Otters, Aggravation and FINALLY

Monday May 14 & Tuesday May 15, 2012
Lithia Springs Park Site 40, Lithia Florida

 

I am rewarded for getting out early on Monday.

I tip toe past David who is asleep on the floor.  I’m often awake before sunrise but seldom get out.  In our previous life, I was always the early riser, David not so much but now I am very concerned about waking him in case he is in the midst of a rare good sleep.   Today he is snoring so I take that for a good omen and slip out.  Boy am I glad I did. 

 

I am sitting silently in my regular spot on the river bank when I notice a sound in the water and look up to see a river otter swimming by me.  Then I notice there are two.   They swim on up the river so I move up to a better vantage point as one brings a fish up on a small sandy spit just across from where I stand beside the cypress tree.  Then the other otter comes up and takes the fish or perhaps the fisherman give it up.  There isn’t really a scuffle.  As if that isn’t enough, a third smaller otter comes up but the current fish owner isn’t feeling generous.  There is no sharing.  The fisherman goes back in the water and in a flash comes back with another fish which the youngster carries up the bank and disappears.  The Otter with the fish is ripping it apart and eating while the fisherman goes back into the water.  I’m thinking he’s off to get his own breakfast.  But I never see him again.  The remaining adult sits across from me eating the fish.  I’m afraid to move so I can’t use my binoculars or camera.  And then the breakfaster slips into the water leaving half the fish on the small sandy spit which was the breakfast table.   You can see the small spit across the river from me in the picture above.  It’s the sandy looking spot on the left just above half way up the picture.

 

I go back to my chair and sit watching for a long time thinking one of them will return to finish eating the fish.  But they do not and soon it is time for my own breakfast.   So the only picture is this one of the fish abandoned on the sand. 

 

But what a great experience.  Just me, watching Otters on the banks of the Alafia River on an early May morning.  Those of you who know my feelings about River Otters know just how spectacular this was for me.

 

Actually there is one otter picture.  I love otters as I said and have my own otter who travels with me and my big buddy Winnie the Pooh, a veritable sage.  They have consented to be on this post.  Yes it is a well educated reasonably articulate adult in the second half of her life traveling with stuffed animals.  Is this more than you want to know about me???

 

Less than 24 hours ahead you want to reschedule?

It was a good thing something so great happens in the morning since I spend the afternoon arguing with Moffitt about changing David’s Steroid shot for tomorrow.  They call the day before the appointment and say it would be more convenient for them if he could come at 7AM which would mean he’d have to get up at 5AM.  David of course feels he has no choice since he has to have this shot.  He’s about to agree when I interfere.  I’m not so sure this is really “necessary”.  So I begin my questions and around and around I go with them about their need for efficiency and my need for this man to have as much sleep as he can get and not to be rushed.  No, we don’t want to reschedule.  He’s the patient.  He’s the person who is sick.  He’s waited 3 weeks to get this as it is.  In the end, after having discussions with 3 levels of appointment administration, I reach the supervisor.  Result: there is no change but it took WAY too much time and irritation on my part. 

 

Tuesday is the day FINALLY.

We are up and on the road to fight the Tampa going to work traffic.  We arrive at Moffitt at 9am.  We are sent to the 2nd floor.  Yesterday the head of scheduling distinctly told me 5th floor.  So while David waits in the Radiation waiting room, I go up to the 5th floor Neurosurgery Pre Op area to see if this is really correct.   It’s not.  We get him up to the right place, checked in with girl A, moved down to Guy B, where he has to sign papers saying he has a living will and someone with power of attorney.  I’m getting worried.  I thought this was just a shot.

 

They take him off to the surgery pre-op room right away.  After the signing, I’m thinking this is going swimmingly. 

They get him in a cute little purple gown with bear paws on it, opening in the back of course.  He puts knee length support hose on both legs and over that purple sox which match his gown.  I had no idea they had a fashion consultant at Moffitt.  I hadn’t taken my camera since this didn’t seem like a photo op type event but I’m sorry now I don’t have him in the purple gown, the matching purple sox and what the nurse referred to as his “party hat”.  A mesh shower cap looking sort of thing.  He described it as one of those snood type things cafeteria workers wear.  I really liked the sox and hinted that they should give me a pair but no one took the hint.  Later David agreed to model the Bair Paws for the above shot.

 

Now we wait and the stream of people begins.

They all step into his cubicle and ask the same questions about allergies and metal things in your body.  They all sign the chart.  Some introduce themselves, some don’t.   Are we paying all these people for asking the same questions and signing their names???

 

Those who come in include the anesthesiologist and the anesthesiologist fellow and the anesthesiologist medical student, two neurosurgery fellows, one of whom drew a bulls eye on David’s lower back and a big X below that.  The other came to draw the pictures and was surprised someone else had done it.  Add to those 5, 3 surgical nurses, all asking questions and signing the chart.  Both a neurosurgery fellow and a surgical nurse, in answer to a question from David about when he can expect relief,  deliver the not so welcome news that sometimes it takes more than one of these shots to eliminate or mitigate the pain.  This is the first we have heard this.  SIGH…..

 

We have now been here waiting for 2 hours when they pull up the bed’s bars and whisk him off to the operating room for the shot.   I go back to the waiting room and wait some more.

 

About 90 minutes later he is in recovery and has awakened from the “twilight anesthetic” he was given.  He says they had him turn over on his stomach and that’s the last thing he remembers until he woke in post op.   We hang around for another hour to make sure he can stand and walk.  Since he hasn’t had anything to eat since 10PM Monday night and it is now 2PM Tuesday, he asks for some food and they bring him chicken soup and crackers.

 

He goes down to the parking area in a wheel chair.  I drive him directly over to the Florida Cancer Specialists in Brandon.  He is able to walk into the clinic where they take blood and give him both a velcade shot and a 30 minute drip of zometa for bone maintenance therapy.  Multiple Myeloma often causes lesions and weakening of the skeleton.  Luckily, so far, he has not had any of that.  So this is preventative.   I slip out and go down the block to Campbell’s Dairyland for a shot of coconut almond fudge.  I return to the waiting room and wait.

 

While in the infusion room he finds that the revlimid pharmacy has not delivered his medication to the clinic as they agreed to do.  He has to have it by tomorrow.  Another argument.  This has happened before.  Their fault then, their fault now.  They will overnight it to be delivered tomorrow morning.   SIGH………..

 

Finally a Full 9 hours after we had left in the morning, he is home with all the multiple doctorings over for at least today.   Now we cross our fingers that this one shot will take care of the back pain.