Viki had us over for dinner. Patrick, Robert's nephew, was in town
and staying at Viki's. Also there was Pam's sister Peggy, Liza,
Ellery and Vernon. That's quite a crowd in Viki's dining alcove, but
it worked. She served a really delicious bean soup with salad and
bread to go with it. We had a delightful time. She also served a
carrot cake with 88 lit candles to celebrate Robert's birthday. He
blew them all out.
Monday, October 28
Today, to celebrate Robert's birthday again I had invited the Mosburgs
for dinner to come at 5 and eat at 6. We had a roasted leg of lamb,
Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, salad and pecan pie. It was good
to see them and the conversation was lively. A very nice evening.
Tuesday, October 29
Connie's birthday. Robert had an appointment at the VA to see Dr.
Braun. We left about 10 so Robert could get the lab done before he
saw the doctor. Our appointment with Dr. Braun was at one. We had
lunch in the cafeteria and arrived at the 6th floor at 1. Dr. Braun
called for us at 1:20. We knew he was double booked and he mentioned
one of the double booked patient had cancelled, but he still had
Robert and #3. We assumed he would rush through our appointment, but
he didn't. He answered all our questions and more until 2:20. So
Robert is set for chemo on the 14th. He'll have two days of chemo;
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 30
We dropped off the Prius at Prius Hybrids today. Paul has found a
door for our Prius and it is the same color as ours. He will take it
all to a body person and get the whole side of the car fixed. I had
assumed fixing the doors, et al would cost $6000.00 and perhaps it
would have if we went to the shop the dealer recommended, but it only
cost $1100. That's a lot of money and I'm sorry I smashed up our
little car, but happy to have it getting fixed.
After we dropped off the car we went to Cafe Alvarez where the NCAR
group meed every Wednesday. That was fun. Buck, Dennis, Vince and
Chervin were there in addition to us.
In the afternoon a flower arrangement was delivered. Robert asked the
woman who was delivering them who they were from and she said,
"Someone named Martha." It's a lovely arrangement set in a ceramic
pumpkin.
Thursday, October 31 Happy Halloween
A lovely day during the day, but it quite cool when it was time for
the trick or treaters to be about.
I went to Nancy's to get my hair done. She was also able to show me
how to get rid of the mark on my hair where the CPAC strap goes. It
is very annoying to go to bed with my hair looking half way decent and
then I wake up and it's packed down as though I had been wearing a
baseball cape all night.
Friday, November 1
This morning I ruined the whole day. I went our early to put up the
flag; the wind was blowing some so I had some trouble getting it up.
When I finally got it up I stepped back to see how it looked. I hooked
a heal over the little curb around the rose garden and over I went
with a bang. I swear you could hear that bang for quite a way, but
not in our house. Head injuries always bleed a lot and since I'm
taking warfarin it might have been bleeding even more. In any case
there is a lot of blood in our drive way. Poor Robert, he hadn't
slept well so had gotten up to sit on the couch for a while and had
gotten sleepy and was sound asleep when I came in. I called to him
from the back entryway and said I needed help. "I fell", I said and
"I bumped my head really bad and it's a bloody mess." He came then
and looked at the mess and wondered if we could fix it at home and I
said, "No, we have to go to the ER ASAP." He went to get dressed and
I sat and bled. We went to Avista. I'm not real happy with their ER,
but going there saves us having to fill out any paper work because I
am in their computer. The receptionist told us to sit in the waiting
room and the nurse would be out in a few minutes. I had a black
jacket on such that the blood didn't show. The nurse finally came and
as we were walking into the ER, I said that I had fallen and hit my
head really hard on the concrete and you should be informed that I am
on warfarin. That stirred them up; suddenly I was a trauma II and
people came from all directions. They had me on the gurney with a
color on my neck before I could say much more. Then I was raced to
the ct scan room. I wasn't allowed to get off the gurney and on to the
ct scan bed,they had to roll me onto a board and then move the board
to the ct bed and then slide the board out from under me. All this
time they kept saying not to move anything. It all seemed a little
silly sine I had walked in there. What ever, It turned out my neck
and spine were fine and I wasn't bleeding into my brain! All this
time I am bleeding you understand. Finally, the doctor came and they
poured something cold over my head, trying to get the blood out of my
hair. Dr. Oakes wanted to use staples, but the wound had been open
too long...and whose fault was that?....and had swollen. I had put
ice on the wound, but the first thing they did was take my ice away.
She stuck me with an anesthetic and was off to tend to someone else.
She was the only doctor on duty and things were quite frantic. I
overheard someone say she has to talk to the officer. So, car
accident, domestic violence, dog bite? Finally, Dr. Oakes came back,
wiped more blood away and started to sew my wound together. Suddenly
someone called her and she said, "I have to leave, but I'll be right
back." She came back about 10 minutes later to resume the stitching.
As soon as she started, I sucked in my breath, and she asked what was
the matter. I told her the anesthetic had worn off, but keep going.
I don't want another anesthetic stick and then wait. I'd like to get
this over so I can go home. Fortunately there were only two more
stitches to do. Connie had planned to come to the house so I had
called her to say where I was and what had happened. She came to the
hospital instead of the house. I was happy to see her.
We finally left for home. Connie brought all sorts of goodies for us,
the primary one being beef stew. That was lovely! [aside, there is a
flicker at my feeder. He has somehow managed to balance on one of the
perches and is having a grand feast]
Saturday, November 2
After yesterday, I was still exhausted today. I'm a bit anemic to
start with and losing more blood didn't help. It was a lazy day for
me. But, the Erie Cowleys arrived about 5ish bringing Take Out from the Outback
Steak House. Yum! It was good to see all three, but especially Gabby. She has
blossomed in High School. She says she loves it; the poplar girls are really sweet
and the ...well some just don't get involved.
