Remaining optimistic

In addition to all the hospital fiasco, there was also a catastrophe at home. The water heater broke and peed 40 gallons of water all over the basement. That happened a few days before my surgery, and hubby and son have been taking cold showers this whole time.

If he would have gone and just gotten a replacement water heater like the one we had, it would have been installed in a couple of hours. But no. Hubby likes to make challenges for himself. He has read about these tankless water heaters awhile ago and had said he would like to get one when the old one bit the dust. So when the old water heater "gave up the ghost", he was excited to get the new-fangled tankless contraption and install it himself. (Uh-oh) We all know from the hot tub updates how things go when he does things himself. (No, the hot tub is still NOT working.)

I have been taking sponge baths since going in the hospital on August 29th. I am dying for a hot shower. I got brave the third day home when I needed to go to the doctor to have a bit of a breathing problem checked out and so desperate for clean hair I wrapped my body in a shower curtain and stuck my head into a cold shower. I thought my head could tolerate it. WRONG! I got the soap in, but could not stand it long enough to get the soap out, and the pain from my stitches made it really difficult. Hubby had to take me into the kitchen and rinse my hair with pans of water heated on the stove. He was planning to have it done by yesterday. But like I said, things with him rarely follow a deadline. I DO feel sorry for him doing all this work, a sick wife to deal with, long work hours during the week managing a plant and supervising idiot and lazy people, and then coming home after an hour and a half drive to work on plumbing. BUT like the hot tub, it's his own doing. He could have bought three regular water heaters in place of this complex tankless thing that required a hole be cut into the house, firewall installed and chimney exhaust. He petered out last night while looking for his zippo cutting tool, whatever that is.

So, still stand up baths, and I am HOPING he gets the thing going today so I can take a wonderfully long, long shower and wash my hair appropriately. I can't wait.

I am doing better. It's hard when one has no helpers around and I can't blame anyone because everyone has jobs. My boys and other family members have jobs. Jon has to work. It is forcing me to get up and move sooner, though. I take it easy. Lay down when I need to and just be careful. He has been good about doing the shopping, which is another chore for him to do, and he picks things up as I need them. I just know that he is just going to collapse one day and not be able to move.

I made dinner last night for the first time. It was a one-pan thing so very easy and microwaved rice to go with. It feels good to be coming back to the world of normalcy.

My motivation to get better is to be able to drive my son Jeff and his fiancee' Whitney's new bright yellow GTO. I had an old 1968 GTO to drive to work when hubby and I were first married in 1975 in Arkansas when he was in the Air Force. He let me drive it to work. I speeded through the curving, hilly roads and down the expressway and loved the "power" of the engine. It was awesome with the hideaway headlights, reverb stereo, gold metallic paintjob with cream-colored vinyl roof and leather seats. I LOVED that car. 450 engine. Mag wheels, jacked up in the back and glasspacks. Sweet! Jeff and Whitney's little yellow GTO is smaller than that muscle car we had, but it's still a muscle car and he says once I am able to drive again I can take her out on the expressway. :-D