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Week 2: Pruning
The Flores boys flowers are still going strong Three wins
- Read the eleven peer reviews I had received at work, and was stunned, inspired, and humbled by the kindness and positivity. Part of me thinks that’s just because people felt sorry for me and my Christmas Eve surgery. A more positive part sees I’m doing things right.
- Despite what I was told, my PICC line, which delivered antibiotics intravenously, was able to come out on Wednesday. This meant I no longer have to carry the dispenser pack, that I can pick up the dog again, and that I can take normal showers!
- Had my first physical therapy session, where the therapists straightened me out right quick about my posture. The younger one, a senior student, massaged my calf in a way that gave me so much more flexibility it left me speechless.
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The charging indicator light of my antibiotics dispenser pack was quite bright, all things considered. The technical nurse pulled out two feet of IV that led right to my heart and I felt nothing. Tonight marks the first night in two weeks that I get to twist and turn as much as I want in my sleep. Another milestone in a long trajectory.
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Looking back, ahead
Much like Chris, Matt, Nathan, Paw, Winnie, and many people with a personal website, I enjoy the act of reflecting on the year gone by in public. I was in the hospital until New Year’s Eve, so I’m a little late.
Keep reading
The Flores (!) boys sent me beautiful Get Well Soon flowers. What an absolute treat to have these colors in the home!
As I settle back in at home, I’m slowly shaking off the fear of germs that enveloped me at the hospital. It means getting to pet Lemonade again, who cuddles her way into my heart more deeply every day. It’s interesting to see what it does to me, our wordless relationship.
As Anja and I planned another Paris trip to use my unused train tickets, we got into a little argument about whether or not to take the dog. Anja says this is what we signed up for. I say a real vacation is when I don’t have three walks around which to plan my days. But then again, with a face like this, will I ever need a vacation?
Yesterday, I took one of the last opportunities I had and changed the date of my inbound train ticket from Paris to Amsterdam, scheduled to leave tomorrow. This ticket was part of the original plan in which Anja, Lemonade, and I would go to Paris for three weeks to housesit for our cousin Anto. We’re excited to visit Paris again in May, but since I had already modified the outbound trip, Eurostar would only let me make further adjustments on the phone.
Lucky for me, the queue for Dutch customer service was so long that I was offered a shortcut to the English department. And what a delight it was indeed! James from Eurostar helped me rescheduled two tickets without any trouble whatsoever, in the span of only a few minutes, and at no additional charge. The whole thing made me wonder why I ever log onto the Internet to do anything by myself.
Based on my one conversation with James, I now have a new theory that I’m eager to put to the test:
The easier it is to complete a task in private on a website, the friendlier customer service phone operators will be in completing it for me
Week 1: hibernating
I made it home after seven nights at the hospital! Staying there between Christmas and New Year’s really wasn’t as horrible as you’d imagine. I figured: if anything happens, I’m already at the hospital, anyway.
Still, I should confess that I was excited to be released from the presence of my hospital neighbor, a dentureless elderly woman with severe bowel problems whose sounds were revolting. If …