I just want a year

So I just wanted to let you know what is going to be happening – I think…

Jacqui is to be at admitting at 10:30 Thursday, January 3^rd and will then have surgery sometime after that, hopefully not a long wait because she can’t eat after midnight tonight!  

After her surgery, Jacqui will be moved to a special recovery area, almost like a small ICU, a 4 bed room with cardiac monitors and specially trained nurses.  Once she is stable and off the cardiac monitor she will most likely move to a room on Unit 61.  This is in the McQuaig Building – a new building at the rear of the Foothills main building.

It’s unlikely that she will be able to get a private room, as they are usually kept for patients who need to be isolated, so the best we can hope for is a semi private room  - I am disappointed about that because that means I won’t be able to stay over with her in the hospital like last time.  This actually makes me feel a bit desperate, but from other things we have been told I think this environment is much more structured than it was in her last hospital stay -  so we just have to trust that she will be well taken care of without my non-professional input – imagine that!

They are also stricter about visiting hours which are:

11:00am to 1:00pm and

3:00pm to 9:00pm 

Jacqui loves to have visitors and all are welcome, however, during the first few days, it might be best to contact us ahead of time.  I am not sure how they are about cell phones these days and I’m not sure how active Jacqui will be on hers, but I will make sure I check mine often.  So feel free to contact me in the following ways (listed in order of preference – but all are good)

Text – 403-993-1554 me or Peter 587-226-6565

Facebook Messenger

Email – pcwarner@shaw.ca

Or you can try calling my cell, but I probably won’t answer and I don’t have voice mail or you could leave a voice mail at home 403-278-8064 

So that’s kind of all the info we have right now, and info on the surgery results and everything will follow who knows when, basically our hope is for at least a semi-private room (if private is out of the question) with a good or no roommate and really kind, compassionate nurses. 

The following will be more of my ramblings, so no need to read on if you have other things to do - but Happy New Year!!!

On January 1, 2012, I decided to start a journal to record something I was thankful for everyday, this is some of what I wrote on the first day:

My focus this year is gratitude, to be grateful, so today, on day 1

I am gratefull for 2011

a year….not a great year

but a year of life and breath, joy and sorrow, fun and heartache, health and illness

filled with boredom and surprises, highs and lows, sunshine and rain and snow

that ended with Christmas together – us 4

and texting each other on New Year’s Eve, not together, but  not apart

it’s good

 

On December 31, I wrote: 

The end of “a year”

ups/downs, accomplishments/waiting

joy/sorrow, losses/beginnings, transitions/same-old

excitement/boredom

A year

Better or worse than others, I don’t know – I am happy, well grateful, that I started this journal because right now when there is lots of “scary” coming, I can remember and reflect on good!! 

So similar, could this be a pattern emerging? Is that “just how it is in this old world”? (that’s what my mom always used to say). 

For us this year was filled with a lot of sadness – other than the obvious.  While recovering from the loss of Peter’s dad in November 2011, we lost my little mama in June and then Peter’s strong little mom had a disabling stroke in late November and is now dealing with a slow rehabilitation.  Two of our siblings continued to battle serious health conditions and one battled a new diagnosis.  We lost a dear family friend.  Troubled relationships, breakdowns, some huge, some smaller, but it all feels huge when the heart’s involved. 

But – there’s another list - we’ve had graduations from university and high school, weddings and babies, travel, we’ve celebrated milestone birthdays and lots of other birthdays and anything else of we could think of to celebrate and I have my list of 365 things I was grateful for! 

As I was reading everyone’s comments on Facebook today about looking forward to a great year and all the usual sentiments of hope for the New Year, I thought, I’m not sure what I would put, I think I just want “a year”, one with life and breath and all the other stuff that comes with it and the grace to accept what comes.   

But mostly I just want good stuff (Oh there she is – the real Carol - haha)