Marquinhos and Mateos came by to say hello. They belong to
the family who lives on the farm. I showed them the grotesque photos of the
foot and some others of Taelor and our adventures I have on the computer.
Marquinhos broke his arm falling in the same hole so we had a lot to talk
about. “Cosa, cosa de mais!” he kept telling me enthousiatically (itches,
itches so much!) Darling boys. Mateos just returned from a tennis camp he went
to in Sao Paulo
along with four other boys. They slept at the school and played all day long.
He was enchanting. When he saw Taelor’s photo, he put his face right up to the
screen, “Linda!” Does she live in Sao
Paulo? No, I had to admit she is much farther away
than that. When I said she lives in the US Marquinhos replied, “oh, she’s an
American!” “Me too” I told them…”nuh ah” they responded together. Yes, I am
bewitched by these two little gents. Marquinhos must be 12 and Mateos 14 or so.
Back to General
Hospital episodes…
Sunday came and went without much action that I can recall.
My foot hurt a lot and I behaved myself, not that I really expect anyone to
believe it but it is true. Humbled by my simple surroundings. Tiled bathroom
(which I had to myself since Yolande is plastered to her bed, using a bed
pan-the horror of it!) made for a slippery slope at times. At this point, I had
had enough meals to know what to expect. A shit brown covered tray split into
thirds arrives. Pop the lid and you will find three fourths of it is rice with
a bit of beans strewn across the top. In one corner is a slit of thinly sliced
lettuce or soggy veggies (cukes, eggplant, squash) while the third corner
stored some sort of meat dish (cooked chicken, ground beef or sliced something
or other.) I had suggested they leave off the meat but I am sure they didn’t
understand. Hate to waste food yet the meat kept appearing..
Monday morning I hit the shower early. Came out of the
bathroom to find someone in my bed! The Three Bears are pulling tricks on me
again! Turns out someone in dire need-a Japanese Brasilian slip of a thing was
in a bad motorcycle accident, full of scraps and looking pretty pathetic needed
more privacy that the other room had to offer. Swapped to Room 1.
I got the bed near the control switch for the nurses call
button. It was the only one of several perched on the walls around the room. By
the time I left the hospital, I noticed the missing mirror in the bathroom,
lack of a toilet seat or cover, no security bars on any given wall, the
overhead lights only worked on one side of the large room and the windows had
to be propped open with empty latex glove boxes, the wheelchairs had torked and
wobbly roundish wheels that swayed the passenger from one side of the hallway
to the other, the walker they scrounged up for me had a missing rubber tip so I
scotched along, screeching against the tile. Never got accustomed to the
off-balance sensation of the inadequate equipment. An accident waiting to
happen!
Tatiana in Bed #1 across the aisle from me has a tumor in
her stomach. She flashed her foot at me declaring she had a motorcycle accident
four years ago and had a plate and several screws put into her left foot. I was
horrified by the results of the surgery-a very deformed and twisted foot…yikes!
Could not erase that image from my mind until long after my surgery.
Bed #2 was an Italian/Brasilian whom reminded me of my mom.
She was getting a varicose vein removed. In and out in no time. Her
neighbor/daughter/friend was in the room for a long time, rearranging the
furniture, watching the soaps, sharing her sack full of apple bananas (yum,
they are the best!) and gossiping. She also fussed about and fed the elderly
woman in Bed #3. Granny was pretty bruised up, had her ankle wrapped and seemed
very out of it. She is only 84 but was ancient as the hills. Her granddaughter
and daughter both spent a night each. They made themselves at home, got meals
served along with the patients and chatted with the nurses like they are
long-lost relatives. Everyone had to keep track of Granny’s roaming hands. She
was admonished for scratching at herself and picking at the ankle bandage.
Granny was gone when I got back from surgery. Left without a trace.
McWonderful (Dr Gebrin) arrived and assured me surgery was
scheduled for the next day. Whee! By this time I had no interest in the meals.
Could smell the beans and rice cooking with meat and it turned my stomach.
Mostly feasted on the bread and fruit, chugged the sweet coffee and tea and
guzzled water, as much as I could manage..also had to keep in mind the energy it
took and how painful it was to make the trips to and from the restroom. Hm.
Started getting very nervous about the surgery. Does
McWonderful really know what he is doing? Or is his charm just a facade for
hack jobs? As Ana and Ian left the hospital that day they ran into a friend of
Ana’s who happens to know an Orthopedic Surgeon in another city nearby who
could perhaps do the surgery. I met this friend and know him as Lava Pe (wash
your feet!) but a woman showed up asking if I was Daniel’s friend. After much
confusion I realized that she is a nurse with the public health system.
Consuella didn’t know Dr Gerbrin’s reputation and would check into it. She came
back several times but nothing ever came of it. I just had to have faith in my
initial reaction to this doctor and just go with it. Unless someone can step in
and pull strings, nothing is really done, could go ‘round and ‘round forever!
Laid and fretted most of the night. I thank my lucky stars
Ian uploaded a ton of music on my Ipod for me and I could soak in the familiar
tunes versus allowing my thoughts to drift into the dark abyss of fear.
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