Sylvia's Journal

I slept through the night for the first time since the accident! I could not help but think of the very first few nights of constant interruptions with visits to the bowels of Umass Medical Center where all the scanning machinery is and endless processions of people entering and leaving my room. We have come a long way. I realize that this sleeping through the night may not yet be the new standard but even having one full night in two months is worth celebrating. And as a bonus, this morning I don’t have to hop on one leg to the bathroom to empty my night bucket, always a slightly risky undertaking.

There have been many milestones in my life the last 60 days that may not seem big to others but for me they are of immense psychological value: stitches out; coming home from the hospital; going off Oxycontin; Axel home; sleeping upstairs in my own bed; cast off; full weight-bearing on right leg; and now an uninterrupted night of sleep. The next big milestone for us will be when Axel’s body brace comes off. We don’t know when that is but hope it will be at the 3-months mark. His visit to the spine doctor was postponed until later September so we have nothing to go on but we use Joan’s predictions that were made based on her latest X-ray by her spine doctor.

Axel’s milestones have been less and further apart but no less dramatic: out of being in critical condition; breathing tube out; out of the ICU; into rehab; coming home; extending his right fingers on his own; infection under control; off pain medication.

Yesterday morning I had my CATscan which turned out to be negative. We all had a big sigh of relief and I happily erased the mental images of more belly cutting and new stitches. It means that the pains are probably related to my increased mobility and standing upright; this is stretching my belly muscles in ways they haven’t after two months of sitting.

It was a gorgeous fall day at Lobster Cove. Steve Freund came with lunch and moved himself and Axel to the beach where they played chess while I took a nap. Axel lost the game but who cares when you can do that sitting on the beach on a 10+ day New England fall day? He had been eying the beach for the last month from higher ground. I still haven’t been down to the beach as it seems a bit daunting to hobble down and besides, I preferred a nap over a chess game. Afterwards we had Nepali chai and Steve replaced a bunch of light bulbs so we are fully lit again.

Jim left for Western Mass and we hung out with our estate manager (and neighbor) Ted and admired the reseeded backyard which looks better now that all the weeds are gone and it’s simply evenly spread brown dirt. I suspect that the grubs down below are high-fiving each other with this promise of juicy new grassroots for next spring!

Diane came by to drop off more soups (Beirut gazpacho and vichyssoise) and then we settled in front of the TV with Carole’s chicken pot pie and watched Perry Mason. Although the pot pie was for a family of four, between the two of us we ate most of it.

David Byer, our night nurse, showed up around 10 PM with his little terrier She-Ra who sniffed all the corners of the place, collecting data on which other dogs had preceded her. She’ll have a field day chasing chipmunks tomorrow morning. David helped Axel settle into bed, and we all turned in for the night; mine uninterrupted and restful.