I wont bore you with the details of how I ended up spending most of the night and a big chunk of today in a hospital, having my heart tested and retested for signs of trouble. This kind of day may not be typical for Ed, but for many people in our age bracket, having the heart evaluated in this fashion is not out of the ordinary. Some people knit sweaters or chisel wooden flutes, others have their hearts subjected to tests. Some do both. In any case, for a good part of the day, instead of on flowers, I looked out on this view:
Our hospitals have some very nice windows! (And my heart is fine. I outperformed stress tests from the recent years. I'm right up there with when I was... 66!)
Ed came over with breakfast (I have no great love for hospital Rice Crispies), but I was not allowed caffeine, which hurts! First thing on my list when I get home later today -- make myself a nice cup of steamy milky coffee.
* * *
Well what a ridiculous idea! Coffee instead of a nap? I feel like I've just landed after an overnight flight to Europe, during which I forgot to fall asleep. But oh, what a delicious indulgence -- a cafe latte to savor, because it was indeed sad to go through the morning without that little perk.
* * *
I think about this short 14 hours in the hospital (I would have stayed longer had there been a need for that). The last time I came to this hospital was to see my mother here, a year ago. She hated everything about the place and she shared her views with anyone who came into her room. Obviously what she really hated was the fact that she felt weak. She did not like being 100. No medical care could help her shed a decade or two, but she never stopped believing that somehow people weren't trying hard enough. And here I was thinking just the opposite today: every single staff person I encountered was superb. Friendly, tactful, encouraging, knowledgeable. Our delivery of health care in this country sucks in the way that we pay for it and access it, but as for the facilities and staff (and this is at the smaller of Madison's three hospitals) -- they're all rather extraordinary.
* * *
I am home. There was no morning walk and indeed, there'll be no early evening walk either. Storms are passing through once again and though they are not as vicious as the ones that tore down buildings in Wisconsin yesterday, I personally do not like being out and about during a thunderstorm. One quick look at the garden to make sure all is in place...
And yes, I do pluck a few weeds out of the still dry-ish earth and then I go inside to sit back and think how lucky I am to have escaped dire medical verdicts and outcomes.
with so much love...
