There’s No Place Like Home!

Finally the day came that I was able to go HOME!  That Tuesday started out even more interesting than most did for me at the Cleveland Clinic. One of Dr. Mahdi’s Residents came in with a new Resident Assistant at 7:00 a.m. to greet me with a hearty “Good morning! ”  Then the news, ” We are here to take out your last drain tube!”  The first drain tube had come out a few days before and it was pretty painful, but this one had a few more days to get even more settled and attached, needless to say, I dreaded it!  They told me to take a deep breath in when they started to pull it out and then a big exhale as they did in deed pull it out!  This one even had a stitch, so they had to remove that first. My deep breath in worked much more efficiently than my weak attempt at a deep breath out, I definitely felt this one!  But…. ten seconds later, it was out and so started my day!

Luke and Leisha helped me get up and get moving, even took a couple good long walks while they were preparing my departure documents. David came all the way back to bring me home in my favorite “chariot”, LOVE those heated seats!  After I had lunch, they came in with 3 immunizations to administer. Dr. Mahdi had removed my spleen, so because of that they needed me to have these shots before I could leave the hospital just for my protection. The immunizations were the final thing that had to transpire before I was given the “going home instructions”. It seemed like the nurse had a never ending list of things to do, things to NOT ever do, things to sometimes do depending on how I feel, and then the list of warning signs to call them ASAP.  We all listened intently and tried to take it all in.  Eventually, we were on our way HOME!  

The ride home was so beautiful, the sky was a crystal clear blue and everything seemed to look like it was in High Definition to me!  David did an excellent job navigating me home with very few bumps and really not uncomfortable at all! 

Mom was ready at the door when we pulled in and she had food all prepared for me, finally, REAL FOOD!  My first meal was baked chicken and mashed potatoes and it smelled like a little bit of Heaven when I came through the door!  We all knew that the road to recovery was not going to be simple or quick, but, nonetheless, here we were, walking down that road together, finally!

I can remember that night, being leaned back in my Dad’s comfortable recliner all tucked in with freshly laundered linens and my favorite pillow and blanket and for a brief moment all the world seemed right, for the first time in an entire month. I was right there with Dorthy and Toto, ” There’s NO place like home, there’s no place like home!”