Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Hospital knitting - Not!

I anticipated getting all sorts of hospital knitting done this weekend but that didn't really happen. While sitting in the waiting room Friday during the 7 hour surgery, I did not knit a stitch. I read a book and visited with family instead.

Once Scott was in ICU, I did do some knitting but not a terrific amount. And last night (3 days after the surgery), I brought him home. He insisted all along that he would be home in 3 days. Technically he was in there 4 days but it's still pretty remarkable. The ICU staff is all impressed with how well he is doing.

He did overdo it somewhat last night when we got home. He insisted he was walking down the driveway (which is a hill) to get the mail and newspaper. I went out to see how he was doing and found him sort of wobbling up the driveway. Needless to say, I had to guide him back up. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have made him stay at the bottom and driven the car down to pick him up. But that didn't occur to me until we were back in the house. This incident did drive home the fact that even though he's out of the hospital, he can't do any more than he did in the hospital.

Today will be spent buying all the things we need to keep him comfortable at home. But I'm not doing any shopping until my daughter gets here from Rochester. I think he still needs someone in the house at all times. But, overall, we're doing very well.

Thank you for the continued good thoughts!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Quick update

Scott's surgery went very well. The doctor did a quintuple bypass. He did say that there was more coronary disease than he expected so I forsee a change in our eating habits. I already cook with very little salt but I can stand to cut down on some of the cheese and eggs that I use.

Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

It's getting better...

Scott still hasn't had his surgery but we are both feeling somewhat better. We went to the hospital for his pre-op screening and after 7 hours of meeting with everyone associated with the surgery and having every detail explained, we left feeling very reassured about the whole process.

Tuesday I went to the dentist and within half an hour, the bad tooth was out and I was on my way home. I didn't realize how nervous I was until it was over. I also didn't realize how nervous Scott was about my tooth extraction until I came out of the exam room and found him waiting in the front office. Totally unnecessary but sweet.

I felt good enough Tuesday to go to my knitting group that night. That always improves my week.

Alek came in from North Carolina today and Ariane is coming home tomorrow. We leave for the hospital bright and early Friday morning. Scott's youngest sister is also coming so I decided that I'm bringing travel games and we're having a party in the waiting room. The surgery is 4-5 hours long so we need something to keep us occupied. I, of course, will have a couple of knitting projects, too.

I finished another flap cap this morning. These are so much fun to make. I think I'm going to start another one.



Bernat Berella 4 acrylic yarn in pink, soft fern, and white
US 7 needles

I have more colors of the Berella 4 that I would like to use but next time I'm going to use a size 8 needle. The pink hat will be warm but the fabric is a little firm.

That's all I have for now. I want to thank everyone who has sent good thoughts our way. It really means a lot.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Big sigh...

That's how I feel about life right now. The past two weeks have not been good and it's not over yet.

On October 28th, Scott went for a heart catherization. He's been having some chest pains when he runs. He's a vegetarian, non-smoking runner who weighs about 150 lbs. He can walk for 6 miles and not be winded so we really figured it was asthma or maybe at the most, he would need a stent or two put into his arteries. Wrong! This Friday, he is going in for quintuple heart bypass. Absolutely everyone who hears this and knows him is shocked! Even the doctor that did the catherization was shocked. But, as he told us, you can't fight genetics. The prognosis is very good as his heart muscle is in fantastic shape. It's just the arteries that are diseased.

Then, as the family was reeling from this news, we received word a few days later that his oldest nephew (45) had taken his own life. While we weren't surprised because he's been having emotional problems the past couple of years, we were extremely upset. He was a very intelligent, charming man with a terrific smile who lost his fight with his demons.

Now on to me. I have a tooth that lost the filling and has been breaking off for quite some time now. Being the procrastinator that I am, I have been ignoring it as it didn't hurt. Well, the weekend of the funeral, it began to hurt so I finally went to the dentist. He said the nerve has been dead for a long time so we could pull it. Unfortunately, after numerous shots of Novacaine, we found that it has an infection at the root and it couldn't be pulled on Monday. So I've been on antibiotics and antibacterial rinse for a week and I am hoping it can be successfully pulled on Tuesday. If it can't be pulled then, it is going to have to wait until after Scott's surgery.

Oh, and tomorrow, Scott and I get to spend the entire day at the hospital for his pre-op session. We will meet with the surgeon, all his staff, be informed in depth about the surgery, and have lunch with people who have had bypass surgery at this hospital. They will do all his pre-op screening, too.

Are you still reading after this less than uplifting post? If you are, I am now going to talk about knitting. Which has been and will be the keeper-of-my-sanity.

The first picture is a progress picture of the Noro Striped Scarf I have been working on lately. I started it on 8/31/09 mainly because I wanted to see how the two colorways of Noro Kureyon would look together. It's now only a few inches from completion because it has been a great mindless knitting project. I may take it tomorrow for the pre-op screening.



Noro Kureyon in #95 and #148 on size 7 (4.5) needles. I apologize for the bad picture. I never should have taken it on that tablecloth. I'll take better photos when it's completed.

The next pattern I think I'm going to find a little obsessive. It's The Flap Cap by Lynda Gemmell (Cabin Fever #109). I bought the pattern and yarn at Adventures in Knitting in Harwichport, MA when we were there in September. It only took two days to knit and could definitely be knit in one day if I worked on it continuously.



Plymouth Encore Colorspun self-striping #7516
Size 7 (4.5mm) needles

I have another started using Bernat Berella 4 yarn. It will be pink with a white, green and pink stranded pattern. Very fun to knit!

And that's all for now. I'm sure you will understand if I don't post for a while. I do hope to have a more positive post after my dentist visit and Scott's surgery.