Plane to virginny

Feb 26, 2008 23:22

I took the LIRR to Ronkonkoma, and a cab from the train station to the airport, not before stopping by barnes & noble and picking up a sketchbook to keep myself amused while I travel. I would have scanned some of them in but I don't have a scanner and phone pics of drawings just don't work.

So I got delayed at the airport for 2 extra hours because of delays








southwest is officially the tackiest airline ever

The delay actually caused me to miss my connecting flight and I had to get a ticket for the next one, thank god I didn't pay extra because i'd have kicked up a shit storm. I went to an airport restaurant while i was waiting and the sandwich i ordered came back completely different from what it said it would be on the menu. I felt bad for the waitress because the manager was clearly having a mean day and said not to worry about bringing it back just give me a plate of fries and the check and I tipped her the full price of the bill because I know what a pain in the ass customer i was being.

I was almost glad there were delays because by the time i got on the plane we were taking off at sunset and seeing it set over long island and all the lights of baltimore when we were landing was beautiful
















Because I had to get a new ticket i had a 3 hour layover in baltimore instead of 2 and got into VA later than I would have liked.

I spent the night on my aunt Kims couch and then we left for the hospital early the next day. Because we ussually stay in the hospital and almost never get to go together we decided this time to get a hotel. We went to the Quality Inn...not so quality, kind of shitty, rude people, dirty, and 2 of the 3 bits of equiptment in the workout room were broken. But it was a place to rest my head and thats all I really need. My aunt is all religious and "cleanliness is next to godliness" and was upset about it.




We headed over to the hospital and my dad was somewhat responsive, he made eye contact and would track us around the room with his eyes but wouldn't follow any commands. Because it was later in the day and they had had him propped up in a chair sitting up earlier, it was kind of expected that he would be drowsy. We knew Americas Funniest Home Videos would be on at a certain time and he has in the past been responsive to it, so we put it on and not only was he clearly watching but he was laughing! He can't make any sounds, but he had a huge open mouth smile and his chest was shaking like he was giving a big belly laugh and it was all at appropriate moments and things I know he would find funny :)

The next day he was pretty much the same as far as responsiveness, we got a few commands out of him...I got him to move his head and his foot twice on command. This day I filed down his finger and toe nails, gave his hands arms & feet a good lotioning(he has a history of exima[sp?] and we don't want that to get worse). Every day I would give him a face wash and clean out his mouth because the nurses bath him and do oral care but he sweats alot and his oral care is not up to par. Again this second day we put on Americas Funnies Videos and, again, he laughed. It was fantastic.

The third day, sunday, we had a pleasant surprise when we got there and saw his team of doctors outside his door(we didn't think they made rounds on sundays and hadn't seen them the whole visit). The head doctor who has been working with him since his motorcycle accident landed him in the hospital almost a full 6 months ago told us some wonderful things. He told us that though it may be slow he can see that he IS making improvement and there is definitely a chance he can get through this -something none of the other doctors told us- and he is not one to give false hope, he "tells it like it is". And though I know he's not going to get back to the man he was, it was wonderful to hear this.

He was approved for medicaid and they are trying to move him to a rehabilitation home. We are trying trying trying to get him into one closer to my aunt who is his legal guardian, who lives about 5 hours away from where he is now. There havent been any openings in the centers near him which is good, and the doctor I was talking about before said that the only thing that may keep him out of the rehab centers would be his bedsore and if it comes to that he will give him the cosmetic surgery, and alluded to the fact that he would do it free of charge. AMAZING. I think I'm falling in love with that man.

When we got to the hospital that day they had just moved my dad from his bed to his chair and he was more alert than we had seen him the whole weekend. He was following all the commands we were giving him, and even made some noises!!!! Sometimes when he's trying to do something you can just see it in his face how hard he's trying. Or like I'll tell him "ok dad move your head from side to side" and he'll squeeze my hand so hard and scrunch up his face and then he'll move it just like i asked. He will look at me sometimes and there is SO much behind his eyes and I feel like there is such a connection there. My aunt says she has never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at me. It all sucks, but I've said it before, its nice to know the connection and closeness he and I have always had is still there.

I unfortunately, started feeling really sick and thats probably the last place I should be when I'm sick. He's open enough to infections and such, so we headed out as they were putting him back into his bed...leaving happy at how alert and responsive he was.

I pretty much passed out 10 minutes after we were on the road. We made good time, only stopping once for gas and the bathroom



and went to my aunts house for dinner. We hung out there for a while because I was spending the night at my grandfather's...or my step-grandfather's...house. And to be honest we both kind of got that I wanted to avoid too much visit time.

My grandmother had cancer and died when I was in jr high school. She had cancer and he put her in a nursing home and stayed with her all the time to make sure she was taken care of. Only a few years after she died he re-met this woman named Jean who he went to school with and married her. I understand he wanted companionship but it seemed a bit soon. Anyway she had 2 episodes of mini strokes and now he has to stay at home with her all the time and take care of her.

When we got there, my aunt went up the ramp to the front door first and said "oh wait, jeans on the pot"...my grandpa cares to close the doors to the living room so people coming in won't see her doing her business but doesnt bother to close the blinds. So I visited with him in the living room for a short bit. The whole time he was feeding jean crackers with peanut butter because her blood sugar dipped down too low that morning. It was such a strange experience because not only was the house dark and depressing




and covered in my grandmas paintings....Jean was still sitting on her bed pan the whole time...one of the ones that looks like a walker with a toilet in it....with just a blanket over her legs. She interjected a few things here & there when grandpa ken addressed her, but the rest of the time she just stared with a pleasant expression on her face. So strange that she has less behind her eyes than my father who is in a coma.

I woke up at 3 the next morning to catch my flight at sunrise










I was up for the flight from VA to baltimore but started feeling worse and worse and sicker and sicker and passed out the whole flight from baltimore to long island. Mikey picked me up and I felt kind of bad because I was like "hey here i am take care of me i'm sick!" I stayed for 2 days and he did take care of me like i took care of him when he had the flu. He is so good to me, and was really sweet even when i was laying in bed. I couldn't go to sleep and he set me up so i was laying with my head in his lap and stroked my hair til I fell asleep. :)

I am home now and FINALLY done with this massive entry. I clean my room tomorrow and study for my job at community. I have my final day of training on thursday, and start ACTUAL work on sunday. If it works out there which I think it will, I'm gonna have to quit fh. i can't hold down two jobs, i need me time and mike time and friend time.

"And I have no values other than to tell no lies, and endure whatever I must." - Irina Ratushinskaya

mike, my dad, quotes & lyrics, pictures(me/mylife)

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