The weekend in Lenox was eventful....and maybe I'll leave it at that. We had pot luck Friday night and laughed a lot. Saturday AM Harriet and I made breakfast for everyone, yum. Then a bunch of us went to the Shaker Village, which I enjoyed a LOT more than I thought I would. It was so very very interesting and the guides were excellent.
Saturday night we all went out to a great Italian restaurant, Frankie's. I had the linguine with clam sauce...the clams were tiny and so sweet. Sunday AM Harriet and I made breakfast again and then we all loaded up our cars and headed home.
In between there were moments of hilarity, drama and discovery. Overall I had a good time. We are planning to return in the spring. The house was very old and very nicely decorated and furnished. We did "tours" just checking out the artwork and then another tour to check out the different carpets! It is called the "Winter Palace" and was part of an estate that was landscaped by the same woman who did the landscape design for the Harkness Mansion...so we all felt a connection.
Robin and I rode together and we actually got lost on the way up....we ended up in NY! This was despite the fact that we had two GPS systems talking to us and we had handwritten directions! I think we were so engrossed in our conversation we missed the women telling us to leave the highway.
And on top of that, I got stuck in the wrong lane, went through the Speed Pass lane, when I don't have a speed pass! I immediately exited at the toll office and tried to pay the toll...they told me that I would get the ticket in the mail. Nice.
Oh and another expense from the weekend...my iPhone somehow got damp. I don't know how...it was working fine one minute and the next minute it was having problems...the screen was getting darker and darker. Then it was turning itself on right after I had shut it off...then it stayed on permanently, then the view finder was all cloudy and when I took the rubber protective cover off, there was a tiny bit of moisture inside. I don't know if it was from the radiator or steam from my bath...dunno, but the end result is that I had to buy a new one today.
Thursday I got a call that I needed to get a chest x-ray, lab work and an EKG done. HELLO! They wait to the last damn minute to tell me...so instead of being able to rest up Friday AM for my drive to MA in the afternoon, I'm having to fly down to New Haven for 9am.
I must have passed all the tests because there I was bright and early...5:30AM....Monday, going to the surgical center. The surgery went well and I was out of Recovery earlier than Sandy thought I would be. He said it was a HUGE hernia, he had to use two of the largest size mesh pieces. I also have seven laproscopic holes in me...four on my right side and three on my left, where he went in to tighten things up for me.
I was up and walking before 4pm...much to the nurse's surprise...but they don't know me. I'm the walker when I'm in the hospital. I had the room to myself, it was very quiet in my hallway, only one other person there. I dozed in 20 and 40 minute intervals, as I always do in the hospital...all day and all night. I got up to pee every 20-40 minutes all night, so I got plenty of practice in getting out of bed....OUCH!
I had a student nurse working with me yesterday and I taught her some things. We had nice talks and she is going to do all right for herself. Sandy came down around 11 with Truman and Rocky in the car. They had been to their PT appts and they came right from there. We hurried the discharge procedure along and we know how to do and I was out of there around noon.
So good to be in my own bed, but now I need the pillow to protect my stomach from loving dogs. I'm using Bubbie's big pillow from her car kennel. It was just washed because she had puked on it and it is bigger than the pillow Linda made for me (the one I usually use)...this one is big enough to cover the open area as well as the laproscopic holes. And, by the way, they are all glued shut! COOL. No staples...I have stitches and big gobs of glue on the wound sites.
Well...it's almost time for me to take my pain pill and climb the stairs to bed. I love my own bed, but it would be so much easier for me if it had side rails to grab onto and pull myself around. I can't use my abdominal muscles yet. It's a bitch to get out of bed when you have nothing to grab onto.
I think today will be the worst of it...tomorrow should be 100% better. That's what I'm counting on anyway.
Nighty night!
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