after camping out for two nights, we headed down to urbanna, virginia, to stay with kevin’s aunt marj. urbanna is a quaint little town on the banks of the Rappahannock River.
Marj used to have a b&b called the white swan, and her house has all kinds of swans.
here we are with jerry and marj; jerry rents a room from her. i was so happy to meet kevin’s aunt because she’s a delightful, sweet, gracious person who really loves animals.
we have a little duck statue like this in our front yard.
we all went to eat at marj’s daughter and son in law’s delicious restaurant. i had lobster bisque, scallops, and a big slab of chocolatey goodness for dessert. it was fun to meet kevin’s cousin robie, who entertained us with tales of kevin as a kid.
a lovely evening, and then robie’s husband came out from the kitchen and gave us a tour. but as we stood up, i suddenly felt like i’d taken a massive sleeping pill – i couldn’t stop these huge, huge yawns. we walked through the dining room and into the kitchen, and i started to feel…strange. i’d never felt like this before, and things started to get dark around me and sounds were muffled. i didn’t know what to do – robie’s husband was showing us where they kept all the wine, and i didn’t want to be rude in front of these people i’d never met…but i was pretty sure i was going to either pass out or die.
i finally squeezed kevin’s arm and mumbled something. he got me a chair, they all crowded around me, and i didn’t pass out, but all the strength drained from my hands. marj said we’d better get to the hospital.
oh no.
at this point it was about 9:30, maybe, and jerry drove me to the hospital in the little town about 15 minutes away. i wasn’t feeling nearly as bad, sitting there in the car, but everybody agreed that i should go be checked out.
when we got to the little hospital they rushed me inside and the place was pretty much deserted. i thought, well, at least this shouldn’t take so long since there’s nobody here.
i was wrong, of course.
they took me into a room and a nurse asked me a bunch of questions, including “do you feel safe in your home?” at first i didn’t comprehend what she could possibly be talking about. it did finally occur to my muddled brain that she meant, does kevin beat you? i found this highly amusing and wanted to tell her about how it’s a little bit like a heavily-guarded fortress at our house, and i had nothing to be worried about, but i figured this was no time for such frivolity.
they hooked me up to an EKG and another nurse came in and took a bunch of blood and the doctor came in and asked me a bunch of questions.
and then we waited.
and waited.
and waited some more.
i was really, really bored, and kevin and i were both really, really sleepy. poor marj and jerry were out in the waiting room, i’m sure equally bored and tired.
i finally decide we’d better have some photos; at least it would give us something to do for a few minutes.
they made me put on this gown, but i kept my pants and shoes on.
like i said, this was a very small-town hospital and it looked liked it was an exam room and also a storage closet.
why didn’t i take my boots off? it would have been more comfortable.
kevin is trying to keep his eyes open.
there was a bunch of crutches hanging on the wall, and eventually somebody came in and got a pair for a guy who came in with some kind of leg injury. he came in after i did and left before i did.
post op shoes. in case you need some shoes for your post op.
the blood results were finally in, and i passed them all with flying colors, except finally the doctor said i had low potassium, which she said could have caused the episode, or it could have been for some unknown reason and we’d never know. she gave me a prescription for potassium pills and a big list of instructions.
it was midnight.
we were all very very happy to make the drive back to marj’s house.
the next day we said good-bye to marj and jerry, and we headed off for the shenandoah. i didn’t operate any heavy machinery, but i did take a shower by myself even though one of dire the warnings on my list of instructions was DO NOT SHOWER BY YOURSELF. i didn’t pass out anymore, even though i showered alone. i went to my dr. this week and my potassium is now aok, so no more worries about that.
just a little bit of ER excitement during the middle of our trip.
ok then,
grace on FRIDAY already.