Monday, February 7, 2022

Places You Can Knit and Things You Can See

You can knit in the ER after you take John back for the second time in a week. On Thursday he couldn't stand up and had to crawl from the kitchen to the sofa. I was afraid it was another disc in his lumbar region acting up or maybe a kidney stone, but off we went to the ER after the trauma of getting him into his truck.


You can also knit in his truck with your Hitchhiker artfully draped over the steering wheel. After sitting in the ER for several hours and being told that they still needed an ultrasound and CT scan to have a better idea of what was going on, I thought that sitting in the truck might be a better place to wait. That was okay for a few hours, but then it got cold and my fingers got stiff, so I headed back to the ER to see what was happening.

By then the doctors had decided that it was not a lumbar disc issue nor a kidney stone, but a kidney infection. They gave John an injection for pain and wanted to keep him overnight to infuse IV antibiotics. That was about the best diagnosis we could have hoped for (no surgery or waiting for a kidney stone to pass). I headed home and got a good night's sleep.

I picked John up on Friday and I'm pleased to say that he can stand upright and walk almost normally. He's got antibiotics and pain meds. to take at home. This worked out fairly well; he was supposed to go into work on Thursday to sign some retirement forms and hand in his laptop and badge, but that didn't happen. He felt well enough for us to come down to MD yesterday and he is doing all the official wrapping up for retirement this morning. I'm packing boxes and we'll be getting ready to load some furniture. After this one, I count just two more trips!

While sitting in the hospital I paged through lots of magazines. I saw this in an issue of Real Simple, but it struck me as something I might want to remember.


It feels like I'm doing lots of things slowly because there are LOTS of things going on, but I'm not standing still and will have to remind myself of this periodically.

Another thing that I saw while waiting was a deaf couple arguing. A man and woman came into the ER clearly agitated. Their frustration grew when it seemed that nobody could understand them, and the staff called for someone who could sign. I felt terrible for them, but couldn't offer any assistance. While they waited, they started to argue with each other. The man was signing furiously with big gestures, punctuated by clapping, hitting his fist into his palm, and stamping his feet. The woman seemed a little less upset, but it was still obvious that they were in the middle of a fight. Someone finally arrived that could sign and helped them. I had never thought about it and I didn't want to stare or intrude, but I was oddly fascinated to see how much could be communicated without any words. I'm hoping that things were resolved as well for them as they were for John.

I hope your weekend was a little less eventful and didn't include any health issues, knitting in a truck in a cold parking lot, or awful arguments. I'm ready for a stretch of uneventful days, and I'll even take boring!

16 comments:

  1. Boring sounds pretty good at this point! Sorry about John's (and your) trip to the ER, but glad the outcome was what it was rather than surgery or something else. Hopefully he is feeling much better this a.m. and off to do all the retirement paperwork! I'm heading to my office for a long day - the longest in 3 years!! Not really looking forward to that...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so sorry to hear about John's troubles (and yours), and I am glad that he got the best resolution for the situation. I bet that argument between a deaf couple was hard not to watch! They can be so expressive, and it is fascinating to watch people sign. My weekend was not uneventful, unfortunately. The ice storm last Wednesday took out trees in my yard, which landed on the roof, and my yard is impassable. Most of the city lost power, and a lot of folks still don't have power. It has been really cold here, and people are reporting house temps in the low 40's. I don't know how they stand it. But then, they have no options. All hotel/motels are full. I still don't have power either, but I do have a backup generator, so we are at least warm. I am quite anxious about what I would do if it quit working since there is nowhere for us to go if it does. And my kitchen drain line has stopped working! ARGG! Overall, I am fortunate in the extreme since I am warm, but I assume it will quite some time before I can find a carpenter to fix the roof, a plumber to fix the line, get my yard cleaned up and get a tree taken down since they are still taking trees off power lines to restore power and get streets open for traffic. (It was lovely to get internet back Saturday night.) I am hopeful that this week will bring warmer temps, more restored power, and an improved situation. It's always scary when you are on the weather channel for a few days! Send good thoughts...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh dear. Spending part of a weekend in an ER is never a good thing, but I'm very glad to hear it had a good outcome -- and that you had knitting to keep you sane while you had to wait. I hope things continue to improve for him and that you can keep working on this Hitchhiker at home only!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, my. When it rains, sometimes it really pours doesn't it? I'm so glad John is already feeling better (thanks, antibiotics!), and so glad he's not going to begin his retirement with back surgery looming. I'm thinking of you and holding you in my heart while you go through this pre-retirement whirlwind of activity these days. Keep moving, Bonny. There will be time for rest soon. Very soon. XOXO

    ReplyDelete
  5. holy cow what a scary time, I'm glad it was 'just' and infection! I hope that it doesn't recur and that retirement papers are signed and you all are good to go!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my is right... gosh, I am glad John is home and on the mend! Two more trips... sounds almost perfect!

    And thank goodness for Hitchhikers... the perfect thing for all situations!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh boy! What a weekend! Here's to a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  8. First of all, sending healing wishes to John.

    Second ... an ER is a horrible place to be. Glad you could take refuge in the truck at least for a little while.

    Third .........when the pandemic started I had an awful time with the quiet, slow days. I have learned, they aren't so bad. Slow and quiet is more my style these days.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm glad John's outcome was positive and that he's feeling better. It sounds like you really took it all in stride and I'm impressed. Hooray for closing in on that retirement and less trips to Maryland.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm glad that John is feeling better and on the mend. I hope things go well as you move from MD and as John moves into retirement and hope this week is a good one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was feeling overwhelmed for a while, but now that John is on antibiotics, most of my issues involve the sale of the MD house and packing up. But those are good things to deal with because it hopefully means that we're moving towards a new phase of living in just one place and a simplified life. Wishing you a good week, too, Debbie!

      Delete
  11. If it's not one thing, it's another! I'm glad this turned out to be a relatively straightforward kidney thing. My dad put off telling his doctor about a pain in his midsection for too long, and long story short, he only has one kidney now. Don't wait, is my advice.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm glad that John will be OK, and that soon you will have his work and your move all wrapped up - hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am glad the ER staff could help John and hope he will feel better soon. What would we do without knitting - I don't know. A quiet week sounds good to me. I hope your life calms down soon.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I hope John's feeling better ... the ER is a scary place no matter what these days. and what a story about how he spent his last couple of days before retirement!! wishing you both a LONG string of uneventful days!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very happy you had a good resolution and that John is continuing the process of being free! Soon you'll even be free of the house. You're going to love it!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment! :-)