Who knew that there is something called ICU psychosis? It is a result of patients being in a ward that is constantly lit up and constantly full of activity, plus all the other complications of drugs, poor sleep, pain…whatever. Room 127 was a bit of a dungeon with virtually no natural light. A couple of the other rooms had larger windows so we put “dibs”on the next available room and then kept watching everyone else’s progress. If they looked like they were going somewhere, we would go see the head nurse. Yesterday, the fellow (yes, fellow, they are all men here, does this say something about the differences in risk-taking by gender? By contrast, at my mom’s physio clinic is full of women, making sure they stay healthy…) was getting ready to move out when Layton went for the GI surgery later in the day. Yahoo, a new home! 124, for your info.
Speaking of psychosis, he wrote me a note this morning telling me the “Others are trying to escape.” Oh, no, psychosis! But indeed, the fellow in the next room has been trying to escape and Layton was just keeping me up on the ward activity. He has a nice family, too. Rolled his vehicle, I guess. Bob, with the nice wife, Judy, created a traffic jam on the freeway with his accident. The fellow who immediately moved into Layton’s room has nice kids-they showed me how to use the cell phone..
Speaking of cell phone, Star Riders came through again with a cell phone compliments of Cricket. Free unlimited calling to Canada while we are here! How nice is that. It is different than my phone so when I called someone, it said “mute” so I pushed the button to “unmute” and I was really muting. My apologies to Dorothy, Adele and Shauna:) The voice mail instructions are in Spanish and right now I have three voice mail messages that I can’t retrieve. There is a Mexican family here visiting someone, but I think they are pretty new to ICU so maybe tomorrow, I will ask for help translating the instructions. 127’s kids could not figure out how to change the language, which is comforting, since I couldn’t either. My cell number is 775-379-4500, but I don’t always get to it on time, depending on what is going on here.
Speaking of “view” (I am “speaking” a lot today as a tribute to Layton who can’t until the trach tube is much smaller or removed), we see the gravel top of a tar and gravel roof and an air conditioning platform, but the natural light is SO great to have.
We had company again last night, Liza from Circle’s Edge and Cathy from Star Riders. We went for a nice walk around the park across the street. Reno is getting record-breaking rain this month-that means two inches. But today the sky is clear blue, from horizon to horizon.
I was thinking about the Reno sky this morning. I had a good enough sleep that I got up to go for a walk. Just so you know, Danielle (our family personal trainer), I thought about doing the stairs in the parkade because that would be good for my heart, but I decided to do the walk along the river because that was good for my soul. What I miss about Alberta is the huge sky, what I like about BC are the mountains and terrain. Reno has mountains but they are far enough in the distance that the sky still seems wide open. The walk along the river was very pleasant and a great way to start the day.
I surprised and thrilled to see physio this morning. They worked with Layton to turn in the bed, get his feet on the floor and with the help of a walker, he stood for a couple of minutes. His sedation is being reduced and he is looking better. I am not that good at lip-reading yet so we still have the writing pad.
During morning rounds, I did the labyrinth again. What a lovely, easy way to meditate. The word “Namaste” came to mind as I entered the labyrinth. “The God within me sees the God within you.” So as I walked slowly, I thought about the “God” of the labyrinth, the Abundance I could see in the blades of bunch grass between the pathes, the leaves on the plants, the blossoms of the flowers. I thought about the Abundance of Love and Fellowship we have had in this journey. I witnessed Power, as I saw the bubble bees hovering over the blossoms and the weeds pushing through the packed sand. I thought about the Power of Layton’s spirit as he pushed through the pain and discomfort and the Power of knowledge used by the medical staff and of course, the Power of directed, focussed prayer.
The God within me sees, loves and appreciates the God within each and every one of you.
Back Road Scholar 