21Sep
Today feels like Saturday...it’s strange not to be going to physio! Carman is beat from a busy week (most days with no nap) so I check on him once in awhile, but he doesn't venture out to the living room until after 1:30 (even though he tries to con me with a “Good morning!”).
It appears Heather’s treatments have gone well and she will be headed home on Sunday - yeah! We couldn’t be happier for her..there’s no place like home...with your financé, and your dogs, and your cats, and you whole family! Safe travels Heather!
Shilpa and I have been negotiating some shared time in our busy calendars and it turns out she is free tonight. I’ve arranged to pick her up at TGH after physio and she’ll come back here for supper and games. Brassica will join us for dessert and games. I invited them to come for dinner but (great minds think alike) Heather had just made a lasagna for their supper and that’s what we’re having too!
After our Pavlova and tea/coffee, we gather round the table for a game of...you guessed it...UNO Spin! None of us have lost to Brad in awhile as he’s been home in NS, so it’s time to whoop some Bluenose Butt...
As the night wears on, Shilpa’s portable stroller runs out so we take a break to refill it and get some snacks (Jess the eating machine is starving). We switch Shilpa over to one of Carman’s strollers and in short order, the bowls are filled with chips and licorice allsorts and the portable is not only filled but frozen to the storage tank (which sometimes happens - and you just leave the tank attached until it thaws, then disconnect it and all is good). This time it’s not just frozen at the connection but, as evidenced by the cloud of fog filling the hall, the nozzle inside the connection is frozen open!
What this means is that until the storage tank empties and the fill nozzle, connector and Shilpa’s stroller return to room temperature, we have what resembles a ghostly movie set going on...hissing, liquid oxygen (-183C) spitting out and oxygen gas crawling down the sides of the tank and along the floor.
A call to VitalAire is in order. We’ve had stroller connection freeze-up before, but never had a nozzle freeze open on the storage tank. Julio gives me instructions on what to do with the tank and after ensuring that we’ll be ok for oxygen thru the night, says he’ll come by first thing in the morning and refill it for us.
We wrap the tank and stroller in towels to prevent any liquid oxygen from spraying anyone and wheel it into the kitchen on the tile floor, so the condensed liquid will be easy to wipe up later. We now have bride of R2D2 in the kitchen.
A short while later, the towels are frosted over and we have snow on the floor. 
Here you can see that these two will be inseparable for awhile yet...
We resume our game and within minutes all are confused about whose turn it is, which direction we’re going around the table, you spun the wheel and why...must be the extra oxygen in the air! That was the story we decided to go with anyway.
And because Jess always likes an official record of these things, you can see here that she tied Carman for last place and yes my friends, once again, Brad won! How does he do it???
We’ve had a fun night, don’t want it to end, but everyone is giddy with fatigue so we must get everyone home before it’s Saturday morning! Needless to say, Shilpa is not taking her stroller home with her, so we use Carman’s full stroller for the drive. We miss Heather’s curfew of midnight by only a couple of minutes, dropping Brasica off at their condo just aftern midnight, then head west to Shilpa’s. We call her Mom from the curb and ask her to turn on the concentrator and bring the tubing to the door (so Shilpa can switch over as soon as we’re inside). We then sit at the curb chatting as it starts to rain, and about 20 minutes later realize, her Mom is likely wondering what happened on the way to the front door!
Everyone delivered safely, I return home to find some melt down finally happening in the kitchen. The storage tank is now bone dry, but the nozzle is still frozen, so the hissing is Shilpa’s stroller...going empty! Everything has melted sufficiently that I can use a towel and gently disengage her stroller from the tank, and everything goes quiet! Yeah, situation normal once again.
What is life without friends, fun and a little fog thrown in for good measure?
Hello Pammy and Carman
ReplyDeleteWe appreciate your updates and your stories. We hope that you are doing well and our thoughts are with you always. Pammy's stories remind me of many nights when she would tell us stories before we would go to sleep. Most of the stories really didn't help with sleeping, but we couldn't get enough. I hope that things are well and would appreciate your address so we can send along a note or two.
Take Care
Love to you both
John, Cynthia, Willard and Brooke (the most beautiful puppy in the world)
Dear Brooke,
ReplyDeletePlease tell Mommy thanks for the note but as I recall, once the giggling over stories settled down, so did she...and slept well!
Great to hear from you!
Woof!