When I had arrived the night before he told me surgery was scheduled the next day (Sat 9/5) My sister Jan and I arrive at the hospital at 10 am to find out that surgery is scheduled for 1pm. Ok it's a wait but not bad for Kaiser. Jan and I head out to the cafeteria (NEVER, EVER eat in the cafeteria at Oakland Kaiser, just take my word for it) We arrive back at Larry's room at 12:30 and he's gone. A wonderful (one of the few) case managers sees us looking blank outside the door and he offers to take us down in the staff elevator and locate Larry.
The usual pre-op stuff is going on, the anesthesiologist asks if we eaten, yes, his reply was I hope not downstairs! The surgeon, an amazing man comes and explains what he's planning to do which is remove the ball from the socket, clean it up, clean up the socket, repair the socket, reinsert the ball and voila. He's also going to try to do the knee at the same time depending on how the hip goes. The hip does not cooperate with the plan. The ball is riddled with arthritis and the socket is much more badly damaged than expected. It could be repaired to an extent but Larry would need a hip replacement in a couple of years. So total hip replacement it is. The knee didn't get done.
Jan had gone out earlier to get us some provisions in case we got hungry - we're mostly on the same wave length food wise salami sandwiches on sourdough and red whips. We had been told the Piedmont Ave was only a block away but it could be another country.
We finally get to see Larry about 7pm. He's telling me that he sees mice moving on the ceiling and he's in a pod in a warehouse and he could be alone or there could be dozens of other pods there. Ok, this brings back to many memories of the last time he was in the hospital. I ask him what his name is. He smiles at me and replies Benjamin Franklin. I said (rather sharply I gather) don't you start with me. He immediately said my name is Larry Carey, I am in Kaiser Oakland Hospital and it's 2009. Jan tells me later she's NEVER heard me talk to him like that.
By this time it's about 8 pm and I send Jan home after swearing an oath in blood that I would take a taxi to my hotel that is an entire block away. I stayed with him until 11:30 more to reassure myself that he's really not in an altered state but also to help him touch the "ground" again.
The next morning I call and he says he's really in a bad mood, he'd rather be alone. I said great because I'm exhausted and I'm going back to bed. I read a bit then slept until 5 pm. He's still not feeling social but I'm hungry so I wander over to Piedmont to get something to eat. In the meantime he has found out that knee surgery is scheduled for the next day (9/8) probably for sometime in the late afternoon. Jan and I confer. I plan to arrive at the hospital at 11 am. Jan will leave work in Sunnyvale at 2:30. Surgery starts out being scheduled at 6, then 7, then 7:30, he finally leaves for OR at 8 pm. The surgeon says he's supposed to say this surgery will take 2 hours but he knows it will really take 3 to 3 1/2. Again an outstanding anesthesiologist and OR nurse. He happens to be from Jamaica and tells us we MUST go there because their are many, many Carey's in Jamaica. Works for me!
I don't usually like to leave the hospital while Larry is in OR but Jan and I were starving at this point so we head back to Piedmont Ave for some food. We get back and then begins the wait. It was about the same time as the wait Sunday but seemed so much longer because it was dark and the hospital was quiet. The surgeon finally comes to talk to us, I told him he looked as exhausted as I felt. The knee went great so now we're in a holding pattern to get him stable and into rehab. I'd had the good sense to talk to the charge nurse the first day I got there and made it clear I wanted him transferred some place closer to home, and I reminded the charge nurse EVERY DAY.
By Wednesday it's clear Larry is stable, fine and grumpy. I decide it's time to go home. Thursday I get a call saying he's being moved but giving me no information. Friday they called and said he's being transferred to Sebastopol ( about 40 minutes away) YES! Once again the Kaiser dance began. Transport was coming at noon - great I'd be able to spend SOME time of our anniversary with him, transport was coming at 2, transport arrived at 2:30 which meant he didn't get to Apple Valley until almost 5. I'd promised FWF that I would be there but it's about 1 1/2 hours from Sebastopol to Cloverdale. So we talked on our anniversary - our 10th anniversary we just talked. Well at least he's alive. I was planning to see him yesterday but fear of the fires moving stopped me. I FINALLY got to see him today. He was sitting in the hallway when I came through the front doors and his face lit up like a Christmas tree. Talk about having a boost to your ego!
We still don't know what the plan is except that he cannot put any weight on his left foot for 3 months. At this point knowing he's safe, well and in a good nursing home let's me go with the flow. Apple Valley is nice, clean, relatively current furnishing and the staff I've met are wonderful. I cannot tell you how that eases my mind.
Thus ends the current installment of Larry and the flying Gator. I'll keep you all posted.
