Alex & Me - March 2007
The next day I was woken up around 7:30 am. I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would. I was able to get up and have some breakfast. I was really hungry so I ate what I could from the hospital breakfast which as you might expect, was not that exciting. I called home right afterwards to remind everyone that it was my Dad’s/Grandpa’s birthday that day. I got to speak with Tasza and Alex before they headed off to school and then while I was speaking with Mike, Dr. Surgeon came in to my room.Dr. Surgeon thought I looked pretty good for having been on the operating table for 5 hours less than 24 hours prior to that. He explained that everything went well but that it was a difficult surgery because with young people like me the tissues are much more dense and harder to work with. (I loved that he considered me “young people” by the way.) Dr. Surgeon asked that I see him the following Friday so that he could remove the drains, change the dressing, etc…and hopefully he would have the pathology report by then as well. Dr. Surgeon recommended that I stay one more night at the hospital and that when I got home I was to relax and listen to my body. Eat healthy, take it easy, walk if I felt like it but not alone and not too far. He left me feeling good about things.
Trevor & Me - Summer 2007
The nurses (all of whom were wonderful) were in and out checking periodically. My brother called to check on me and said that he was taking his lunch break and was going to come by for a visit. He said he was going to bring himself something from McDonald's for his lunch so I ordered a shake and some fries and he would smuggle this contraband in for me! Living on the edge as always! We had a nice visit and he stayed for a couple of hours.
Mike then came by and he stayed for the remainder of the day. He took me for a walk around the floor and then I had a sleep for most of the afternoon and when I woke up the kids were there with my Dad and Sheila. A friend also stopped by. Everyone left at around the same time and I walked them out to the elevator. My friend was meeting her husband for dinner and my family were all going out for dinner as well to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. I felt so sad when they all left and had a big lump in my throat for quite some time.
Dad & Sheila Tobogganing - Winter 2007
I decided to go to the TV room to sit for awhile and get my mind off of the fact that I was stuck at the hospital missing out on celebrating with my Dad. Ok yeah I was sulking just a bit. Then I went back to my room, got ready for bed, read my book and eventually I finally fell asleep. I had a pretty good night of sleeping except for the standard wake-ups for vital sign checks, pills, etc…Every time I woke up it took me a minute to realize where I was and then I always felt kind of alone and sad. But I knew it was not forever, but just for now. Alone Again - Alyssa Reid
