the one with the traumatic brain crisis. Ramona who is on the ninth floor, in the neuroscience wing.

One of her twin daughters was there with her today. They had just returned from radiation. I’m guessing that Ramona has/had a brain tumor that exploded. She still cannot form words but she can make more sounds so I think the prognosis is good that she will regain some speech. Maybe all. She is well enough to be moved to a continuing care facility on Friday.

I showed Ramona the pig puppet I used with today’s book, “Little Pink Pup,” a true story about a dachshund that adopted a newborn pig when its siblings pushed it away. She took the book in her one good hand and read through the story. I had pig stickers that I shared with her and her daughter. She seemed pleased. Next week’s story has a penguin in it and I told her I’d bring the book to share with her at her new place. There are penguin stickers, too.

A pacemaker changes the pace of the day

Today started very early. A friend of mine had to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. for a pacemaker installation, and Terry and I were driving her there. I felt like all those mornings when I got up to go to school. It was dark and chilly, and I had a schedule to keep. No lingering over the newspaper, no checking emails or Facebook or Twitter. We were actually rolling out of the driveway at 5:15, pretty good for people who sleep till nearly 7 most days. Oh, we’ve become so lazy in retirement.

Although told she would only be at the hospital for the day, when the attendants came to take her to surgery, they informed my friend she would probably be staying the night. Made sense to me because I think of a pacemaker as a major surgery, but I guess it’s one of those operations like gall bladder or appendix removal. All simplified and now outpatient procedures. Terry and I came back home to await a call from the hospital, but in the meantime, there were chores to be done.

While Terry mowed the lawn, I sorted and did five loads of laundry, made a pasta casserole and a pea salad with the fresh peas that came in the CSA box yesterday. I also typed up a medical history list for my friend. This morning, at the hospital, she pulled out two tattered sheets of paper, covered on both sides with medical procedures, doctors, medications, allergies, and other such information that tells the story of her medical history, all handwritten. Thought it was time it was computerized.

I’m supposed to be working on the layout of a newsletter for a nonprofit agency, but I seem to be putting it off. I have written four stories for it, but something is going to have go if we are to get all the information into the two pages. Mornings are the best for me when working on such projects. My brain is fresh and clear and my energy level is high. Guess that’s how I got so much done this morning before 11:30. But, I will work on the newsletter later since I probably won’t be returning to the hospital to pick up my friend until tomorrow. Guess I need to pick up the pace this afternoon!

former student hospitalized

I hate going to the hospital, either as patient or visitor.  Sometimes, though, you have to make the trip.  Yesterday was one of those times.  My teaching partner and I had learned earlier in the week that a former student was hospitalized again with a very serious, life-threatening disease.  This is a great little gal who was a valedictorian (we get very few of those in our program) who had gone on to college and has worked for one of our business partners.  She has been successful at everything she does except battling this disease.  Even at that, she is a fighter.  We are praying she will win this battle and again be healthy.