WOW!! It's been quite a ride!! Michele, Alexandra, Todd and I left on time on Thursday and arrived at Hialeah Hospital at 6:15am.
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Michele doesn't seem too worried about her
surgery, does she?!? She's dozing in the waiting area! |
By 6:45 Michele was headed back to the pre op area. We wouldn't get to see her again until after her 4 hr almost full body lift surgery. At 12 noon we got a call from the OR that they were just starting her breast surgery and it would be another 2 hrs! We grabbed some lunch and then waited and waited and waited.
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| It was a long wait for all of us, especially Alex and Todd! |
At 3:00 we had the clerk call the OR and were told it would be ANOTHER hour. At about 4:15...7 hrs. later...the doctor came out and said everything went fine and that all the surgery she had usually takes 7 hrs. Apparently the sec'y misinformed Michele about the length of time. We were so relieved!! Alexandra went back to see her about a half hour later. We knew she would be really out of it due to anesthesia and pain killers, so we decided to leave. We were so tired! John came over and Todd rode his skateboard 2 miles down the road to bring back some food from McDonalds for Alex and him. Michele called later to ask if we could make arrangements to rent an SUV or minivan to bring her home in. This started a "tragedy" of errors. She had said something about being able to take the seats out. I thought she requested that, so she could get into the back seat easier. The next morning we picked up the minivan in Ft Lauderdale. The seats did not come out of this one but we felt there was plenty of room after pulling up the front seats. We were all at the hospital by 11:30. Todd and Alex were hoping to have John take them sight-seeing or to the zoo while I stayed with Michele. But she was doing very well and thought she might be leaving soon, so John didn't want to take the chance of leaving and then have to come right back.. They had taken her off of IV pain killers and removed the catheter, so all she had to do was make sure oral pain killers worked and she could "pee" before she could go home. Then one of the nurses accidentally cut one of the tubes on her drains, so we had to wait for a doctor to fix that. By that time she needed another pain pill and she had to wait an hour after that to leave. We never left the hospital until almost 7:00! When John pulled up in the minivan Michele asked about taking the seats out because she wanted to lay in the back because it was hard for her to sit up. She ended up reclining in the front seat. Todd and I drove the Jeep and went right to CVS to fill Michele's RX's. Unbeknownst to Michele her insurance had expired! While we were waiting I got a call from Alex saying they couldn't get into the condo because the bottom lock was locked (we didn't have a key for that one!) Michele was in the lobby on a pillow on a sofa. We ended up having to call a locksmith. John and Todd took the rental car back and 2 hrs and $129.00 later, at about 11:00 pm, we finally got into the condo. I felt terrible because I was the last one out the door in the morning, so I was the one who had accidentally locked the bottom lock from the inside. Michele was quite a trooper!! I got her settled in the recliner, John went back to Harvey and the rest of us went to bed. I had to get up every 2 hrs. to get Michele's pain pills for her. Luckily, I was able to go right back to sleep each time. When I got up Saturday morning, I must admit, I was expecting the worst. After watching how hard a time she had in the hospital I feared that I might not be able to handle it. And on top of that, my sciatica has been giving me fits, so I was in my own pain. But, through MANY peoples prayers and the grace of God, she was feeling much better and I was able to do my job as nurse Cindy. John gave the Jeep to the kids (he must have been half crazy because of loneliness) as a reward for the way they handled yesterday. They were elated and had a great time at the zoo. When they got back to the CG with the Jeep, John grilled hamburgers for them. Michele had a pretty good day.
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| No, she didn't have a sex change...those are her drains! |
She's sore, but the pain pills are keeping the pain away for the most part. Now, if only she could "pee"! On Sunday the kids gave me a break and told John and I to go out for a while. We had lunch at Lester's Diner, which was delicious, and then to Walmart to pick up a few things. We didn't want to go too far in case we were needed. On the way back we stopped at the Dandee Donut shop. Oh, my, it's almost as good as Maple Donuts back home!
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| The food was delicious and the waitress was great! |
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| Love that sign! |
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And, yes, we had dessert. John had
lemon/coconut cake...bottom right corner. I
had lemon meringue pie...YUM!
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| No words necessary!! |
John told me that he is not enjoying the CG very much. First of all, he is lonely without me there. But what makes it even worse is Kylie isn't there to keep him company either. He never realized how much inter-action he had with her! :( Also, the CG is FULL of French Canadians. They don't speak any English and don't even acknowledge a "hello". Seems to me that would be universal in any language! The neighborhood outside the CG is pretty rough, too. When we got back to the condo Michele was standing in the bathtub with cold water around her ankles and Alex holding the female urinal in place...and WO-LA...she went. Hey, whatever works!! Wish we had pictures of some of the ways Alex and I tried to help Michele with all that...sometimes we were practically standing on our heads to help!! Monday morning Michele realized she would run out of her pain meds, we called the office and it looked like we would have to drive to Miami to get s script. But the doctor kindly volunteered to meet us at a McDonalds in Hollywood at 12 noon, saving us about an hour and 15 minutes! Turns out he only lives about 20 minutes from there, but he wouldn'
t have had to do that! He really is a neat doctor! John left and Michele and I took a walk outside the condo, but it started to rain, so it was short.
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| What a view from the back balcony! |
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We see lots of boats every day, no matter
what the weather conditions are. |
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A close up of the pier...it's full of fisherman
all day long! |
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That's our balcony in the middle row 4 floors down
from the top. We're on the 14th floor. |
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| This is the view at night from the front porch. |
Tuesday morning the kids had to be at the Ft. Lauderdale airport by 4:30am for their 6:00 flight. Remember that 4:00am morning we thought we were done with...well, John was here at 4:00am to pick them up!! They got home just fine. That afternoon Michele and I walked out to the beach. She just wanted to get her feet wet and find a few nice shells.
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A large group of people on the beach. The loungers
in the background can be rented for $40/day. |
Wednesday was a dreary, rainy day, so we just hung out inside and watched some movies. Heather and Cooper called tonight. Heather had a job interview in Harrisburg. She said it went well and she should hear something by next Wednesday. Cooper told me about the late Christmas gifts he got from friends from Dry Run and "Aunt" Candy. Of course most of them were emergency vehicle related. He LOVES those!!
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Michele all tucked into her "upright" chair. Half her day
is spent in this chair or the recliner where she sleeps. |
Each day Michele makes a little more progress and needs a little less care. But I'm so glad to be able to be here because when she needs me...she really needs me! Thursday was a big day...Michele's first post op appt. The doctor was very pleased with her progress. Everything looked better than he expected. It was an eye opener for me to see all that was done. I call her "the Bride of Frankenstein" now. :) She was now allowed to take off the compression garment just long enough to shower and throw the garment in the wash machine. Oh, happy day!! Getting her back into the garment was quite a job and we were both in tears by the time we were done. Between that and getting in and out of the car, it really took a toll on Michele! She didn't have a very good night. It will be interesting to see what the next week brings.
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