Monday, May 08, 2006

Quinton's Hospitalization Tote Board

With Quinton in the hospital, life got somewhat repetitive. Days just flowed one right into the next. Sometimes, I would forget what day it was! Below is a list of everyday occurrences we encountered and their frequency*. Some of these are sad, some are funny, but all are true--some more so than others.

--Miles from our home in North Peoria to Mayo Clinic Hospital: 20.
--Miles from home to Arrowhead: 5
--Miles I logged driving to and from any hospital: 765
--Crossword puzzle books I completed: 3
--“Quinton Update” emails I sent: 36
--People I sent these emails to: 29
--Payday bars I bought and ate from hospital vending machines: 23
--Times the vending machine stole my money: 1
--Times we saw a contestant win the car on “The Price Is Right”: 11
--Times we saw a contestant win $1,000 from spinning the “Big Wheel”: 3
--Times the “nurse call” button got hit by mistake: 13
--"Judge" shows we watched at some point: 6
--Flower arrangements received: 5
--Roommates that came and went while Q was at Arrowhead: 4
--Roommates he had at Mayo: 0
--Continuous days Quinton went without food: 46
--Lunches I skipped in case Q’s doctor stopped by: 17
--Pounds Q lost: about 20
--Pounds I lost: 12
--Times the boys and I ate dinner at In-N-Out Burger: 16
--Times we ate dinner at other restaurants: 9
--Anger-fueled meltdowns I had: 8
--Pieces of consolation Fiestaware I bought myself: 38
--Holidays and birthdays Quinton missed by being in the hospital: 4
--Household items that broke down during Q’s absence: 7
--Total number of surgeries Q had: 3
--Days Q was in the hospital: I lost count at 64
--Sharps "biohazard" boxes Q filled up: 12



*Some figures have been tweaked and embellished to add to the humor factor (you can’t actually expect that I would remember this stuff!), but they’re not too far off!!!!

1 comments:

Ces Adorio said...

Val,
This is heartwarming, funny, sad and dear all at the same time. There is so much love, hope, sacrifice, perseverance and persistence in this post. Your strength is admirable. Yours is a wonderful family. I can only hope and pray that things will get better. May God bless you all.
Sincerely,

Ces