Exhaustion

It's been a few days since I wrote an entry.  I have just been exhausted.  On Friday my Dad, Valerie and I went down to Johns Hopkins because she had an appointment for a follow-up on her surgery.  She also needed to get her neck and head looked at because the wounds were leaking a little bit of fluid.  I got up at 4 AM and we left at 5 AM to make the treck to the hospital.

It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get to the hospital.  That was pretty good time.  After a little while Valerie was called back to a room and we waited for the surgeon who performed her surgery.  After he asked some questions Val showed him her neck.  She explained that it had been leaking fluid.  He wanted to know if it had been brain fluid or water.  She replied that she did not know.  He asked her to put bandages on it every night (and during naptimes) and then call the nurse on Tuesday to let her know how much leakage there was so he could decide whether she should be hospitalized again or not.  His concern was whether or not she had an infection, or could develop one.  Then he sent her to another room to get a blood test, to make sure she didn't have an infection at that time.  After the test, the technician told her to call by the end of the day, before 5 PM, to see if she had an infection.  The technician said she wouldn't have time to call Val if the bloodwork was positive, so Val would have to call her! 

At this point we noted that it was 10:30, and that we were making excellent time.  Expecially since sometimes these appointments take all day!  And we also made great timing up to the hospital, especially since at times we hit heavy fog, rain, and occassional cicadas!  So we happily got in the car and left.  Happy I say until about 11:30 AM.  At that point a man started waving rather frantically and pointing to the side/back of our car as we drove down the roadway. 

My Dad pulled onto a side road and Valerie got out and looked.  All the doors were closed.  The trunk was shut.  But the back right tire was flat.  Yes, flat.  Fortunately there was a place right there to pull into with free parking.  We pulled in.  And there was a guard witha telephone.  He let my Dad use the phone to call AAA.  But it took two hours for AAA to get there and to change the tire.  By this time my sister wasn't feeling too well.

And then we were back on the road again.  Leaving a town we had never even heard of before.  As we went on, the signs were not clearly marked, and after awhile, we became unfamiliar with where we were.  Well, let's just say we got lost.  And ended up going about 20 miles out of our way.  We stopped again to get something to eat.  I woke up my sister from the back seat.  

Then we started for home again.  "How much longer do we have?" she asked. "Eighty miles," my Dad said.  "That's not so bad," I said.  

At any rate, I got home at 5:15 PM, which means that trip home (with two eating stops) took six hours and forty five minutes.  That is almost double the time it usually takes! 

Valerie got home past five o'clock and never did get to call the technician to see if she tested positive for infection.  (I guess we are the last people in America who don't have a cell phone.  It would have come in handy on Friday.)  But we figured that if she does have an infection then the hospital would have called her and left a message on her anwering machine at home.  The technician's office is not open till Monday, and I can't believe they would make such a horrendous mistake to not call her if she had tested positive.  

So we are waiting to see if we need to turn around and go back to Baltimore in the next few days.  I don't think so though because Val's neck is looking a little bit better.

After getting some sleep last night (Friday night I mean), I woke up Saturday morning and went to my Carmelite group.  I had to wake up extra early to make it and boy was I tired.  Today (actually Saturday) I taught another Bible Study/class.  Once again it was kind of hard because there were a few people again that were trying to take over who didn't know what they were talking about.  Oh well.  I guess that happens wherever you go.  I just gently tried to steer things back in the right direction.  

I came back home when it was over and fell back into exhaustion and went back into bed.  I don't know why I am so tired.  Well the Carmelite meeting did last five hours so I guess it was long!  And it took me awhile to prepare for it last night!  And I did the study questions also.  And the trip took some out of me.  And I guess I am concerned about a few things too, thinking too much, lol.  Okay, so maybe it is normal to be tired.  

Okay, so enough rambling.  I hope everybody is well.