On March 22, I had a checkup, on March 26 I had surgery and I've now been home a little less than a week. It all went fast, but it also all went well, and thankfully my mom was still here and could extend her stay to watch over Alex while I was gone. I had very different plans for Easter, to put it mildly, but it's all worked out ok. Alex still had a great holiday, he really bonded with my mom, my new and old friends stepped up big time to help out, and I managed to mostly ignore the indignities visited upon me.
For the first few days of my absence, Alex was still in school, but things closed down here on Thursday mid-day and didn't reopen until Tuesday (during the Easter weekend). One day, Christian took Alex to the pool, another day, Alex went along to a Föhr family birthday party. One day, they went on a nature hike on the mountain behind the Heidelberg Castle, called the Königsstuhl, ("King's Throne") and here's Alex sitting on the mossy throne in the woods.
One day, he spent the afternoon with the Föhr's coloring 50 (!) hard boiled eggs and on Sunday, Alex and my mom went over to the Föhr's for Easter dinner and an egg hunt in the yard. I'm told that fun was had by all. Thank you so much Sherry and Christian for making Easter so fun for Alex. The Easter bunny visited him at our house, at the Föhr's house, and later at a Irene's house. He had quite the haul.
In fact, on Monday, Alex spent the day with his friend Irene and her mom and they did 100 activities by the sound of it.
They did some kind of "floam" activity (?!)
clearly enjoyed by all:
Alex got a new pair of Batman socks that the Easter Bunny had apparently brought to Irene's house by mistake.
At some point the two friends watched a "Curious George" movie in rapt attention.
When the sun came out a bit, they colored on the balcony. You can see Alex making good use of the giant syringe given to him by one of my nurses.
It looks like they made quite a mess!
Then, they came inside to collaborate on a puzzle - which Alex got to take home!
They each scored an orange popsicle,
and ran around on campus, scaling some public art,
topped off with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Mama.
Thanks, Kristyn, for giving Alex such a perfect day.
In the meanwhile, I suffered quietly at the hospital. The surgeons were incredible and the nursing staff was great, too, but the infrastructure was not what I had expected. I was in a small, cramped room with 2 other women. Our beds were probably less than 3 feet apart, so you can forget all about any kind of privacy. That took some getting used to. I'm spoiled, I know. The toilet and showers were down the hall, not ideal right after major abdominal surgery... I was particularly struck by the food we were served. They had asked me if I have any dietary restrictions and I said no, but I didn't expect to be fed like a medieval manual laborer 48 hours after surgery. Here is a sampling of the offerings. They were tasty, but not easy to digest and most was sent back, of course, which seems like such a waste.
Beef stew with egg noodles:
Thick pea soup with a fatty sausage (this is what the plate looked like after I was done eating!).
Pot roast.
Let's just say I was glad to come home after 7 nights to enjoy my own bathroom and my mom's scratch-made chicken soup.
We all laid around the house for a few days, but yesterday managed to venture out for a bit for the first time. In the morning, Sherry and Christian invited us to come along on a little Neckar cruise and though it was cold, it felt great to be outside. Maybe spring will arrive after all.
In the afternoon, Alex, my mom, and I went out again for a little walk around campus and into the Botantical Gardens.
We look forward to more adventure ahead.
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