All's Quiet on the Hospital Front

The television system at the hospital is broken so there's no TV going on right now (or for hours today). Ron is sleeping and I'm listening to the sounds of the IV pump running. He's getting two units of blood this afternoon because his hemoglobin is 7.8, which is about 1/2 of what it should be (for a normal person; they'd be pretty happy if his was 11-12). His temperature is down and the nurse said his "foot" looked much better today - not nearly as red as it was even yesterday, so that is very good news indeed.

They are taking his vitals every 15-30 minutes to make sure that he's not having a "transfusion reaction" (never heard of that before) and so far, he seems to be doing just fine. He was up in his chair for quite a while today so he probably needed to sleep.

Me? I'm chillin' with my 'puter, my water jug, and some crackers. Got my A/C fixed this morning; called poor Skippy literally in tears because I said I had to get my "pity party" out of the way before I got to the hospital (I knew Ron would get upset if he saw me upset) but I had to start the conversation with "Ron is OK" so she didn't think the worst. She's such a sweetie! I'm so glad that I found her blog because she has really been a great set of ears for me. She's said "call me anytime" and I've taken her up on that more than once.

Actually, several of my bloggy friends have given me either their private email addresses or their phone numbers, or both. I appreciate that soooo much! It's great to know that I have friends all over the US and other parts of the world praying for us, pulling for us, and just "there" for when I need a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I am trying to breathe, take one day at a time, and not sweat the small stuff. None of it looks too small right now, though. I put the rails on the toilet in Ron's bathroom so they're "there" when he comes home. We have enough floor space in his bathroom for his power chair to get pretty close to the toilet. I don't know how we'll adapt the shower or the bathtub for him. I have visions of needing to put in one of the walk-in tubs and I know they are extremely expensive - but I'm not going to worry about it until it becomes a reality, or if it becomes a reality.

I was very thankful that our A/C only had a minor problem. I had to pay $150 for the trip charge and the total bill was $334, with $184 as parts and labor. Not too bad for a Sunday repair. Beats $1800-$2000 he quoted me for a compressor replacement. Our windows are those awkward sliders so putting in window units would be cost prohibitive - and I think our homeowners association won't let us put in window units. I'm going to look into a maintenance program to see about preventative maintenance. Fahnestock (which is who did the repair today) has two programs and each one covers something a bit different. One is less than $200 and covers twice yearly cleaning and checking of the system; the other is about $250 and covers that plus the "emergency" trip charge, so today would have been free (except for the parts) if I'd had that in place. I'll have to see if I can add that to my budget.

I would love to be able to post wonderful things, places I've been, and interesting pictures. But - not happening right now. I will later, though. I have lots of cool places. I might start with the Tiger Cruise I did with Amy when she was in the Navy. I flew to Hawaii and floated back to San Diego on her ship - USS Boxer LHD4 - in September 2001. I have some interesting pictures from then. I was on her ship on September 11, 2001.

After all, tomorrow is another day. (Famously said by Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind.)