November 21
George and the boys took these on a nice hike they took while I was recovering from surgery. This is my favorite of the bunch.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Slugs and Mushrooms
Friday, November 20, 2009
Carol's Surgery Adventure
Thursday, November 19
After a trip to see Dr. Tsai at Samaritan Orthopedic on Monday, he scheduled me for surgery today.
They have new gowns since my angiogram! You connect it up to the blue device with the white hose, and it keeps you warm the whole time you wait. In this case, we had to wait 3 hours and 45 minutes before the surgery because Dr. Tsai had a morning emergency surgery that bumped everyone back. No worries, see what I did with the time below.
Pre-Op Waiting
The long wait allowed me to read my new favorite book: Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank C. Laubach. It is about a man's experiment to live in a conscious moment-by-moment communion with God! Perfect for someone facing surgery!
(George is always taking pictures of me reading - I really need to make a book of all the photos he has taken over the years)
I also listened to Shakespeare's classic comedy, As You Like It, as I waited. I had only 8 minutes to go when the anesthesiologist came to call. He said I could finish but then the operating room nurse, Ruth Ann (I had a good friend named that growing up so I remembered), came in to prep me.
I was able to finish within one minute after surgery and before I was discharged, and finished it when I got home!
Any day I can finish a book is a good day!
Results of Surgery
He got the RIGHT foot. It has a pin in it to hold the tendon together.
Apparently, I didn't say anything incriminating under anesthetic other than, "I hope I don't say anything weird." Then, I was out. I woke up out of dream where we were discussing As You Like It with the people in the OR, but no one was interested in discussing it when I actually woke up. Go figure.
The OR recovery nurses were talking about a recent Oprah show, and I chimed right in (very disturbing topic so I watched it on Tuesday). I popped right out of the grogginess, unlike last time I went under.
Recovery
The end of what proved to be a very pleasant experience at Good Samaritan Hospital. Thank you all for your great care of me!
On to recovery!
Lunch at Noha's
November 18
Noha made me an off-the-charts Egyptian meal. Her mother-in-law came to visit at the end. It was a delightful afternoon.
Happy 15th Birthday Paul!
Paul is a true blessing in our lives. He is sweet, kind, considerate, responsible, talented, and funny!
Game of Life
Paul loves Board games, and this is one I actually liked growing up. So, we look forward to playing it as a family!
Visitors Enjoy Teh Tarik
November 18
It was so great to finally meet Johnny. He lived in Malaysia for five years, but we did not overlap. I made he and his friend, Mohammed, a Teh Tarik (Sweet Malaysian Pull tea). Mohammed was a sweet guy from Libya!
Trip to Urgent Care
November 14
At 5:45 a.m., I removed the sugar bag from the cupboard to make Chai tea. This set off a chain reaction: the raisin bag fell against the pepper shaker, it fell out of the cupboard onto a 16 oz glass tumbler breaking it, the broken glass descended on to my foot cutting through the skin AND the extensor tendon for my big toe.
I tried to go get George (who was sleeping in the bedroom) by walking across the floor trying to apply pressure without getting blood on the carpet. When I realized this was futile. I whispered down the hall, and my Mr. Knightly sprang into action. Paul (who was sleeping downstairs and a family practice doc) came an hour later and said I needed to go to Urgent Care. We had to wait until it opened at 9 am. I got it stitched up by 10:15, but I got the grim news that I would probably need surgery to reconnect the tendon.
Moral of the story: Do not make Chai tea without steel toed boots in the kitchen.
Cleaned Wound
I won't put the gory one on. If you want to see it, click on this one and go back a few pictures in my photostream, and you will see it!
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