I think this is absolutely the best thing for you both!! Email again after Los Vegas. Good for you guys! Janice
From: Barbara Alma Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 5:07 PM To: tmic-list@eskimo.com Subject: [TMIC] update of our travels We've had our share of everything from a warm 83 degrees to a cold 45, and very windy and cold to so pleasantly warm. Our trip hasn't been without it's problems, but if we hadn't have gone for it, we would have missed so much that we would have never done. We would never have set out to see most of the country that we did on it's own, only because of where it all fit together in the big puzzle of our country. I've needed some down time, but I do that at home too. Other than the night in the shelter, until yesterday things were going really well. I woke up feeling really weak and then I was coughing up some blood while brushing my teeth. Since I'm on blood thinners, I have to pay attention to this, and it generally means that I've got pneumonia. So off we went to find a hospital for a chest x-ray and treatment. We are in southern Colorado in a beautiful little town at 7,500 ft elevation called Pagosa Springs and they have a little hospital that opened up two years ago. Well, of course I had pneumonia, my oxygen level was at 85, which is low, and with oxygen treatment I couldn't hold it higher, so the doc wouldn't let me go back to our condo and he admitted me. I cried as I didn't ever want to be in a hospital again after spending 5-1/2 weeks when I got TM. Once admitted I found out that I was the only patient in the hospital, so I teased them about admitting me because they needed the revenue. Although none of us ever want to be in the hospital, if you ever get the luxury of being in the hospital all by yourself, it's the way to be in one. You get so much care, you cannot believe it. I had 3 nurses without too many patients to care for during the day who worked the E/R and the hospital ward, but nobody else came into the E/R till night time. During the night, there were 2 on duty and they had 2 people come in with kidney stones so didn't stay too long. They wouldn't let me go to the bathroom on my own since I was very weak, even with a bedside commode, so when I rang the bell, they were there in a minute. Imagine that! Well, with so much good care, a darned good IV antibiotic, oxygen and breathing treatments, I was able to be released today. Overall, it wasn't as traumatic after I settled in as I thought it would be. So, I'm going to be taking it easy for a few days, and on Friday we're off to Las Vegas for a week and then home. I'm starting to look forward to being home now, but it took this long, almost 6 weeks, lol. Hugs, Barbara A in Auburn CA
