I finally got Dale home last Monday. Fortunately the nurse who handles wound care came in and showed me everything I would need to know to take care of the problem at Dale’s little toe. It was an open wound that needed to stay open to heal. This was the last concern of the hospital. Dr. Cope, the Dr. on call was very helpful and thorough. (Is it just me or do the new doctors look like teenagers?) Dr. Cope is about 6’4”, good looking and dresses quite casually. The first time he came in I thought he was the garbage emptying teenager. But I digress, he cleared Dale to go home with oral antibiotics and more pain medicine. It was only about 10 am so we decided to pick up Gracie and go all the way home. We both wanted to sleep in our own bed. But by the time I picked up the prescriptions at Walmart and got something for supper, loaded the car and thanked our friends it was going on two pm. We made it home by 4 and both just sat in a stupor for an hour. I didn’t realize just how tired I was until I stopped. But because I had to drive I drank coffee and coke so I wouldn’t fall asleep. It worked but now after supper I was still wound up. I had a restless night while Dale slept like a log.
We were happy that we didn’t have to go back to town for a whole week. When you are all involved in some kind of medical issues, time seems to stand still. You are away from your regular routine so you live in the moment. When the crisis is over you are often disorientated. When we got home we were still in the “medical mode” I still had to care for Dale. Sort out his pills and start a new regime. Make sure he is staying off his foot etc. This went on for a few days and I started to crave something that made us feel like a regular couple. We finally got out on the boat and that helped a lot.
Dale is gradually getting better but he sleeps often during the day. I am not sure if it’s just the pain pills or maybe a little depression. By Thursday I was pretty tired of waiting on him and asked him to try to help out. I think that really helped him get back on track. Today he is out fishing, his favorite thing, and in much better spirits.
During this last two weeks I had a bit of a plateau in my back pain. It leveled off and then eased considerably, which made it easier to take care of all the stuff I had to do in town. But it is flaring up again, in that I can walk easily but I can’t seem to bend down to pick up anything and have trouble getting in and out of a chair. But today is Friday and on Monday we are back to Spokane and several appointments We have to go back to Dale’s foot guy and get checked out and get a new prescription for his wound care, then off the Sacred Heart admissions for my pre-surgery appointment. That will take about an hour. Then over to another place where I will be fitted for a back brace, another hour. That should take care of the medical stuff. Then thankfully, we go to Home Depot to pick up the laminate for our new floor. Yeah!!
Monday
After a fun weekend on the boat we were ready for Monday’s appointments. We arrived in Spokane a little early so we went looking in thrift stores for a gismo for raising the toilet seat so I won’t have to bend. We finally found one but as usual I had to bring a few more things home with me. Good used bedding is easy to find in Thrift stores and we are now the proud owners of a almost new queen size bedspread, bed skirt, two pillow shams and a matching small pillow. All for $14.95. And I also got a carpet to match for another $7.00.
We went to Dale’s foot doc and he examined his foot, which to me looked gross. But after he took out some stitches and took off some dead skin, it looked quite a bit better. He said that the hole near his little toe was almost completely healed up. He said it was really rare for that kind of wound to close up in a week but he was very pleased. And so were we. Dale dropped me off at the Women’s Surgery Unit for my pre surgery testing. It was the usual, Blood, EKG, Urine, etc.. That done, I got the lecture on being careful, wash with disinfectant soap, don’t eat and such. It took an hour and a half but I guess it has to be done. Then we went over to Thompson’s Orthotic and got fitted for a back brace. It is a glorified version of the Home Depot back brace which when donned correctly it tightens much like a corset. It will be my close companion for the next 3 months.
All that is left to do is nip over to Walmart for a few things and home we go. Not to be! At the door I am warned that their system is down and the check-outs will only process cash and checks. The girl said that as of 30 minutes ago one ATM was still working if we needed cash. Of course I didn’t have a check blank with me so I rushed over to the ATM to stand in yet another line up, hoping all the time that the machine wouldn’t crash on me. My lucky day! I made it and withdrew $200 just to be sure. I did my shopping and hit a check-out to find that each time the scanner beeped it would wait about 10 seconds before responding. That slows the line down a lot so here I am again waiting.
Days Later
It is now Saturday and only 3 days till my surgery. Today everything hurts. It even hurts to breathe. I am back to 2 pain pills every 6 hours. That means a lot of naps.
Dale has been hard at work laying down my new beautiful laminate floor. The apartment finally looks like a real apartment instead of furniture on a basement floor. I am so pleased and will love it when I come back. Tomorrow we move back to our friend’s place where Dale will stay while I am in the Hospital. I am looking forward and fearing the operation. I just want it behind me.
I’ll send more when I can
Till then….
