All It Cost Me Was a Chunk of Lung

When I went in for my lung biopsy, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew there would be three incisions in my side for the little robot arms. They’d take some lung, and on their way out, would sew things up subcutaneously. There would be a chest tube to make sure no air was leaking out, and when the chest tube came out, I could go home.

The first surprise came when I was being prepped for surgery. Instead of the usual hospital blanket on the bed, there was an air blanket. It looks like an air mattress made out of paper. There’s a hole at the bottom for a tube to blow in warm air. Amazing! Toasty warm, but no pressure. Loved it!

Everything went well and after being in recovery for a while I was put in a room. It was the smallest room I’ve ever seen. No closet because there was no room for one. My roomie was a cardiac patient who had been moved from ICU to recover in a regular room. The next surprise was when the nurse explained that I was on the cardiac floor, which meant I was going to get a cardiac diet, even though I was NOT a cardiac patient. BUT I WAS PREPARED!!! I’ve gotten cardiac food before…YUK! No salt! This time I brought my own shaker of salt…

The next surprise was the food. Other than having no salt (which was easily rectified) IT WAS DELICIOUS!! It was the usual type meals, but they were good! After I added the salt. And I have never had such wonderful gelatin and sorbet in my life!! This wasn’t the cube of green Jello in a dish, or plastic cup of ice cream. It was GREAT! I didn’t get any coffee, but that was OK because the hospital had an awesome cafeteria with a little coffee set-up on one side and Marv got me a wonderful mocha latte.

All in all, this was probably the most positive hospital experience I’ve ever had. They were ON. THE. SPOT. when it came to pain meds. No hassling, no begging, very attentive. Once I got home and the hospital meds wore off, I did have quite a bit of pain, but I managed with the meds I had on hand.

Now for the title. I had met all my deductions with my many hospital stays at the beginning of the year, so there was no real out of pocket cost for the UC Davis Medical stay. Otherwise, it would have been something like $135,000.00! For one night’s stay. And a couple of meals. I guess the robots demanded high pay…

theend

Ghost of Thanksgiving Past

Before the Great Caloric Debauchery of 2018 begins, I thought I’d get my blog written so I can just slip into a coma after dinner…

Growing up, Thanksgiving meant going to church in the morning and missing the parade on TV. I guess between the two of them, my grandma and mom had already put the turkey in the oven. The whole house would spell wonderful as the day went on. We would have the full menu plus pie. Football would be on the TV. We would be eating leftovers for days.

As the years went by and I was married, we would still do the same. Marv and I would drive to Chico, attend church, and then go back to my parents place. My grandma was still with us.

After grandma was gone, the venue changed to our house. Same menu, etc etc etc.

After my parents were gone, Marv’s mom was still with us and we would do the same Thanksgiving things. Gradually, though, we stopped having Thanksgiving service at church.

This year there is no one other than the two of us. Neither of us is that fond of turkey. We always have a wonderful Harvest Dinner at church in late October, with both ham and turkey and all the trimmings. That satisfies us completely. So….

Tonight we are having hamburgers and beans. The only bow to tradition is the pie. Two pies, actually. Pecan and pumpkin. We started on the pecan one last night. We’ll hit the pumpkin and maybe another piece of pecan today. Leftover pie is ALWAYS good.

We watched part of the parade this morning and Marv is now watching football. I have to admit I miss the people that used to be with us. Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, my brother Albert, Marv’s Mom, Paul, Sarah. I can always talk to my brother and my kids on the phone or Facetime, but it’s just not the same as being in the same room with them.

It’s still a day of Thanks, though. As every day should be. People, memories, home…and PIE.

Can’t forget the pie…

…And So We Continue On…

  

As you may have noticed, I didn’t post last Friday as I had promised. I was still recovering from lung surgery when all the fires started here in Northern California. My daughter offered to have me stay with her for a week in Fresno, and that’s what I did. I got back home today. Even though the air is worse than when I left, I’m a lot stronger and can just stay inside or wear a mask if I go outside. So…I solemnly promise on my honor as a Junior Girl Scout (ret.) that I WILL post a REAL blog this coming Friday!!

Thank you for your forbearance…

Peace out…