A Run to the Hospital and Basement Remodel Revisited

Two nights ago, about 9:30 p.m., my husband came to my knitting chair, where I was happily knitting away, holding his chest and struggling to breathe, and said he thought I better take him to the hospital. Oh man, he's had heart issues before so I jumped up, began grabbing things - phone, charger, coat, purse, keys. Then I lingered over my knitting bag. Shouldn't I take it because, of course, we'll end up waiting for hours...Linda, this is crazy...Dean's heart. Okay, I'll leave it and I ran on.

As it turned out, he was quite nauseous, too. So after a remedy of that by the side of the road on the way to the hospital, he was feeling a lot better. Breathing was still an issue but he was feeling a bit sheepish about rushing us off to the ER. However, being thorough and all, they were concerned about the symptoms and a few of the numbers from early blood tests. So we waited. And waited. And waited. All the while, my hands were twitching, wishing they could be busy.

And I couldn't even call my son to tell him that hubby was doing well. I had jammed the phone charger into my purse but who knows what I did to my phone. Well, I do know, I sat it down by my purse while I dealt with the charger. And left.

My husband's phone had been left intentionally so we didn't have to deal with it while they stripped him of his clothing in exchange for a floral hospital gown. And I couldn't even beg to use the hospital phone - I have no idea what my son's phone number is because my smart phone handles that for me. So we sat. He'd dose off but his sleep apnea would kick in, causing his oxygen to go down, setting off a variety of beeps and boops on the machine to which he was attached. So no sleep, no phone and no knitting.

Finally they decided to keep him overnight because of some tests they wanted to continue taking. Have you ever noticed in a hospital, when you are cold and ask for a blanket, they take a wonderfully warm blanket out of the blanket warmer and you think you're in heaven when they put it on you. And then it cools down and you see that it is barely thicker than a sheet and you lay there chilly and never fully warmed up again. They've stripped you down to nothing and put a sheet and a sheet double on you. And then they put those super thin, super short socks on you because they have rubber nibs on them to keep you from falling.

And then they come in all night to take blood, give meds, mistakenly flip your lights on thinking they were in another room....Yes, he got about 1 hour sleep that night.

I must say, that it was actually a good hospital experience. Our local hospital has always given us good care and been very attentive. And we are so thankful to have it so near. There are just some things that are a given when you're hospitalized.

They discovered that his symptoms were a result of being dehydrated. He's been working hard to get the basement remodel completed to the point where we can begin dealing with the huge pile of stuff in the middle of the floor. And not drinking enough water. For days.

He was kept in the hospital for about 24 hours which involves a lot of running and not much sleep for me, with the dog to care for, bringing needed items back to hubby, etc. But I did get my knitting bag over there and did get some knitting time in.

Here's what I worked on:

This is a pink shawl for a little girlfriend of mine. I want to give it to her for her 7th birthday in June. She loves to be pretty and when she saw me wearing my Faraway, So Near Shawl, and she found out I had made it, she had little sparkles in her eyes. So I determined right then and there to make her one. Her younger sister's birthday is the very next day as hers, so I'm thinking a second shawl is in order. ;^)  This one is Lala's Simple Shawl. I'm using a Kramer worsted yarn and using slightly smaller needles than the pattern calls for, in hopes that I can get a smaller version. Or I can stop when I think it's a good size. It's a nice pattern in that way.

This is my progress on the Ojo de Dios Shawl. I have begun the 11th triangle out of 17. I am using Tangier by Cascade because that is what I had on hand at the knitting retreat. I do not love this yarn but it is 1/2 silk so it will be great this summer. I do plan to make another one in the Gina yarn for which the pattern was made.

And this is what it should look like eventually.

But now that hubby is back home, well-rested, and drinking water, the work downstairs begins again. And the Basement Remodel is about to really cut into my knitting time. Oh well, it will be nice to get that beast finished. 

And I'm so thankful for my husband's healthy heart.