Musings ....

This is one of those days that I wish things could be different -- that I didn't have to rely on my girls for simple duties that should be so easy and personal. Yet, they do the tasks at hand with no complaints. You really don't realize how much you do for yourself until you have to rely on someone else to do them. Like getting out of a chair -- but, I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier and perhaps I did -- and, if so, I'll blame it on the drugs!! A couple had access to a lift chair through some ex-relatives ... and I became the most appreciative benefactor!! Wow -- press a button and voila! Up I go and it's easy to stand on the one good leg since I have been instructed to put NO weight on the other leg for quite a while. When I'm ready to sit down, it takes me down easily -- and I can actually got all the way down to a lying position (no, that's not telling 'lies' position). It also has a computer 'stand' which I am using right now. For some reason, this sounds familiar so I probably wrote this to someone somewhere recently.

So, thanks to Dex and Grace Martin for such a lovely gift!! It looks brand new and still had the original info in the pocket!!

So, back to our girls -- their checklists have all kinds of stuff on it (some unmentionable here) -- from helping to get me up (although I did that twice during the night and Roxanne about went into shock this morning when she found me up and in the lift chair all by myself -- thank you very much! Oh, I was extraordinarily careful and had use of the walker and it was all of about five feet away!!)

So, as they ran a couple errands , they were checking ..

• Glass of water -- check


• Home phone -- check


• Cell phone -- check


• Computer -- check


• Paper / pens -- check


• TV remote (loving the Olympics right now) -- check


• Medications (nicely labeled and in their little compartments by the time -- wonder why they don't seem to trust my memory) -- check ("Mom, there are two pills here -- did you forget to take one?")


• Newspaper and pen / pencil to do crossword puzzel (my grandmother would be sooo proud)

That's what I have in hand .. as they went out the door, I was asking ... "Do you have your list?"

• Publix -- few supplies I need (some they'll get at Walgreen's)


• Walgreens -- thank you cards -- one especially for 5th floor North at Bay Front Medical Center


• Post Office


• Subway - lunch special there and right now, I don't have a great appetite (why did it take a broken leg to help squelch my appetite!!! I just want to keep up the weight loss in a smart way .. and usually the 'smart way' for me is not the way I take!! Some people get hit over the head as a reminder -- maybe I got hit in the leg to remind me to 'take it off' .. weight, of course!)

Poor girls-- "Mom, what would you like to eat?" "Don't have a clue -- I'm not hungry and when I'm not hungry I can't think of a thing I want ... " So, I think they may try to surprise me ... we'll see!

So, for a few minutes this morning, I had a pity party for myself -- maybe that's not what it really is but I wish so badly I could do everything I need to do for myself and right now, I can't -- for a person who's spiritual gift is "serving", it makes it about as tough as it can get and I think God wants me to learn some lessons through this process. I hope I do it quickly so I can get on to the next chapter!!!

"F" is for "Fickle Fay" ..

When I was growing up, I heard the word "fickle" more often than I do now. Typically we used it as a label for someone who would change his/her mind often. I had already started writing this when I picked up the newspaper today and the word "Fickle" referring to "Fay" jumped out from bold headlines!

We need to get some work done on our roof one of these days (it seems everyone in Florida has those issues!), so when we heard that "Fickle" Fay was bearing down on our part of Florida and threatening to unload truckloads of rain, Tim tarped our roof out of precaution. Of course, as he did it, we all thought, "Yup, just as soon as he gets this done, Fay will change her mind and go a different direction." And -- he did and she did!! We may have some rain today (the key word being 'may') but we will be prepared and I'm glad for that.

I still am amused when I remember my mother asking me what the difference between a tornado and hurricane was and without even thinking, my answer was "about a week"!!

While we really don't sit around for 'about a week' twiddling our thumbs waiting on " Fickle Fay" or her relatives to make up their mind on what route she/they may take, we also are very glad we are not in tornado alley where there is little warning and so much devastation. We have learned from experience that it is still very good to be prepared for a hurricane / tropical storm. And, of course, the kids are thrilled today since all schools are out!

By the way, I don't think it has rained here yet and it's after noon! We could actually use the rain but who knows ...

I Think I Sound Like my Grandmother! Oh, my!!

I remember when my dear Swedish grandmother would look over her glasses and inform me that there had been a meeting of the board (her kids) and they had decided what needed to be done! She would then tell me that Aunt Wanda was the chairman! What a job she had -- we loved our grandmother but she truly defined the term, "Stubborn Swede" ... I think my mother inherited that as well!!

So ... with that in mind, I thought I would give a short update as I keep falling asleep as I type this. The computer may end up on the floor if I don't pay atention ... So, here's my update and hopefully it is done before I actually fall asleep!

I am settled in at home now with my specialized home health care crew in place. Clipboards in hand, they tell me what I should eat, not eat, what medication to take, when to take it, what not to eat when I take it, what medication needs food, have I done the exercises on the bed, off the bed, have I walked enough, have I not walked enough and the clincher was, 'have you gone to the bathroom yet' .. okay, that's getting a little personal. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was asking you that same question!!!!! Thanks, Rox and Sandi - you are doing a great job!

I'm sure I'll have photos tomorrow!!! I'm just toooo sleepy ...

Of light switches, buzzers and paper towel dispensers ...

What do those things have in common? Minds of their own, of course!

I talked last night about the light switch -- the whole night seemed to be a comedy of errors. An IV was pumping some magic solution into my body (wonder if I'll glow in the dark) and with new technology and the fact that the IV thingy wasn't moving as quickly as the nurse would like it to, it was being pushed along by a pump. Said pump would very loudly protest when it had no more magic solution so you would here three short beeps -- beep-beep-beep by a very short interval of peace. Remember, this is about 1am or so .. but, hey, who's keeping time anyway??

It seems that while the pumps have their own alert system, other than making some crazy insistent "Listen to me, I'm over it!" type of screech, no one seems to listen. After about a minute of it (or less), I was happy to reach for the 'call button' and 'call' someone ... anyone who cared but at 1am, it seemed I was the only one that did!! Aha .. finally, a voice that sounded more like radio static than a person, "Can I help you?" "Yeah, Can you listen for a minute ..." Of course, it would have to be at that exact moment that said pump decided to come up for air and be quiet.

Soooo, I had to explain that there was some sort of creation in my room making some major fuss about something or other and I was patiently 'over it'. Actually, I've been a patient patient this entire week, thank you very much!!

The 'static' responded, "I'll tell your nurse." Okay, let's see -- eeny, meeny, miney, mo ... (how do you spell that anyway???) It might be Imma or Adrienne or Pat -- all them are good but who will be the most anxious to get an obnoxious noise maker (not me, of course) to be quiet.

So ... nurse arrives, fiddles with the machine but it protests a few times until it finally gave up with a resigned grunt. However, the nurse isn't the one to actually shut down the place, room, etc., -- that would be Mimi, the personal care tech for that shift. Mimi is a sweetheart but doesn't seem to be concerned to much about figuring out some simple ways to make things easier on herself.

I even tried to help her -- "You know, you can unplug my computer cord at the end of the bed so you don't have to prove how high you can jump in the middle of the night to get to this side of the bed..." Her response, "That's okay, I can get there from here." Right -- clang, clang. What was that??? Glad I didn't know then what I know now-- I had asked the girls to bring my "White Diamonds" (if you don't know what that is, then you don't know what it is ... perfume stuff ... TMI, right?)

In Mimi's desire to be coordinated, she grabbed the window sill but not realizing that the White Diamonds were there and I was so thankful that when it fell on the floor, it didn't break. (I did hear her mutter, 'What was that?' but other than that, she just keI'm not sure what the response would have been to anyone entering the floor -- hazardous fumes -- don't inhale!!

Okay ... where was I? Oh, Mimi .. I really was getting rather tired and as I mentioned last night, I like to sleep in the darkness. But, I can't get out of bed with a bum leg especially to turn off a light. (Remember when we played the game, "Last one in bed gets to turn off the light" but since hospitals are not really places for games, better stay cool!)

"Mimi, can you turn off the light?"

"Of course, Ms. Bedford. No problem ... " Oh, let's sing for a minute while we do a search .. "Oh, where, oh, where did that light switch go?" (Yank a cord in time to the music -- sounds like she is pulling down the ceiling.) "Oh, where, oh where can it be?"

And so the search begins ... I told my nurse, John, this morning -- "You may have some of the most brilliant people in your trauma hospital here, but surely they could add a course on 'How to Find a Light Switch' somewhere." Funny thing, he agreed with me!

Back to Mimi looking for switch -- I loved this one. She's looking all around to see if there is anything remotely similar to a light switch. Leans over to check the wall a little closer, has to lean down to do it and sets off the automatic paper towel dispenser over her head. The noise momentarily shocks her and I'll admit, we were both quite sufficiently amused! Amused but tired! I was tired -- she was tired (although she had another 4 hours of work left)!

Well, have paper towels now -- but we still have light, too. Paper towel vanishes into trash can. (By the way, you can see the paper towel dispenser in the photo behind and above Kamen's head. Guess we stayed far anough away to get attacked by it! The switch for the overhead light in my room is on the right side of the big white 'box' on the wall behind me.

Poor Mimi -- a little put out by a paper towel dispenser and not wanting to look foolish for losing the 'bet ya can't find the lightswitch game', she shrugged her shoulders and headed out the door.

I'm not going to bore you for the next half hour on how frustrating it can be to be so close and yet so far from a light switch -- so, the short version (yup, I can actually keep it short!) I tried to sleep with that light on so tried to cover up my head with the one extra pillow on the entire floor which is so thin, it could qualify for an oversized Wheat Thin. Didn't work and the fact that a couple had to decided to take their evening stroll around the 5th floor dragging an IV contraption behind them (glancing in my room every time they passed), just didn't help to make me sleepier.

Okay .. back to beeper -- obnoxious beeper ... Beep!!! Static voice, "May I help you?" (Although at this time of the morning, it was more like, "What do you need?") How do I explain that I simply want someone to find an on/off switch button!

Good ol' me, don't want to offend anyone so add enough 'pleases' to sweeten every pie from here to the coast (all of about a mile), ask, "Um, would it be possible when you have time in the next little while to turn off my light?" She probably wanted to answer, "Get up and do it yourself" but because of my kindness, she responded, "I'll tell your nurse." Oh, here we go again ....

Fortunately, this time .. the nurse was actually came quickly. It took her all of about 5 seconds to walk through the door, flip a switch on the wall and "there was darkness"!!!

Sort of, that is ..... it seems that after she did that, she forgot to shut the door and with the brightly lit hospital corridor "Supplies Here" sign right outside my room, it still wasn't much better.

Let's see -- it's now 5am -- Nurse comes in -- "Here are your morning meds. By the way, would you like me to shut your door when I leave?" What -- you mean after finally making myself get to sleep around 3am or so and trying to drown out the other beepers that hadn't yet been put to sleep, I'll get some peace now to go back to sleep?

Hardly but there is one consolation -- big consolation -- I was going home and I am so excited I can't sleep!!! I'm home and it is sooo quiet -- now I can't go to sleep for the quiet!!

But, don't think I'm going to go looking for elusive light switches, buzzers on IV machines and the like and paper towel dispensers that go off whenever there is a whisper of moisture in the area -- I'll be content in my own bed and I better go to sleep before someone invents something new!!

Is a photo worth a 1,000 words?

I hope so because at 1:40am in Room 572 at Bayfront Medical Center in St Pete FL -- I just decided I could barely keep my eyelids open! I am supposed to go home today -- I think they have to do some sort of test to see if I can actually think three consecutive words that make sense. Would you believe that one of the nurses actually sat down beside me one day and asked me if I knew what year it was?? Along with a variety of other questions -- some serious and some quite funny. (This is the same guy who showed me the flowers he was presenting to his wife tonight when he arrived home. A nice expensive arrangement that arrived for a patient who had just checked out -- he called the patient and the family said, 'Keep 'em' ... So, he did and took them home as a gift to his wife!!

Uh-oh, second wind coming -- actually, that would be the sound of so many medical helicopters which land right above my room. During a storm the other night, I was sure it would land right beside me but it didn't. It is sad as I realize that each one of those trips represent a critically ill person.

Back to the 1,000 words ... I'll just take a quick view of this week which should end at home tomorrow .. I sure hope so. I'm tired of being poked so many times that I could easily be nicknamed pincushion ... and they got tired here of trying to hunt down the best person to find my elusive veins!! About the time we were ready to give up, someone would show up and get it done in a jiffy. However, this evening, I couldn't move my arm much or it slowed the flow -- go figure!!

Okay ... photos -- I seriously need sleep -- like I haven't had enough this week!!

Heading down the corridor!!!

The view from my room -- it was pretty except on rainy days when you could see absolutely nothing!!!


I really liked Lyle, one of the nurses, but only had him once. There are lots of rotations so to get a nurse more than once, I think you would have to move in for a month!

Kids coming to visit -- but quite frankly, I remember very little of the visit but they sure do since I told stories about their parents that made so little sense the kids knew they couldn't be true. Like Roxanne's fried potatoes and sausage that end up on the ceiling. Why? I have no idea but they are really delicious and that's why they end up on the ceiling!!

Poor kids -- try to put all these kids in one hospital room with a very 'loopy' grandmother and the result is hysteria!!! And I was too out of it to give a care! Other than adding some bizarre remark about arm pits and good looking guys -- it's a Teri story!

I could barely say 'hi' to Rudy and I don't think he ever did figure out who I was. I sure wasn't the person he knew as his 'nana'!!

Tyler was anxious that I have a 'real' hug before he left!!

Okay, so I had the girls bring the computer, computer cords, camera, charger, phone charger, etc., etc. Sandi wasn't sure what to do with any of them although there are lots of outlets. The funniest thing is that most of the doctors and nurses have no idea where to turn on or off the overhead light in my room. They went on a hunting expedition to find it -- some sort of challenge, I guess!!

Yup, if you don't have damage before you go to the hospital, there's a great chance you will before you leave. Don't worry - it looks much better now!!

Shonna looks good here ... me??? Ha .. I'm not sure there's a word to describe that!

Isn't there something wrong with this picture? It's my bed not Kasi's. But I was taking a short break after Physical Therapy and Kasi hijacked my bed!

Look a-like famous people -- John favors Stephen Spielberg and the gal below, Sharon Stone

Remember the light thingy, well, we now have a nurse coming to try to figure out how to turn off the light ... go figure -- I'm going to sleep, light on or off!!

Well, after two more photos -- one of my mastering about 10 steps of PT -- hurray!! And of Whitney, who is a PCT and in nursing school and has to be one of the sweetest gals you would ever meet. One of the nurses told me that she will definitely make an awesome nurse!! She never shows a bad attitude and simply loves people!

One thought, two thoughts, four thoughts .. what happened to 'three'?

Here I am seated at my computer with my leg up in the air -- somewhat and my brain cannot seem to process over three thoughts at a time right now due to the lovely medications they give. Or maybe it's because medications typically work overtime on me so I don't make any sense at all! Whatever the case may be, I have some photos to post so I better do it fast before I lost my oomph to do it --or lose my train of thought - which ever comes first. I thought the problem was in my leg not my brain. Oh, well ... so, you are going to see a mish-mash of photos and they are pretty crazy -- these were taken as were getting ready to leave for home. I'll sue Christopher if he or Jonathan decided to post any of their photos!! Fair warning, guys!!! Sure good thing I love them!

There are some other photos I need to post but have to figure out where they are on the computers. It seems I had stuff in various places. I am certain of one thing -- Tim and Susan must be relieved to have their house put back together again! Thanks so much to them and their boys and to Susan's brother, Pat, who did everything they could to make my stay as comfortable as possible. I am sure I also provided plenty of laughter ...

Miss "Loopy" is up and at 'em .. ummm .. well ...

So, here I am in my special place -- in Tim's favorite seat in their big family room. He has been so very gracious about me taking up his place but it is the easiest for me to get in and out of -- or up and down out of -- whatever you want to call it.

I'm sure you know that as a family, humor reigns supreme. I guess if you can have humor, you can handle about anything. This is absolutely no exception. So, when Christopher was helping me get to the bathroom and I wouldn't shut up (actually I was trying to keep from thinking about my bummed up leg), he laughed so hard he almost dropped the towel he was using to keep my leg a little elevated. (I've graduated now -- I don't need the towel .. yeah, hurray!)

If it isn't that, I will sense that someone is standing near as I am in my typical dozing pattern, will open my eyes and there is one of the boys!

On a serious note -- I can't believe how very blessed here -- Susan has been a nurse for eons (she's much younger than I am) and does a phenomenal job always!! Tim, who is not known for being empathetic by nature, has very patiently helped me get some things done that were way out of his comfort zone. I know, TMI!! (Too Much Information for anyone who doesn't know that I didn't spell Tim wrong!)

My brain is working a little better today although I can't guarantee that and only the readers will know for sure. Everyone here is gone for a while and I really need to pick up the phone and call my good friend, Amy Balty -- which I probably will do when I finish here. Susan is coming home early from work -- I'm almost embarrassed to take all of their help but then I get a sermon about accepting help!!

I need Jonathan to describe the first night getting into the house and going up the stairs. Poor guy! I con't think he will ever forget that -- we tried all kinds of things -- regular chairs, rolling chairs, move the ladders in the garage, sit down, nope, gotta stand up a little -- okay, now I'm seated on the floor, I'm comfortable right here but can't stay on the floor in the door to the garage for days. Keelan has gone into some kind of mourning not understanding why I can't play with him. He looks at me with forlorn eyes!

Oh, yes, I managed to get out of the doorway with Michael, Jonathan and Susan's help and settled on the couch. And I've actually been able to manage getting to the bathroom without too much help which is better than my last surgery nine years ago. I won't go into details but it wasn't a pretty picture and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Shonna and Roxanne -- they laughed then that when I got 'old', the other gals would have to take their turn. Well, am I old yet??

I will be heading home tomorrow and now I want to address my appreciation to my girls -- who are the very best in the world. Okay, I know you have great ones, too .. but, as Shonna mentioned this morning, each one has their strength and when you put them together, they are unbelievable!! So, my St Pete gals (Roxanne, Sandi and Shonna) will be my support system and one that I know I can completely count on. They sort of 'take over' and put me in my place when needed and as Sandi told me, "We'll do whatever we need to do. We will take care of you." And I know from experience that every need I have will be addressed -- whether I think I need it or not!

How much more blessed can I be?

Well ... I am blessed by the many notes I have received already. The emails have poured in and in the midst of all the prayer support, I love the references to humor. I need to keep those together and forward them on for everyone to enjoy!!

Lest I begin to succumb to this lovely pain medication that either puts me to sleep or some type of la-la land that makes the description "loopy" very accurate, I better stop. And as you can see, my protector is close at hand!

Update!!

This is Sandi writing - Mom is a little "loopy" from the meds so thought it would be better for me to write this for her!!

As Ty would say and often does when acting out his little "scripts", "there's good news and bad news - which do you want first?!" I always reply, "Let's get the bad news out of the way." So that is what we are going to do here followed by the good!

The bad news - the break(s) in Mom's leg is pretty extensive. She met with an orthopedic surgeon (a great one by all accounts) and he told her that it is pretty bad. Her femur is broken into at least 8 pieces (sorry - that could bring some vivid and unpleasant images!) and he likened it to someone that has been in a severe car accident. Although he is an orthopedic surgeon, he is unable to perform that kind of extensive surgery. She needs to have a trauma orthopedic surgeon do it. After talking through the whole situation including the facts about payment (gets interesting with someone else - through Wal-Mart -"paying" the bills - in a different way than regular insurance etc) the decision was made that she would be better off to return to Fl and have surgery done there. He made sure that her leg was stabilized with a splint and gave her meds for pain, blood clots etc. There is a level 1 trauma unit in Tampa and so we would be able to get her to a dr qualified to take care of the situation. It would also allow us to help her through what could be a longer recuperation time. As I told Mom earlier - she never does anything half way!! So that's the bad news.

Now for the amazing news. I called Roxanne immediately after talking to Mom so that we could work through how to get Mom back to FL. (the decision had already been made to transport her by car) We decided that Rox and Chris would drive up there on Wednesday and bring Mom back. I will keep Kamen and check in on Kasi etc. Roxanne called Chris to let him know what was going on. He was at work at the time (Northside Christian). Another one of the guys that he works with was with him when he got the call. Chris explained the situation to him. He reminded Chris of someone that he works with - that happens to be the best trauma orthopedic surgeon in the state! (why are we surprised!). They called him right away and explained the situation and he got Mom's cell number. Mom then got a call from the suregon directly. (On a side note - it was comical, Mom said the number came up as "private" and when she answered, the guy said, "is this Linda Bedford? The same Linda Bedford that had the accident at Wal-Mart the other night?" Mom thought some lawyer had gotten her name!!) Mom said that he reviewed the facts with her, assured her that not only could he do the surgery, that he would be honored to do so and will see her as soon as she can get back to FL ( hopefully by Friday but he will see her no later than Monday). He will do the surgery here at Bayfront (a hospital we are very familiar with) and he will help deal with the situation of payment through Wal-Mart. God is good ALL THE TIME! And He answers before we even have a chance to ask.

Continue to pray - for Mom - that her pain will be manageable, that she doesn't have any complications prior to, during, or after surgery; pray for Mom and Dad both to have peace through all of this; pray for Rox and Chris as they travel to and from; pray for the surgeon and his team. We are blessed!

Thank for all those who have already written or called (be warned - Mom is on some serious meds if you try to talk to her! lol) - it really means a lot to her and Dad both. And thanks for the prayers most of all!

If I don't make sense ...

... it is because I decided to get some extra attention last night. I was at Walmart where I get my hair done and my leg caught on the chair, I fell and shattered my femur!! Frustrated?? More than you can imagine!

So, they wrapped me up in an immobilizer cast (been there, done that before) and I will have surgery in the next few days!!

One amusing note -- when the ambulance picked me up, it was in the middle of a big thunder storm. One of the EMT's told me that they would put a sheet over my face so the rain wouldn't hit it but that for extra effect, I should drop my arms down to the side! Of course, I did! So, who knows what will happen over the next few days!!