Hospital Episode II

Ellyn is back, this time planned. She had her colostomy reversal surgery today and Dr. Bussell said all went well. She is currently in recovery and I am waiting in the visitor's lounge on the 10th floor waiting for her to come up to her room. They said they were going to block off one side of a semi-private room for her and let me sleep in the other bed. There is a woman here who is waiting for her husband as well and heard me talking to the nurse manager about that and she also asked to be able to stay tonight in his room. Looks like they will be able to accomodate us both.

We were there!

Springsteen delivers a backyard blowout - The Boston Globe

Ellyn and I just got back from our May vacation and the highlight was seeing Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band in Boston. It was a great concert and the weather could not have been better for it. The only thing that would have been better would have been if we had closer seats.



Here is an interesting link to a site which lists all of the songs on the CD and several from the tour, and lists the artists who have recorded them over the years.

On vacation

We are traveling in CT, taking a little time off before Ellyn has to go back for more surgery. Here is a photo we took today in Old Saybrook, right on the Connecticut River, just after a thunderstorm went through, of a brilliant double rainbow.


by geoff0522

The narrowest stairway ever.

The narrowest stairway ever.
Originally uploaded by GeoffNascar.

Some photos from Logan and Maureen's move on May 20th from Naughatuck, CT to Boston, MA. Sigh! They will be 2 hours further from us but we think they will be very happy in their new condo.

No brag, just fact

Maureen has graduated from medical school and she and Logan will soon be moving to Boston for her residency. It is so great. They should close on their new condo tomorrow and move on Saturday. We are so excited for them.

There is a great article about the graduation here. It was a rainy, cool day but it was not that noticable. We had a great luncheon afterwards in Hartford.

I love peepers!

However, I do not live near any. I guess they also drive frogs nuts.



Info on peepers

Coming attractions

Ellyn found out yesterday that she will have her second surgery on June 1st. She seemed pretty happy about it, although it will mean more pain. It will also mean the end of colostomy bags.

Turkey!

Ain't it the truth?

Under the Knife Again

Ellyn is having another surgery this morning. Her knee surgery, which was originally schedule for January, has been postponed until now. This is very minor surgery and she should be up and around in just a few days.

Big Changes

So there are some big changes happening in our family. Brian just got a new job after being unemployeed for a few months. He started yesterday for Athenahealth in Watertown, MA, closer to his apartment than the other job at TV Guide was. Atenahealth (yep, one word) writes computer programs to help doctors bill to insurance and medicare.

Logan has found a new job in Southborough, MA, at Texterity. They publish online magazines. He needs this new job because in May, Maureen graduates from UConn Medical School and starts her residency at Boston Medical Center.

Additionally, Logan told us today that he and Maureen have put an offer in on a condominium in Boston. Pretty exciting stuff.

Spring is springing!

Spring is springing!
Originally uploaded by GeoffNascar.

I took this picture this morning when I saw these cute little 1 inch sprouts coming up near our garage door. I love spring!

Political cartoons

I like to read them as well as the "funnies", both ones created by the "liberal" cartoonists and by the "conservative" cartoonists. So this one by Chuck Assay, who falls into the middle somewhere, I think, caught my eye.



Now, I believe I know what he is trying to say, how education used to be about getting out and working and was much simpler, but I think he missed the final point about "going home to live with the parents". His final panel, instead of being about education being about more than just the 3-Rs, should have been about the output, into a world of immense national deficits, Iraqi war, and increasing energy "costs" should have been the point.

Also, he missed the fact that many of the things he shows as being taught in today's schools are now being set aside, including science, geography and history (doomed to repeat?) for the original 3-Rs so that children can pass the national testing requirments of the ridculous "no child left behind" policy.

Back to Work

Ellyn at least. She started back part time on Friday and started driving herself yesterday. Now I have to start making some progress here at home when I am not working. I had a bunch of jobs in the past week and have some more lined up for early next week. Meanwhile, I have the bathtub torn out of the bathroom and am about to plumb in the drain and shower heads.

Home!!!

Whew, finally. After a horrible 16 days, we are in our own home again. Now comes the chore of getting Ellyn comfortable and well again. She is resting in her own bed now and I am happy for that. I will be glad to sleep in a decent bed again for the first time in more than 2 weeks. Whew!

Nor today but tomorrow?

Maybe. Doctors are hopeful, as are we, and Ellyn is much more comfortable sitting up in a chair since they removed nearly a liter of fluid from near her lung. Now she just has a pain from the incision they made to do the draining.

Nope

Not today. Ellyn had the CT scan and they found fluid on her lung. So they drained it and now we will have to stay at least one more night. Groan! Another night on the rollaway. Looking forward to getting into a much more comfortable bed.

Going Home?

The doctors thought we might be able to go home today, but then they thought up some more tests they could run. Ellyn had another CT scan this morning because she had a high heart rate and they thought she could have a pulmonary embolism due to blood clots in her legs. That was negative but they did find some fluid near her lung. We are waiting on a doctor to check that out.

I went home for about 4 hours yesterday to clean up the bedroom for Ellyn's return, since that is where she will be spending most of her time. I also put her chair from the addition up there.

Euphoria and dread

The surgeon this morning said Ellyn could go home tomorrow. Her white cell count was normal in yesterday's blood test. However, this means I have to go home today and ready the house for her. Lots of clean up to do. Ellyn is not quite as happy about this as I am, because she reminded me, it only changes the location of where she is in pain. She is still uncomfortable sitting up, although she is strong walking around and certainly not in as much pain as she was. She has said it sounds funny to her to have people asking about how it feels to have been in the hospital for so long because, for her, the first ten days or so were just a fog and only for the past two or three does she remember with any clarity. Actually, it has all kind of flowed together for me too. In some ways it seems a lot less than two weeks and in other ways, it seems like forever.

It will be wonderful to sleep in our own bed again, although I may sleep in the other room for a while, as Ellyn may be too nervous about me sleeping in the bed with her. The possibility of me rolling over and hitting a sensitive spot might be too much for her.