Thankful for Family and Medical Care

I’m a bit late in getting to my Thanksgiving holiday post; let’s say life got in the way and explain later.  Bob and I hope everyone enjoyed a Happy Thanksgiving, filled with family, good health and many blessings.  Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday; I get frustrated with the fact that Christmas starts at Labor Day, but our family has plenty to celebrate around Thanksgiving.  My daughter, Amy, and son-in-law, Alex, have birthdays on the 24^th and 28^th respectively. 

Amy's Birthday, 1983

When Amy was young she thought the entire TG dinner and family gathering was actually all for her birthday; sometimes it still is and that’s always fun.  I'm already looking forward to Amy's birthday 2016, also Thanksgiving Day!

Alex's Birthday 2013

We hosted Thanksgiving for the family this year so naturally there was a lot of shopping and preparation for the day and dinner.  Bob and I had been shopping for weeks in a phased approach . . . baking staples, non-perishables, liquor, freezer items, Costco run, and finally the turkey and fresh produce.  We’d pressed all the table linens, decorated the house, chosen the wine, washed glassware and polished silver, organized serving dishes and utensils, and everything was ready to set the table on the big morning.

Thanksgiving table

We’d organized the kitchen in preparation for all the baking and cooking; set baking pans and ingredients together, casseroles arranged and waiting the addition of the side dishes, turkey roaster out along with the meat thermometer, bar and beverage area organized . . . let’s just say that I am a bit overly organized when it comes to preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  You’d think we were having dinner for twenty when in fact our guests were our immediate family . . . Amy & Mike, Shane & Alex, three dogs and my ex-husband, father of my children, John.  I know what you may be thinking but we make this work just fine!

Shane & Alex, and the pups!

John

Mike being a bit awnry!

Mike working up an appetite!

Anyway, it’s a good thing that everything was organized and our Thanksgiving game plan was in effect.  Because I became ill on Monday and became worse as the holiday approached.  If Thanksgiving was going to happen it was because Bob took charge and did nearly everything.  He made pumpkin and pecan pies, organized appetizer platters, peeled potatoes, chopped the vegetables, prepared the stuffing and got the turkey in the oven. 

Bob's pecan pies

Bob, the chef!

  

Amy & Shane jumped in and helped with the preparations.  My only contribution was to advise about the timing of everything.  Dinner was lovely, one of the best ever!  Mike cleaned up the kitchen; Alex made after dinner coffee and helped with dessert.  It was a family dinner in every sense of the word. 

Daisy and I resting after dinner!

All of us were looking forward to visiting with Shane who had been in China for business; it was his first trip there and we knew he’d have some interesting experiences to share.  Shane is the human resources director for a large cyber security company.  Everyone loves Shane; he just has one of those gravitating personalities and apparently his Chinese colleagues agreed.  He visited Beijing and Chengdu, and thought they would be interesting places to live . . . except for the extremely poor air quality.  I wish I could have traveled with Shane, he’s a fun travel companion, but he doesn’t need his mother to go along on a business trip!

Shane in China

Amy continues to inspire us with her work at a major northwest cancer research center; she’s a philanthropy advisor and her job is fairly social.  Interesting.  She goes to all sorts of events and asks people for contributions.  I think that would be difficult but Amy is a natural at it; trained in drama, educated in English literature, an excellent communicator, she’s dedicated and passionate about the cause, and is always charming.  Again, she’s our Thanksgiving birthday girl so we always enjoy showering her with special attention on the holiday.

Amy

 I pushed through the day and collapsed that evening, early to bed, and thankful beyond measure for my husband and family.  Friday morning I gave up and didn’t resist at all when Bob insisted on taking me to the ER.  We’d called our doctor’s office but all the doctors were enjoying the holiday weekend so off we went expecting to be told that a nasty something was going around (it was) and told to drink fluids and get plenty of rest; maybe they’d start an IV for a couple hours rehydration.  But after about seven hours and multiple tests the doctor admitted me to the hospital with a suspected intestinal blockage.  Yikes!  Oh, by the way, we had gone across town to the remote ER, thinking it was a “walk-in urgent care” center.  So, now that I’m hooked up to an IV and have a horrible intubation down my nose into my stomach, I have to be transported via ambulance back across town to the main hospital.  Let’s just say that the day unfolded in a scenario I hadn’t anticipated.

Getting better?

After consultations with the gastro doctor I underwent an endoscopy.  The CT scan had definitely shown a possible blockage so we needed to know what was going on.  The anesthesiologist decided to put me completely out, rather than light sedation, since I had the nasty intubation down my nose and throat . . . all I cared about was hoping that it would be removed while I was under.  It was and I “came to” hearing a nurse say “I was all clear, and maybe I’d eaten some Costco chicken salad.”  I was relieved, mostly about the tube being gone, and no, I hadn’t eaten any chicken salad.  All the cultures for bacterial infection were negative, my tummy and gut were clear of any blockage, and the foregone conclusion was that I had a nasty gastro intestinal viral infection.  So much for my preventative flu shot!

For the record I want to say I had wonderful care at the hospital, both in the ER and throughout the two-day hospitalization.  All the nursing staff (RNs and CNAs) was kind, caring and competent.  Continuing with the Thanksgiving theme, I remain very grateful and appreciative.  As for the bills, well it will be interesting to see what Medicare and my supplemental policy cover.  My insight for the day is blatantly obvious . . . good health and family are everything.

Our first snow of the season came a few days after Thanksgiving.  The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a very snowy winter for the Pacific Northwest.  I’m not a big snow fan; I prefer looking at it on the mountaintops rather than the streets.  However, it was pretty and reminded me that the Christmas holidays are nearing.

Bet those koi are cold!

Early morning on the golf course

We are looking forward to a quiet getaway week in Port Townsend, WA.  Amy and Mike will join us for a few days of walking the beach and enjoying our favorite Victorian seaport town.  Shane, Alex, and John will be going to Playa las Tortugas, Mexico to celebrate Feliz Navidad.  Our family will be 2500 miles apart from one another, but our hearts will be together in the spirit of Christmas and warm with memories of another memorable family Thanksgiving.