Hooked, line and sinker.

 

We got in to the city, had my follow-up with the surgeon, and got home late Wednesday just as the rain turned to sleet. As those of you who live anywhere in my area know, we got a snow dump that lasted all of Thursday. As I write this, it is Friday afternoon, the power has just been restored and I am trying to catch up on the laundry and the blogs I follow all at once. My comments are, in great part, very short as the list of things I just had to read was very long. And, cheerfully, I report that the wretched snow is melting. The trees are out from under and we have not only got power, we have also been plowed.  A Good Thing, as JG had to go and get more fuel for the generator.

Normally we are pretty calm about snow dumps. We have a really good generator and we generate just enough to get meals and get through the evening. We normally shut down overnight. At present, however, I require supplemental oxygen and so we have an oxygen pump that needs to be kept running. There is a small battery operated auxiliary pump that I have to use in the car, etc., but it makes a ‘thump, swish, thump, swish’ sound that I was sure would keep JG from sleeping. So, I took myself to bed with it in the living room on a reclining chair. In the very early hours JG could not hear me and so he got up and restarted the generator and main pump, hooking me to a canister in the interim, and I crawled into my nice warm bed for a few hours. We are both exhausted today; this is not a snow dump that I was primed to admire in any case as the heavy wet spring snow falls often bring trees down onto the power lines and cut off our electricity, but no power to run the oxy system was not something that was easy to work through.

As to the medical follow-up. I was prepared for several results but not, unfortunately, for being sent home on oxygen. I asked during the interview to be referred to someone who could teach me how to wean myself off it quickly. And so, I have been referred to respirology and have had an appointment to see them … on July 3^rd. When I called the surgeon’s office to see if this could be moved closer, at a bit after 3:00 pm today, the office was closed. I did find, however, that my local Community Health Centre can refer me to a local program for COPD, emphysema etc. I see my GP next week and can only hope that this program will be available for me. In the meantime, I have agreed not to drive and so my licence, I guess, has not been formally lifted. There is more than one form of leash that this puppy is tangled in.

I am trailing yards and yards of tubing everywhere. I did manage to cook dinner last night, kicking the [censored] line ahead of and behind me as I went. I can just reach the treadmill at the end of my line if I hold onto it in one hand as I tread. The stairs are a menace, as the tubing manages to hook itself around the railing, do what I will, on every passage. This aspect of post-surgery recovery that I did not expect really has me on the ropes.

In summary I can only comment that if you are faced with a major medical event, think all of the possible outcomes as much as you can ahead of time.