Yes, we are home from the hospital!
The folks at Yale-New Haven Hospital took excellent care of Banjo Man and “Suites” hotel where I stayed was absolutely wonderful. The security officers who drove people like me back and forth between the hotel and the hospital were retired police officers and so, so nice.
“Nice” is always highly appreciated, especially during times of stress and worry.
There were many moments of kindness, too. It’s definitely a requirement when it comes to working in that hospital or its affiliates.
Check out the room:
So…back to Banjo Man. He was pretty wired on the drive home. I think the pain pills and anesthesia were affecting him. He kept dozing off and then telling me he’d dreamt I had hit a truck or swerved onto a dirt road. He ate a chicken salad sandwich and drank two quarts of Gatorade.
Daughter Nancy was waiting for us, but it took some time to get him into bed and settled. Nancy went to CVS to pick up prescriptions and supplies, while Banjo Man had all sorts of suggestions as to how to make things happen.
OMG.
We knew he was exhausted and would crash if we could just get him into bed (he wanted to stay downstairs, in his “suite”). Sure enough, he was asleep minutes after we turned off the lights. He slept for more than four hours, woke up to take a pill and drink some Gatorade, then slept until 2:30 AM.
More pills, more drinks, a few more suggestions for me <g> and he was back in bed until 7 AM.
So today he is doing very, very well. The visiting nurse came this morning. She had advice and suggestions and warnings and encouragement for us.
Yes, there is pain. Yes, it will end. Yes, it will take some time. We all know the drill, right?
I have made chicken soup, tapioca pudding and hard-boiled eggs. I have baked sweet potatoes. The key word is “bland”. And in small servings.
Alas, Banjo Man is not a “small serving” kind of guy.
But we’re working on that, too.