20-Jul
Today we plan to leave for London after our physio session. Sonya and Jason are to be married on Saturday, and it’s much better for Carman if we arrive the day before, rather than have the added stress of getting up early, making the drive, getting ready and going to the event all in the same day. That would require more energy than he would be able to expend.
Knowing how long it takes (how much wait time and how many trips up and down in the elevator) to get the car loaded, I am up early packing as much as possible before Carman gets up. He packed his bag last night so will only have to add his meds and shave kit before its ready to go. An E-tank of O2, the spare stroller, distilled water for the concentrator, the backpack of tubing & masks, my bag, the suit bag of our wedding gear, the shoes bag, the food bag, the cooler bag...that’s right folks I AM the bag lady! All that’s left to put in the car is my camera bag, Carman’s bag and the concentrator. Once Carman has had his snack we’ll be all set to head to physio, then hit the highway!
It’s 12:15 and we should be leaving for TGH by 12:40. The stroller must sit for 20-30 minutes after filling and before use...Carman is busy on his iPad when I ask if he has already filled it and gotten his water bottle ready. He hasn’t so, shuts down the iPad and gathers his plate, the iPad and his coffee cup to get started. Now this is the predictable part, he starts for the kitchen and zing zowie, gimme an owie, the tubing catches on the arm of the chair, stopping him in his tracks, sending his right hand up in the air and yes, you guessed it, that’s the hand he was holding the coffee cup in...and it wasn’t empty!
I wish you’d been here to see it Marianne...it was like slow motion as I watched him, thinking, “he’s not really going to try carrying all that is he?” Your words from Thursday night came to mind... “wow, all this gear just to go out of your apartment, it’s like when we had babies isn’t it?” Now this was in no way to suggest Carman was a baby, just the pre-planning and gathering & prep of equipment required when you have compromised lungs is similar to packing enough stuff to head out with a small baby...and then when you’re heading out the door...the baby (or in this case the coffee cup)spits up everywhere and you start again...
Plan B... I’ll drop Carman at the hospital, he can ask the PTs to help him with his physio and I’ll head back to the apartment to clean up the carpet and chair as best I can; given we’ll be gone for two nights and I don’t want this to settle in the fabrics.
I grab the can of soda water and go at the carpet, and now you can’t see any evidence of the incident there. Fortunately the chair pad is washable, so I use the rest of the soda to eliminate the worst of the stain and will wash it at the laundromat next week. I leave all this wet stuff on the shower stool in the tub to dry and head back to the hospital. By now it’s 2:45 and Carman should be finishing up his program so I just pull in at the traffic circle on University Ave instead of heading to the parking lot. I can’t leave the car as there is no parking in this area so I text him to let him know I’m there and ask how he is doing...and then I wait...
Twenty minutes later, I text again...and wait 10 minutes, then try calling...leave a voicemail and now I’m sure, he’s left his phone in the backpack which is likely nowhere near him in the physio room. We’re now approaching that point in time where, if I leave, he’ll come out the door as I pull away but i can’t stay in the no parking, no stopping, no standing area much longer. I decide to call the Treadmill Room and get voicemail, so that’s of no help. He should have been done long ago, so something must be up so I leave to go park at LuCliff around the block.
I am in the elevator headed to the 12th floor where the Treadmill Room is located when...you guessed it...my phone beeps with a text from Carman - “I’m outside waiting, where are you?” So I ride the elevator the rest of the way to the top of the building and then back down...and return to LuCliff for the car, then back to TGH for Carman and now we’re on our way!
Moral...always have a Plan B!
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