Sylvia's Journal

Today mum farted, which was really quite a miraculous event. We high-fived afterwards – it felt a bit like a British sitcom? My mind is indeed quite tired, so this update may be shorter than previous – lets see…Sylvia sat upright today – she learned how to pivot into the luxurious chair next to her hospital bed. She sat there for quite a long time today, twice actually. She was quite a trooper – I can only imagine how much pain she was in, her stomach staples cover most of her front, but she truly showed some strong Dutch character and pushed through it. I gave her a nice ‘No-Rinse’ shampoo again, and a foot massage with some lovely sheepsmilk footcream that she and Sietske bought in het Amsterdams’boos (?) a while back (the same day I learned that Jim hates the smell of goats). Her neighbor (the bartender who love the pain meds and sounds like sandpaper rubbing against a drunken signpost) was away for the whole day in surgery so she got a little bit of peace and quiet, and she got some quality napping in, I think –
Axel also had an eventful day. He sat upright for the first time (with his brace on) and got the go-ahead from the speach/swallow doctors to go on a ‘mush diet.’ The first food he had (which only Jim was witness to) was a saltine/water concotion that apparently tasted ‘like shit.’ He was able to drink water today – I think….I had a sneaking suspicion that he maybe wasn’t supposed to because he would whisper to us whenever the nurse went away ‘Can you give me some water, please?’ making sure he/she wasn’t looking – but the cup was there, with a straw in it, and nobody told me otherwise, so he got some liquids in him. He told us that he threw quite a fit the other night about not getting any food or water, so they gave in – he can be quite persuasive as most of you know.
He had some visitors today, watched the red sox game in the evening, and is looking forward to Tessa’s arrival tomorrow. He said ‘She’s going to be really freaked out isn’t she…’ I tried to prepare him for a perhaps teary Tess and I think he welcomed the role of being able to be a parent to her and try to calm her – in any case I think her arrival will be a real spirit lifter for him (not that he’s in bad spirits – but two daughters by your side is always better than one). He’s going to get an MRI tonight at midnight (ooo…already passed) so by tomorrow we should know more about his head…
I saw Joan briefly today – she apparently is going to be discharged tomorrow or the day after to Spaulding rehab center in Boston. She is looking forward to it, I think. Her son is flying in from California to see her on Friday – her daughter and her son in law have been in and out the whole time she’s been in – again, more family = good.
We had a nice evening visit from one of my mothers coworkers. I got some photos of her on her computer – arranging emails from her hospital bed – these I will post sometime soon (not tonight – my eyes are barely open right now)…So, sitting, farting, hairwashing, saltines, that about sums it up for today. Jim and I came home to amherst for the night to make sure our cats were still alive and had a nice hour or so with some folks from western mass – a late but welcome distraction. I’m sure tomorrow will offer more, as Tessa arrives, and multiple visits with Axel are already planned…
Thank you Andrew & Katie Blair for picking up the car…Thanks to everyone for all the support. Sylvia read all the new posts today and really loved them – I really can’t emphasize enough how much your words mean.