Coming "Home"

I drove to Presby this morning, anticipating that Michael would be discharged later in the day.  Although he was sleeping soundly, they had already taken him to have an ultrasound on his arm, which was a little swollen the day before.  It was nothing; no blood clots were found.  In fact, his arm was no longer swollen.

We were then told he would have blood work at noon, and if everything was OK, he would be discharged.  It was a long morning waiting.  But some lovely flowers arrived from Lockton, which put a smile on Michael's face.

As I look at his picture above, I realize this was the most energetic he's been all day.  He must still be exhausted.  He looks sad, but when we ask if he's OK, he says he's just tired.  And he still doesn't have much of an appetite.

Pre-discharge, we received a long list or prescriptions, half of which I later learned were simply over-the-counter.  We have medication for headaches, constipation and nausea and sprays for his nose and who knows what else?  I had to buy an AM/PM pill organizer to keep him on track!  (But I'm not kidding anyone... it was great fun to put all those pills in their little plastic compartments!)

He was eventually discharged about 3:30.  Not only did he have to share a room as if he were a commoner, we had to push him out the doors in a wheelchair ourselves, not a nurse or an aid.  (When he got out of ICO a couple weeks ago, they did it for us.)  And a woman had the nerve to tell me I shouldn't have pushed him through the revoloving door!  I sassed back, "I shouldn't have to be pushing him at all!"  Yeah, I'm pretty exhausted myself.

Mari Ann and I just enjoyed dinner at Family House served by its board of directors.  Michael picked at some macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes.  And we just had a beautiful edible arrangement delivered from Andrew and Elizabeth (Brescia) Davis.  It's not a very good picture below, but I hesitate to unwrap it for fear of it immediately losing it's luster.  It will be soon, though, because I see chocolate-covered strawberries taunting us.

I have a feeling tomorrow will be a day of rest for all of us.  But it's wonderful to be "home" with nothing on the agenda until 9:00 Tuesday morning when we see Dr. Wang.  Since Michael's still recovering, I will plan to update every late afternoon or evening...