A Different Wholeness

As hoped for, Karen was freed of her remaining tubes this morning. She was pretty darn happy about that and was given permission to take a shower.  Karen advised that the shower was lacking in the accoutrements we all would hope for at this stage (i.e., it was hand held drippy kind of shower head), but it certainly beat another sponge bath.

The real “wow” of the day is that Karen (aka “Marathon Girl”)  is booking down the hallway. We’ve taken three major walks around the floor.  We got lost on the first trip – which led us into the “Ritz Carlton” section of the floor. All this time we thought we were in nirvana as Karen has a private room -little did we know that there’s a really really spiffy section on the other side – gargantuan rooms, with beautiful views of the mountains, built in couches, etc.  We had a good laugh about our “slumming” it over here on the other side.

As we walk along, we’re thinking of our future years together as old ladies perhaps taking a stroll along the boardwalk in Miami Beach – although we’ve lost our northeastern accents at this point and probably won’t fit in very well over there. But we’re working on where it might just be that we can grow old together and continue to share strolls together.

Shawn came to visit today and we shared some more  laughs with Karen about Mount Vesuvius (which is how Karen is currently referring to the ostomy -we’re all anxiouslyand eagerly awaiting its eruption).

It’s great to see Karen getting stronger by the minute – anticipate she’ll be heading home shortly. Kate comes in tonight as my replacement. Karen is so looking forward to her visit.  I am sad to leave, but I am so comforted by the support team Karen will have with Kate and the Santa Fe angels, Shawn and Nataysa.