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A Week in Hospital
Our guests are gone and it's time to relate the happenings of the last week.
For most of the week there was very little happening. Dad was in the
Clinical Decisions Unit at Homerton Hospital, being treated for his heart
problems. I took Mom over in the mornings and we sat with him for a few
hours then came back and had some lunch during the break in visiting hours
from 1-3pm. In the afternoons Jason was kind enough to take Mom back over.
He'd take his laptop and work while she sat with him and made sure he ate
his supper, then they'd come home. In the meantime I'd take the chance to
do some house chores and get dinner ready. During the various long
intervals of waiting, I read _The Corner_ by David Simon and Edward Burns.
It's a detailed look at one year (1993) in the life of one of Baltimore's
many drug corners. Todd & Sandy had loaned it to us ages ago and I am very
glad to have read it, even though it's a pretty grim vision.
On Thursday afternoon we didn't go back to the hospital. Instead we went over to
Regents Park around six to walk through Queen Mary's Rose Garden and look at
the beautiful roses and the interesting variety of waterfowl in the lake.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the Park Cafe and then went to the Open
Air Theater to see _Love's Labours Lost_. It was a good production, without
being especially notable. None of us had read it or seen it before and it
was interesting to see a Shakespearean comedy without a happy ending. It
was a bit chilly, but we had fun and Mom seemed to really enjoy the show.
On Friday evening they let Dad come home in time for supper and I made fried
chicken in celebration. He was looking so much better than when he went in
and made it up our stairs without being wasted by it. I called Icelandair
to cancel the parents' plan for three days of touring the island on their
way home and just send them on directly to Boston on Monday. We also got
Dad upgraded to business class, so that he will have more legroom and
hopefully a more comfortable and less stressful flight home.
Saturday was a day of complete rest for him. Jason and I went down to the
West End and met Barbara and Glen for lunch. We wandered through Covent
Garden Market for a little while and then had a nice meal at Brown's before
Barbara had to leave for her voice lesson and Glen had to skedaddle for his
flight home. I had promised Dad some of my Hungarian mushroom soup, so we
had that for dinner with chef's salads and crusty bread and then played the
Vintage Years (1920-1960) edition of Trivial Pursuit until time for bed. It
was very interesting to play that with my parents, because for us it's
really hard, whereas at least when the answer is read the parents usually
recognize the name, even if they couldn't call it to mind.
On Sunday we got up early and went out for a drive before the traffic got
thick. Dad wanted to have seen something of London, so we drove into
Trafalgar Square, past Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament, around
the front of Buckingham Palace (twice) and then shot off for a side trip to
Greenwich. Mom had hoped to get to the Royal Observatory on this trip, but
we just drove through town looking at the various sights. We stopped
briefly to use the toilet at the Cutty Sark, but it was a terribly blustery
day and the walk in the wind really took it out of Dad. We drove past
St. Paul's on the way home and stopped at the hospital to pick up a letter
for the airline to justify their waiving the change fee on the parents'
return tickets.
Dad napped while I made some avgolemono soup and toasted ham & cheese
sandwiches for lunch. We spent the afternoon napping, except for Jason.
He's deep into a new computer game and eschewing sleep in its favor. In the
evening we ordered Chinese food and sat around talking until it was time for
bed.
This morning we set off for the airport and made it in just about an hour.
On arrival, there were huge crowds milling about on the sidewalk and when I
went to find the wheelchair we'd reserved for Dad, it turned out that there
was a fire alarm and the terminal had been evacuated. So we sat at the kerb
for fifteen minutes while the fire trucks rolled in and dealt with the
problem. Once the all-clear was given, I got the wheelchair and driver and
made sure the parents were checked in. We were very glad we'd done the
upgrade, because the economy line--staffed by only one person--was about
fifty people deep, whereas the business class line had only one person ahead
of us. Leaving the parents in the capable hands of the wheelchair
attendant, who would get them to their gate, I went out to the tube
platform, where I met Jason, who had returned the rental car in the
meantime.
After three weeks together, it was sad to see the parents go. Despite Dad's
medical crisis, we've had some wonderful times and it has just been good to
have so much time together to talk and enjoy each other. On the other hand,
it's kind of nice to have the house to ourselves for a couple of days.
Arriving back at the house, we discovered the painter hard at work redoing
our entryway (there was a leak a few months back that had rendered it nasty)
and repainting the ground floor flat. He was kind enough to let us peek in
to see it. I was a bit surprised at how small it is...two huge, high
ceilinged rooms, a small kitchen and a lovely dining nook overlooking the
garden, and one bathroom. The other thing waiting in the entryway was a
package containing Ursula K. LeGuin's new book of short stories, _Tales from
Earthsea_. After a quick lunch, Jason went up to work and I have spent the
afternoon reading my new book and chatting with steve and Anne. It was a
lovely morning, but the clouds have rolled back in this afternoon and it's
the standard English grey once again.
For most of the week there was very little happening. Dad was in the
Clinical Decisions Unit at Homerton Hospital, being treated for his heart
problems. I took Mom over in the mornings and we sat with him for a few
hours then came back and had some lunch during the break in visiting hours
from 1-3pm. In the afternoons Jason was kind enough to take Mom back over.
He'd take his laptop and work while she sat with him and made sure he ate
his supper, then they'd come home. In the meantime I'd take the chance to
do some house chores and get dinner ready. During the various long
intervals of waiting, I read _The Corner_ by David Simon and Edward Burns.
It's a detailed look at one year (1993) in the life of one of Baltimore's
many drug corners. Todd & Sandy had loaned it to us ages ago and I am very
glad to have read it, even though it's a pretty grim vision.
On Thursday afternoon we didn't go back to the hospital. Instead we went over to
Regents Park around six to walk through Queen Mary's Rose Garden and look at
the beautiful roses and the interesting variety of waterfowl in the lake.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the Park Cafe and then went to the Open
Air Theater to see _Love's Labours Lost_. It was a good production, without
being especially notable. None of us had read it or seen it before and it
was interesting to see a Shakespearean comedy without a happy ending. It
was a bit chilly, but we had fun and Mom seemed to really enjoy the show.
On Friday evening they let Dad come home in time for supper and I made fried
chicken in celebration. He was looking so much better than when he went in
and made it up our stairs without being wasted by it. I called Icelandair
to cancel the parents' plan for three days of touring the island on their
way home and just send them on directly to Boston on Monday. We also got
Dad upgraded to business class, so that he will have more legroom and
hopefully a more comfortable and less stressful flight home.
Saturday was a day of complete rest for him. Jason and I went down to the
West End and met Barbara and Glen for lunch. We wandered through Covent
Garden Market for a little while and then had a nice meal at Brown's before
Barbara had to leave for her voice lesson and Glen had to skedaddle for his
flight home. I had promised Dad some of my Hungarian mushroom soup, so we
had that for dinner with chef's salads and crusty bread and then played the
Vintage Years (1920-1960) edition of Trivial Pursuit until time for bed. It
was very interesting to play that with my parents, because for us it's
really hard, whereas at least when the answer is read the parents usually
recognize the name, even if they couldn't call it to mind.
On Sunday we got up early and went out for a drive before the traffic got
thick. Dad wanted to have seen something of London, so we drove into
Trafalgar Square, past Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament, around
the front of Buckingham Palace (twice) and then shot off for a side trip to
Greenwich. Mom had hoped to get to the Royal Observatory on this trip, but
we just drove through town looking at the various sights. We stopped
briefly to use the toilet at the Cutty Sark, but it was a terribly blustery
day and the walk in the wind really took it out of Dad. We drove past
St. Paul's on the way home and stopped at the hospital to pick up a letter
for the airline to justify their waiving the change fee on the parents'
return tickets.
Dad napped while I made some avgolemono soup and toasted ham & cheese
sandwiches for lunch. We spent the afternoon napping, except for Jason.
He's deep into a new computer game and eschewing sleep in its favor. In the
evening we ordered Chinese food and sat around talking until it was time for
bed.
This morning we set off for the airport and made it in just about an hour.
On arrival, there were huge crowds milling about on the sidewalk and when I
went to find the wheelchair we'd reserved for Dad, it turned out that there
was a fire alarm and the terminal had been evacuated. So we sat at the kerb
for fifteen minutes while the fire trucks rolled in and dealt with the
problem. Once the all-clear was given, I got the wheelchair and driver and
made sure the parents were checked in. We were very glad we'd done the
upgrade, because the economy line--staffed by only one person--was about
fifty people deep, whereas the business class line had only one person ahead
of us. Leaving the parents in the capable hands of the wheelchair
attendant, who would get them to their gate, I went out to the tube
platform, where I met Jason, who had returned the rental car in the
meantime.
After three weeks together, it was sad to see the parents go. Despite Dad's
medical crisis, we've had some wonderful times and it has just been good to
have so much time together to talk and enjoy each other. On the other hand,
it's kind of nice to have the house to ourselves for a couple of days.
Arriving back at the house, we discovered the painter hard at work redoing
our entryway (there was a leak a few months back that had rendered it nasty)
and repainting the ground floor flat. He was kind enough to let us peek in
to see it. I was a bit surprised at how small it is...two huge, high
ceilinged rooms, a small kitchen and a lovely dining nook overlooking the
garden, and one bathroom. The other thing waiting in the entryway was a
package containing Ursula K. LeGuin's new book of short stories, _Tales from
Earthsea_. After a quick lunch, Jason went up to work and I have spent the
afternoon reading my new book and chatting with steve and Anne. It was a
lovely morning, but the clouds have rolled back in this afternoon and it's
the standard English grey once again.