Back Home

It is 7:11, Sunday Evening.

I am back home!!!!
Jimmy picked me up around 5:00 and took me back over the smoothests roads he could find, and actually the ride was just fine. I had taken a precautionary dose of pain meds at the hospital and didn't even feel a twinge.

God, what a beautiful day to return! The sun was so bright, the snow had all melted, the air was so warm, spring has arrived...

I had my black cape rolled up in my lap, to buffer the scar, my blue hospital folder with the release papers on my lap and a danish pastry in my hand that Sophia had brought me from the farm store yesterday.

Seeing the landscape flow by, knowing I was on my way back home had a very surreal quality. I had looked at that same view out my window, that same static picture of the world outside the hospital for the last 8 days, and now that world had opened up and was twirling with an almost breathtaking speed past my car window.

Of course now I am sitting back in the dining room by the fire that Jimmy restarted a little while ago. God, this house smells so good: of a mixture of fire and food and just happiness! And then it is so quiet here! No clicks of IV machines, no noise from the air conditioning, no loud voices in the hallway, no roommate yelling into her phone, no nurses talking about tubes and meds and urin bags getting emptied or bowl pouches being adjusted... let alone the smell that comes with such activities. No more overcooked carrots, tea water that smells of coffee, ice water that tastes of chlorine... ahhhhh, soooo good to be home.

Jimmy and Constantin are in the kitchen cooking dinner together. Anina is doing homework (we think) and Sophia has gone to Kaya's birthday party.

I will go to bed early and sleep really, really well tonight.

Tomorrow is a new day.

I feel so very lucky, so very grateful, so very tender, and so very happy. And I can't even tell you why exactly. These feelings have no full rational explanation.

More to be discovered!
Enough for today.

Tomma


Accelerated Progress


It is 9:30, Sunday Morning.

I have already walked over one round of hallway track, been to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and had my breakfast sitting up watching the morning light soak up the night fogs. Little flocks of seagulls heading north looking like sparkling bands of stars as the sun hits their wings moving up and down.

Oh, you should see the speed with which I am making it out of bed now, see how much longer my strides are this morning, AND: I am without pain pills and my belly is fine!!!

....

In between this and organizing my e-mail inbox Dr Timmins came through again. He greeted me by saying: "you are quite the rock star!" With that he meant to tell me that my blood count has shot up since they took me off the IV. Seems that is good news too, because my night nurse yesterday Judy, told me that my numbers were "really" low, told me that my numbers were not only low but had been going down and down and down since the surgery. So she had read DR Timmins notice to simply take me off the IV and start giving me Iron with incredulity. She was in fact so concerned that she polled the other nurses on the floor who all agreed with her that if one of their patients had such low numbers, they'd have them on blood infusion yesterday. And the wonderful person she is, she felt she needed to call Dr Timmins and make sure he HAD seen these numbers, even though she confessed she was taking a chance of getting yelled at, she admitted that I didn't look the way my numbers sounded, but she just couldn't let this go.

So with this full nurse staff backup, she actually did call Dr Timmins and was politely informed that he thought these numbers were ok for me.

He had an extra big smile on his face when he made my bloodcount announcement. And his next sentence was:"You can go home today!" Wow!! That's it? Don't need to see Dr. Morrissey? No, I'll go for a check up in about three weeks, if I have questions I can always call, but for now I am free to go!!

Now you may imagine I have to make some phone calls.

Love you all!!! And see you soon in person!!
Tomma