April 25, 2006 (8:00pm)
Gary had another CT scan of his head this afternoon to see if they might have missed some fracture that could be causing some mechanical difficulty with his hearing, but they found nothing to indicate that. They did find a mass of fluid (the doctor illustrated by rubbing his hand along his neck under the ear) that they feel is the source of the problem, and are hoping that it will soon be absorbed. I hope that happens soon; mostly for his comfort, but also so I don’t have to raise my voice so much. I feel like I am straining it when I read Dylan to him. He asked me to bring the Jimmy Carter book this afternoon (“Our Endangered Values”), but I forgot. I have it packed to go for this evening. We listened to a book on tape for awhile, one borrowed from my critique group friend Jamie, but I confess I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was standing there thinking that what he really likes is biographies, and wondering if I should try to find a place to rent some, or to go on the web and make use of a service my sister Janet found where you can rent books on tape. I don’t know if the latter would be worth it. Hopefully soon he’ll be where he can use his laptop, and then we’ll make use of the Netflix subscription my brother Joe and sister-in-law Dolores have offered to get for us.
They may soon remove the huge cast he has on his right hand and replace it with something lighter. It seems amazing how they’ve got that whole hand so wrapped up when all he broke on it was one finger. Of course, it was a serious break.
Today I sallied forth to buy a printer for my laptop – this way I’ll be able to print off some of the emails you’ve been sending and show them to him. I was proud of myself for figuring out how to get it working (though I won’t admit to you how long that took me); the only problem is that there is something wrong with the power cord – it keeps falling out of the back of the printer. Granted, I am not the most mechanical of people (like not at all), but I am sure I am sticking that cord in right. So now I’ll have to go back for a replacement. I hate having to do that kind of thing – feels like a waste of time to have to correct someone else’s mistake. Maybe I’ll get lucky and there will be a place to rent books on tape nearby.
Found a grocery store about 8 blocks away from the hotel. Being used to Kroger I found this place anachronistic. The overhead signs were uninformative and I ended up going up and down every aisle for the few things I wanted. Fortunately it was a small store. At the checkout counter was a booklet, “Pregnancy for Dummies.” I’d rather the dummies not get pregnant. :-) Gary said they’re going to get pregnant anyway, so it’s good to have this book.
One thing that makes me smile, is that when Gary wants to ask the nurse something and I am there but have moved out of the way to let her do her thing, instead of tapping the words out on the paper to her, he insists on having me come over and read what he is saying. Personally, I don’t think I do it any better than the nurses do, but it touches me that he wants me to do it. (I hope he is not going to be too embarrassed when he reads some of the things I’ve been writing. Maybe I shouldn’t give him the address of the web page.)
I am happy to report that the neighbors from hell were only here that one day. Turns out there was some “big” motorcycling racing going on, and Michael Jordan was here. This is the kind of thing I would print out whoop-de-do for. Well, now I’m not surprised at the type of people who were inhabiting the hotel that day. (Oops, my prejudices are showing.) I also found out that there is some big car racing event coming up, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar thing happens.
Someone said the hospital should have some kind of housing for families of people in the hospital, and in fact, they do. I have been on the waiting list for it since I got here, but it’s anyone’s guess as to when something might open up for me. It would be like a small apartment with a kitchenette, and would cost about a tenth of what I am paying for my hotel room. It is a bit farther than where I am right now – I’d have to walk through another building of the medical center and then walk outside for a block. At night, they tell people not to walk outside, because this isn’t the best of areas – one calls for a shuttle. But who knows if something will open up. There are two women who have been here a few days longer than me. They literally live in the 8th floor waiting room of the NICU where Gary was at first. There are a few couches there that they have taken over. I wouldn’t survive that kind of setup.
All for now.
Gary had another CT scan of his head this afternoon to see if they might have missed some fracture that could be causing some mechanical difficulty with his hearing, but they found nothing to indicate that. They did find a mass of fluid (the doctor illustrated by rubbing his hand along his neck under the ear) that they feel is the source of the problem, and are hoping that it will soon be absorbed. I hope that happens soon; mostly for his comfort, but also so I don’t have to raise my voice so much. I feel like I am straining it when I read Dylan to him. He asked me to bring the Jimmy Carter book this afternoon (“Our Endangered Values”), but I forgot. I have it packed to go for this evening. We listened to a book on tape for awhile, one borrowed from my critique group friend Jamie, but I confess I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was standing there thinking that what he really likes is biographies, and wondering if I should try to find a place to rent some, or to go on the web and make use of a service my sister Janet found where you can rent books on tape. I don’t know if the latter would be worth it. Hopefully soon he’ll be where he can use his laptop, and then we’ll make use of the Netflix subscription my brother Joe and sister-in-law Dolores have offered to get for us.
They may soon remove the huge cast he has on his right hand and replace it with something lighter. It seems amazing how they’ve got that whole hand so wrapped up when all he broke on it was one finger. Of course, it was a serious break.
Today I sallied forth to buy a printer for my laptop – this way I’ll be able to print off some of the emails you’ve been sending and show them to him. I was proud of myself for figuring out how to get it working (though I won’t admit to you how long that took me); the only problem is that there is something wrong with the power cord – it keeps falling out of the back of the printer. Granted, I am not the most mechanical of people (like not at all), but I am sure I am sticking that cord in right. So now I’ll have to go back for a replacement. I hate having to do that kind of thing – feels like a waste of time to have to correct someone else’s mistake. Maybe I’ll get lucky and there will be a place to rent books on tape nearby.
Found a grocery store about 8 blocks away from the hotel. Being used to Kroger I found this place anachronistic. The overhead signs were uninformative and I ended up going up and down every aisle for the few things I wanted. Fortunately it was a small store. At the checkout counter was a booklet, “Pregnancy for Dummies.” I’d rather the dummies not get pregnant. :-) Gary said they’re going to get pregnant anyway, so it’s good to have this book.
One thing that makes me smile, is that when Gary wants to ask the nurse something and I am there but have moved out of the way to let her do her thing, instead of tapping the words out on the paper to her, he insists on having me come over and read what he is saying. Personally, I don’t think I do it any better than the nurses do, but it touches me that he wants me to do it. (I hope he is not going to be too embarrassed when he reads some of the things I’ve been writing. Maybe I shouldn’t give him the address of the web page.)
I am happy to report that the neighbors from hell were only here that one day. Turns out there was some “big” motorcycling racing going on, and Michael Jordan was here. This is the kind of thing I would print out whoop-de-do for. Well, now I’m not surprised at the type of people who were inhabiting the hotel that day. (Oops, my prejudices are showing.) I also found out that there is some big car racing event coming up, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar thing happens.
Someone said the hospital should have some kind of housing for families of people in the hospital, and in fact, they do. I have been on the waiting list for it since I got here, but it’s anyone’s guess as to when something might open up for me. It would be like a small apartment with a kitchenette, and would cost about a tenth of what I am paying for my hotel room. It is a bit farther than where I am right now – I’d have to walk through another building of the medical center and then walk outside for a block. At night, they tell people not to walk outside, because this isn’t the best of areas – one calls for a shuttle. But who knows if something will open up. There are two women who have been here a few days longer than me. They literally live in the 8th floor waiting room of the NICU where Gary was at first. There are a few couches there that they have taken over. I wouldn’t survive that kind of setup.
All for now.
posted by Peg Daniels at 8:19 PM
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