I actually do remember waking up during surgery. I remember telling Dr. Hardy a few days later. He said, "You do?" and I said, "Yes, I do". I proceeded to explain that I have a vivid memory of feeling like I was waking up to the most horrible pain imaginable. I remembered that I was lying on my stomach and I felt like someone was using a butcher knife and cutting my back and I that I could hear my heartbeat. I also remembered that I tried to move my head and then..........I didn't remember anything else. He tried to assure me that I hadn't woken up. However, I found out many years later, that I did indeed wake up, but not on my own. Story to follow.
I remember being in moderate pain, but nothing I couldn't handle. It was okay. The respiratory therapists came in several times a day and I had to do the "blow" the plastic balls exercise. I did this every day for the next two weeks until the next surgery. I wasn't allowed out of the bed, and I was "encompassed" by the shell of my last cast, which was put together with a Velcro-type closure. I would be rotated onto my stomach several times a day to avoid bed sores, but other than that, I was basically bedridden. I watched TV, and some of the other kids would come and visit. My mother was there every day and my Dad came back that first weekend. Friday night in fact. He spent the weekend with my mother at the Serruta's house and visiting me.
That first weekend, I remember quite well that I was visited by my Aunt Sarah and Uncle Joe. They came in and Aunt Sarah said she had a little gift for me. It was the cute little ornament that I had seen with my mother down in the gift shop on the day I was admitted. If you'll recall, she was a little doll ornament with red yarn hair, parted in the middle with a yellow dress and red and white stockings. I was so happy because I had thought it was so cute. I remember my Uncle Joe asking, "What's her name?" and I said, "I don't know. What do you think?" and he said, "Suzie Q". So Suzie Q it was and on my pillow she went. She never left my side and in some strange way, I found her very comforting. I still have Suzie Q today. She is pulled out every Christmas and she get's put on my tree! Every Christmas when we put the tree up and pull the ornaments out, we come to that one and I say to Erica and Ben, "Do either of you remember the story of where this ornament came from?” They never remembered the story from year to year when they were younger, but they do now. They know that Suzie Q is very dear to me and no Christmas will ever pass without putting Suzie Q in a prominent place on my Christmas Tree!!!
I also remember many different visitors and many different gifts --
~There was my Uncle Sal. Uncle Sal was my mother’s brother and he came to visit me often - always bringing me a fruit basket from Sandy's!! He was so sweet, and he knew that I loved yellow apples (Golden Delicious), so it would always have a couple of them for me!! I LOVED fruit when I was little, I still do and he called me soon after I was admitted, before he came for his first visit and he asked me what he could bring me and I told him, "A yellow apple"!! I was delighted when he brought me a whole basket of fruit with two or three yellow apples prominently displayed at the top!! Yummy! The nurse's liked it too and not a visit went by that he didn't bring me a fresh fruit basket. At one of his visits, he came bearing the expected fruit basket but when my mother left the room for a minute, he came to me and said, "Valerie, there were so many cute things in the gift shop. Do you want anything?" and I said, "No" (my mother would have killed me if I EVER asked for anything!). So he said, "Oh c'mon - did you happen to notice the big stuffed dog for sale downstairs in the lobby?" and my eyes grew big!! ~~He wouldn't! He couldn't! He didn't!! Did he??~~ Just then my mother came back in and she said, "What Sal?” So he said, "Valerie and I were talking about the stuffed dog in the lobby and I was asking her if she liked it." Argh! My mother ruined it all - she said, "Sal, I want to talk to you outside" and they walked out. I heard her in a hushed voice saying something, and them arguing. They came back in and he said, "Valerie, are you sure you didn't like anything else in the gift shop?" and I said, "Maybe a book" and he said, "Okay, I'm going to get you one" and he left. My mother looked at me and said, "Did you tell him that you wanted that stuffed dog?” I said excitedly, "Of course not, but I think he wants to buy it for me!” I was sooooo excited. She burst my bubble and said, "He is NOT going to buy that for you. Do you know how much that cost??? Hundreds of dollars!!!" and blah, blah, blah....all I knew was that she was ruining my moment!! I said, "Yes, Mom". I knew she had got to him and I wasn't getting the huge dog. You had to know my Uncle Sal - when he reappeared, he didn't come back with just one book, not two books, not even three books, but FOUR books AND some candy!! He was a favorite Uncle because he spoiled his nieces and nephews rotten!! And I loved him to pieces. And I loved my fruit baskets and EVERYONE knew they better not eat the Golden Delicious apples!! They were MINE from my Uncle Sal!
~I also remember another really great gift. This one came from my Aunt Bella and Uncle Angelo. This was a FABULOUS idea for a kid and I always knew that if I ever knew another kid in the future that was ever hospitalized for a long period of time, that I would copy the idea. I guess it is a blessing, for the most part, that I've never known of a child that had to endure a long hospital stay to do this, but if you ever do, remember this idea. My Aunt Bella walked into my room with a large, wicker basket chock full.......of presents. Thirty presents in fact. It actually had 30 separate and individually wrapped presents. She explained you can only open ONE a day!! How exciting! I can't remember if this was given to me between the surgeries or after the second one, but I DO remember the gift! It sustained me and gave me something to look forward to every day. Great, great gift! Every morning, my nurse would come in and bring the basket to me, I would rummage through it and grab ONE gift and slowly open it. Now, you have to agree, wasn't that a great idea??
~I also remember my cousin Diane and her husband David coming to visit and they brought along Diane's friend, Mimi. I loved Mimi - I thought she was really cool too. She brought me flowers in a blue Lincoln Log bottle. I still have that bottle. I don't display it anywhere in my house but it is stored away in a closet and every time I glance at it, it brings back the memory of Mimi. I can even recall that I was in a bed that my Dad had rolled out to the large visiting area that I've mentioned before. It was the visiting area that was right before the incline that took me up to the scale beds and elevator that would take me down to the casting room. I can remember laying there and looking up and seeing Diane and Mimi. A nice memory.
~I have always, always loved maze puzzles. I still do - in fact, I find them relaxing and my kids know how much I love them. When they were small and would be given placemats in restaurants, I would get all excited when they had mazes on them and I would steal them from my own kids and do them!! Anyway, my cousin Tommy would make them for me when I was in the hospital and one time he made this elaborate and detailed and really hard one. I mean, he literally drew this thing out by hand!! I loved it because it took me forever to complete and I wasn't actually done with it in 5 minutes. I think it took me days. Another good memory I have and a really, really sweet thing for him to do for me. I've never forgotten it. He probably doesn't even remember it, but I do.
~I remember my father bringing my friend, Janet Christy to visit me on one of his Wednesday nights. I'm not sure if I mentioned that my father would return home on Sunday evenings back to Westerly. He would also come visit me every Wednesday night, staying until 9PM, then bringing my mother back to the Serruta's, then head home again. He would then come back again on Friday evening for the weekend. He kept this up for weeks, the entire time I was in the hospital. I look back now and just think STRESS!! My sister's, Michele and Ursula, would actually go stay most weekends at my Uncle Sal and Aunt Jenny's house. Anyway, on one Wednesday night, I was pleasantly shocked to see my father, my sister Michele and my good friend Janet Christy walking in to visit me. I was actually sort of embarrassed in her presence, but she was friendly and very sweet. I also think that may have been one of the very few visits I received from my sister Michele. She was the studious type and never wanted to visit and take time away from her studies. Plus, she was clearly embarrased of me. It was all just too much for her evidently. Ursula however, came often. She was always bringing me some baked good. I have a vivid memory of her baking me a "checkerboard" cake and being so impressed with it and not knowing how she did such a thing. My mother also had these ballerina candle holders and she would make me all sorts of things and put those in the the cake or cupcakes. She was a regular visitor.
~I do remember so many visitors - but I'm sure there were many who came and for one reason or another, I just have no specific recollection of. Like, I think I remember my cousin Joey. Or maybe not? I think I remember my Aunt Mary. But maybe not? I don't recall any of my grandparents. Maybe they came or maybe not? I hope no one is hurt by that, but it was a long, long time ago and I was only 12.
~I also remember that the Serruta's had a son, Jimmy. I have no idea how old he was but he had a girlfriend, Ruth. Now how I can remember that and not a lot of other things, I have no idea. But I do remember Ruth. I liked her a lot and she actually would pick my mother up some evenings and sometimes she would even come visit me when she got out of work in the late afternoon and she would feed me my dinner. It would give my mother a break and it gave me someone else to talk to. As I stated earlier, these are all just memories that have lingered and the timing of them is all distorted.
Another vivid memory is keeping up with my Mary Tyler Moore shows on Saturday nights. It came on from 9-9:30 and I loved it. Most of you who know me well, know that I was an absolute fan of MTM! I loved her in the Dick Van Dyke show and I used to watch that all the time. Then, when her own show came on in 1970, I was hooked. I loved the whole premise of the show and I was certain that I would be a young, career woman living in some great apartment with a great job and great friends. I LOVED the big "M" on her wall and I vowed I was going to have a big "V" on mine. So even in the hospital, when Satruday night came at 9PM, I watched faithfully. Her and Rhoda and Phyllis. I just loved it and I knew that one day, I was going to have my moment with throwing my hat in the air too!! When I would shout, "I've made it afterall"!. Thinking about living out my life like Mary Tyler Moore is what kept me going many times and I just knew that if I could just get past this whole scoliosis crap, I too was going to "make it afterall"!!!! Thanks Mary!! (Look to the right in the photo section for some pic's and info regarding MTM)
I do have a couple of other memories that I know did happen after that second surgery. So, let's just move to Surgery #2.
No comments:
Post a Comment