Various Other Visits

So, where else was I able to pop in and take some pics while we were there?

Mt. Soledad
























The La Jolla Cove:























Sunny Jim Cave:

Racine & Laramie

I told you that I'd get back to the cigar shop. Racine & Laramie is just an excellent place, run by fine, fine folks. It was my port in the storm, my home away from home. I only got to spend a very few hours there, but made some good friends that I hope to visit again. David Mogilner, Vice President and son of the owner, went above and beyond in making me feel welcome. Harry Harris was hospitality personified. Here they are with the box of "Black Barts" that I bought. That's David on the left and Harry on the right.



















Here's some pics of the place.










































If you ever get down to San Diego, and you like cigars, look these guys up. Tell 'em Kam sent you.

Immaculate Conception Church

I visited the Immaculate Conception Church in Old Town.

Cabrillo National Monument

I went down to the Cabrillo National Monument to take some pictures of the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.



































The view is incredible.


















I drove through the Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery.

The Tall Ships

We went down to the Maritime Museum and saw the tall ships. I got to stand at the wheel of the ship they used in "Master and Commander", the HMS Suprise. The ships real name is the HMS Rose. We also saw the Star of India, the Californian, the Berkeley and the Medea.

What Fun

So, what FUN stuff did we get to do while we were in San Diego? Consider that the first week was mostly tests and Judith wasn't admitted to the hospital until the 2nd. She couldn't do much, but we did manage to squeeze in a few fun things. I'll enter them as individual posts.

The Hotel Del Coronado (the "Del"):
















We went to Champagne Brunch at the Del on Sunday. You have to do this if you ever get a chance. It's slightly more fancy than my usual Sunday fare. Check it out HERE.

Final Update

This is the Final Update. It may not, however, be the Final Entry, because I intend to review the passed month and post some random thoughts and remembrances.

Judith is recovering well. She wasn't able to take the Vicodin but her dialysis doc gave her some Tylenol 3 and it's working. She's been getting quite a bit of rest and today we will start walking more. It has all gone about as well as it could have.

I'm 39 today, and having Judith home is the best present ever.

Free At Last

We're home - I mean Home. More later.

Lucky Friday the 13th

We're getting ready to turn the car in and head for the airport. More updates and info about the passed week when we're back in Texas.

Monday Countdown to Liftoff

The docs say that the chest tubes will come out today, tomorrow will be the last of the heparin, and we will be looking at discharge on Wednesday or Thursday. The flight is already booked for Friday.

Judith is tired and in some pain from the continuing cough, but she is down to just 2 liters of O2 and is looking better all the time.

Sunday Update

Judith just took a walk around the block. She is supposed to walk at least 3 times a day, but more if she can. The first walk washed her out, but she looks good. She is getting some color back, and that's saying something. She is usually pale as a ghost.

She had to do a breathing treatment that puffs air into your mouth. You have to breathe against it. The tech turned it on and it puffed at her before she was ready. She jumped and looked startled. It was funny and I laughed. This is the look I get when I've been bad...

Sunday Reflections

I finally have a moment to go back and record some of my thoughts from the day of the surgery. Thornton hospital is a very nice, but very small hospital. At least it is in comparison to some of the other monster hospital complexes that we've visited. Also, it doesn't have a chapel. It doesn't even have a "peace room". I was speaking with another of "Those Who Wait" in the surgery waiting area, and I made that comment. "It is odd to me that there is no chapel here." I don't always visit them when they are available. Sometimes they are too empty and sometimes I am too full, but I like to know that they are there regardless. It was on my mind while I was waiting through Judith's surgery.

The surgery waiting area is on the second floor. The second and third floors are open to the first floor atrium. There is a grand piano on the first floor with an auto play device. It sits there and plays muzak most of the time. Occasionally, however, there is a volunteer that comes in and plays the piano for a while. The sound really fills up the space and is usually some poppy, upbeat thing, sometimes wandering into the New Age arena. Generally uplifting, that's the ticket. This is what was being played as I waited for Judith to come out of surgery.

After about 9 and a half hours, I saw the surgeon and his nurse practitioner come out and rush by to another area. The nurse saw me and briskly said, "we'll be back with you shortly." Nothing in his manner should have spooked me, but of course it did. I had been OK up to that point, but I began to unravel a bit. Then I realized what the volunteer had begun to play.

She played three hymns in a row. Three totally out of place hymns. Out of place, because in that particular environment, every attempt is made to be "spiritual" but not religious. She played "He Walks With Me (In the Garden)", "Morning Has Broken", and "Amazing Grace". I was stunned by it, and, by being stunned, was able to pull myself together a little. I looked up at the vaulted ceiling above the atrium and realized that I had been wrong about the hospital not having a chapel. It WAS one.

So I waited. The volunteer went back to the KLITE standards - Elton John and Chicago - you know what I mean.

Almost an hour later they came back out. Judith was fine and all was well.

The volunteer played one more song and then left. True story. What was the song?

"Blessed Assurance"

Saturday is a Waiting Day

I went out for a bit to run some errands and stopped at La Jolla Cove to take some pictures. This is what the day looked like. Five minutes later it was raining like the Flood. Later in the day, I drove through a hail storm. And people say the weather changes in Texas! 

Judith is tired and sore. Lots of coughing today, but it's part of the healing process.

Late Friday

Judith is in her own room in the IMU. She is tired but doing well. She's right on the overall timeline and it's beginning to look like we could be heading home around Valentine's day.

Friday's Progress

Judith is doing really well. She still has the occasional coughing, but that is required for her lungs to heal. They are talking about getting her to a regular room this evening. She is on dialysis now and they want to see how she does first. She was able to have a Dr. Pepper and half a turkey sandwich earlier, and she was also able to talk on the phone a bit.

San Diego Observations

San Diegans are some walking/bicycling fiends. There are at least as many cars here as are in Dallas (probably more) but that many more folks seem to be hoofing/pedalling it. Its not like we're talking about an easy walk/ride. Most of the "getting around" here would challenge Lance Armstrong. There's plenty of easy X and Y travel, but the frequent Z would kill me. At least I think it would, but even though there are plenty of the the super fit Californians everywhere, there are just as many folks walking and biking that look like me. And for those of you who don't know, I ain't small.

Thursday in the Later PM

So I get back after they kick me out of the ICU for shift change and Judith is in a chair! She had several spoons of her dinner and looked more awake that she has so far.

Thursday in the PM

This has been a long day. Judith is more awake and aware than ever, but that comes with a cost. She has quite a bit of pain. The good news is that she is on the pain pump and they are giving her Vicodin. The bad news is that she needs to cough up a great deal of gunk. Coughing is good, but coughing is very bad.

She hasn't eaten more than a spoonful or two of broth and Italian ice. They just kicked me out for shift change, but they were about to bring her some more broth and she thought that she could have some. She doesn't speak much above a whisper yet.

She's finally down to just two IVs. I don't even know how many lines she had in when I first saw her. She's still getting about a dozen meds.

Thursday in the AM

I was delayed in getting to the hospital today because a nice young lady welcomed me to San Diego by running into me. That's not quite right. She didn't run into me. What she did was try to pass me on the inside as I was making a right turn out of a parking lot. On the upside, I bought all the insurance when I rented the car. I am in a Toyota Highlander and she was in a Audi A6. I was scuffed but she lost most of her front left bumper and headlight. Fun. Just what I needed. I think I'm gonna be sick...

Wednesday

Got some sleep and was at the hospital by 8am. Judith was still out and had tubes everywhere. They were slowly turning down the respirator to see how well she was breathing on her own as she came out from under the sedation. She did well but was coughing quite a bit and was in a great deal of pain. It's hard to explain what it is to watch someone you love go through something like that. I think it's worse because, due to the tube in her throat, all the pain was in silence. I won't go into detail, but if yesterday was the longest day of my life, today, up until they took the tube out, was the hardest.

After that ordeal, Judith has done very well. She is not coughing much and was able to take some fluids tonight. There's a great deal of pain, but they stay on top of the pain meds. She has some extremely rough days ahead, but she seems to be right on track, and maybe a little ahead right now.

We want to thank everyone that has been pulling for her. Your thoughts, energies and prayers have helped a great deal. There is still so far to go. We love you all.

Tuesday

A quick note because I have been up 36 hours or so and am about to crash. Judith's surgery went well. She is in ICU and VERY asleep right now. She will sleep until tomorrow morning at the very least. Everything beyond that is up in the air. The picture shows what they took out of her lung and arteries. The "tree" on the left came out of the lung. The other stuff came out of her pulmonary artieries. The year on the picture date is wrong of course.