Story 21Nov2021: Better with Family

Starting with the headlines, Susie is talking better, and she is more awake. Leta and Barb, mother and her sister, arrived on Sunday and could replace me as the support person. No visitors are allowed, but we have been declared support persons for Susie, and one of us can stay with her. Leta stayed about 90 minutes with Susie, and Barb got a few minutes too (Susie was tired-out and sleepy, so Bard’s stay was short).

It is the coldest this fall, with us freezing yesterday. So the morning started with me waking at 6:30 and really getting to the writing after 7ish. I usually read emails and some news before I start. This is a 9/11 habit–I check there are no more attacks each morning.

I had breakfast. I have to have food to go with my meds. Corwin had not slept, and so he was still up, and there was coffee made already. I heard him go to bed later. I had tiramisu cake for breakfast; why not? This is leftover birthday cake, yum.

I cleaned up the board games a bit at the house. Trying to clear them off the stacks on the floor. It looks better.

Off to Portland in Air Volvo with me arriving there at just after 10ish. After the entrance rituals, I reach Susie. Susie is sitting in a chair finishing her breakfast when I appear. She is relieved to see me.

I call Susie’s family, aunts/uncles, and they get to chat with her over the iPhone.

The docs come by and are visibly relieved (too) that Susie is better and talking. They are worried about her lungs and listen and talk about them a lot. A CT scan is ordered, and Susie is quickly moved back to bed and shuffled off to imaging.

I call in using my phone for a Zoom meeting while Susie is out. It is our group that meets every Sunday to catch up and talk about the sermon. They are glad I could call in, no video as video and images are banned in Legacy, plus the bandwidth is low in the room. I tell them that Susie is better, and we are optimistic about her recovery now. But then Susie returns, and I drop off. The church folks are cheered by the good news.

I get the results of tests sometimes before the doc sees them. The CT scan does show lung issues, but more severe problems are not found. Thus it is a relief.

Susie’s labs are also showing a long-term issue in her blood that may have always been there. The doc explained it to me and that it would be something to work on later. I was happy to hear that the docs think there is a “later.”

Barb and Leta get to the hospital, and I meet them outside. They are a bit scrambled by the flying, connections, and then enjoying Portland’s approach to traffic: Going Slow. It can be unnerving.

We walk around the hospital. It takes up a whole block in Portland, and we finally reach the Red Onion Thai place. It is the weekend, and as often happens, lunch-sized options are unavailable, so we order just two, and Leta and I share one. Much of the food will later be in the frig in Barb’s and Leta’s hotel room.

I get the car and pick up Barb and Leta. Leta fell in the morning down the steps at Barb’s house and is bruised and stiff. Another block walk is not in the cards. I now being from the Portland greater area, I just park the car in the street with the blinkers, get out, and help Leta in. Barb’s midwest sensibilities are a bit upset by my PNW approach. There are no horns, and polite carefully passing is done around Air Volvo. In a state where almost no drugs are illegal, nobody minds a bit of street blocking to help someone. Possible nobody noticed.

Barb takes command of Air Volvo, and I walk Leta into the hospital. She is accepted as a support person for Susie, and I am her escort (wink-wink, nod-nod). I drop Leta with Susie and then head back.

Barb and I take the rent-a-car to Beaverton and get them checked into their room. The Comfort Inn rooms look pretty nice, actually, and the bath even comes with a shower chair!

The sign at the Comfort Inn is for those who want to understand the current staffing issues:

We stopped by Fred Myer’s to buy some supplies.

Back to Portland. Barb’s nav takes them through the back ways as 26 is backed up.

Barb switches out Leta, I escort her in, and Susie has all three of us in her room for just a moment. This puts a smile on her face. She is falling asleep now, for it has been a busy day for her. Barb gets to stay with her for just a few minutes as Susie just drifts off to sleep.

We head out. The plan for Monday is to travel in for my usual 10ish time, and then they will come later to relieve me.

I pick up Corwin, and then Mariah calls, and we all meet at the Road House. I have a beer and a messy sandwich, a Portland Dip. The sandwich comes with turkey, but these were mostly bread. We have a friendly chat and dinner.

I manage to lay down to read when we are home and fall asleep instead. I wake a few times and just surrender and sleep.