tominelli blog

I’m still here and recuperating well. Not been the easiest month - more difficulty in post-surgery body trauma/multiple drug-induced odd states of mind stuff and inertia/too many dvds, etc. but basically all’s fine. I’ve had an especially good experience with Star Trek: The Next Generation > Season 3 as a recuperative healing modality. Coupled with the recliner and chicken soup from neighbors it has yielded, at moments, the greatest bliss.

Start cardio rehab a few days ago and it is great to be out doing something (anything really). A big gym at St. V’s in Santa Fe. I think I might be the only person there under 70. I sense soon I will become, at least spiritually, part of the gang. I’ll spare you the stats on my (good) body fat:muscle ratio :-)

Finally starting to email and make calls - sorry for the long delay - I just couldn’t do it - difficult to explain.

I watched a dvd last night called the Last Samurai (liked it a lot) with Tom Cruise. He had a lot of scars on his chest. I took a little relief from this - he looked just fine with the “scratches”. I’ve got a biggie. If Cruise can pull it off I think I can too. Of course he had hollywood designers strategically placing them. I’m symmetrical all the way.

Other than all of the above I’m mostly sticking to my job of walking and breathing. I sleep a  lot too :-)

I am very “lucky”.

xo

So for those of you who have not seen Tom’s apartment, there’s not much in it. A bed, table, computer, canvas, and a couple of HARD fold-out chairs. This set-up is fine for his usual minimalist self. But after surgery, a new voice cried out from the soul of Tom Martinelli. “Comfort!” it demanded. And so Tom listened and called the Great Bearer Of All Good Things, Nancy, who magically appeared that very day with… a recliner! So exquisitely does it meet Tom’s need to rest, that I do believe I’ve never heard him so enthusiastic about anything. Granted, I haven’t known him a great deal of time, but still, the sigh that he makes when he sits in it is a long and happy one.  Let’s hear it for the Laz-y-Boy!

yup, i am back - here in my place in Galisteo eating rice cakes (lightly salted)  and carrot-ginger soup. And soooooo glad to be here. Spent the last few days sleeping and decompressing and basically recovering from the hospital environment. It is  great to sleep - i so missed it :-)

I feel good. Energy comes back noticably more each day. I take a walk outside 2 or 3 times a day and breath the desert air and soak up the sun. By tomorrow I may be enjoying scones.

AND… I SO MUCH appreciate ALL your attention and comments and fantastic thoughts and blessings, emails, concentrated and/or durated subtle energy blasts and kindred phenomena! - both here on the blog and thru facebook and other channels. I’m glad I could invite you all in this way and that you could be here and care for me and Melissa the way you have! Very cool, really! Thanks. It’s been great to feel connected in this way.

So the project for the next month is to walk and breath. That’s pretty much it :-)

More later >>> here’s a few pix, most courtesy of Melissa (and I don’t have ANY of my great being cousin Andrea but will try to locate at least one :-)

Hi. This is Melissa. Tom thought he would be blogging by now, and he will be tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you know that all is well. He has been at home recuperating since Sunday. I had left the blog in his hands, but realized I still wanted to express my gratitude for the flood of amazing support on these pages. Tom has fabulous friends. It has been a true pleasure to become more familiar with his community in this way. Perhaps I will meet some of you in the future.

Many blessings.

Om Namah Shivaya

[Sorry, everyone. I thought I had published this earlier today, but when I went on tonight, I realized I never did. Sorry to leave you hanging like that.)

Tom’s gettin’ out of jail! He’ll be released on Sunday midday.  I’m a little worried, because Tom has a slight fever and his bp does take a dip when he stands up, but the doc says neither is anything to be overly concerned about. So I guess I’ll listen to the One in Charge and not my overly stimulated nervous system.  Andrea will be taking him back to Galisteo, and I’ll meet them there.

I want to thank everyone for their responses to my last post. It’s very heartening to have a list of names and numbers of people who are willing to help. Tom decided that he would like to have people check in on him during the day, but he doesn’t want anyone to stay with him during the evening. A local MD is going to check on Tom Sun eve. And a woman who is just graduating from nursing school will be checking in on him during the week in the morning and the eve. I am soooo thankful for her. And I know Nancy will be hanging around Tom “as much as he can stand” during the day. So, I feel like the situation is under control, though I’m still worried. But that’s my problem.

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

I’m starting to freak out a bit about how much catch-up work I have to do. If there is anyone who would be willing to help coordinate Tom’s care this week, lemme know: melissac@mothering.com. 820.7735

Andrea called to let me know that Tom continues to do well. His glucose is low and he took another big huge walk. He still needs his O2 line to keep his oxygen levels up.

He got a sponge bath and took the opportunity to look at his scar for the first time. “Oh shit,” he said. It connects to the scar from his abdominal surgery years back. Now he has one long scar extending down his torso. I think it is not an easy thing for him to take in.

So just as I was about to leave for Santa Fe, the surgeon finally walked in the door. When I asked how long Tom had left in the hospital, he said he thought Tom would be on his way home on Sunday!  That’s great news. We would love to find an RN or other professional caregiver to stay with him Sunday night, at least. We’ll want people to stay with him overnight through the week. Tom has an air mattress for folks to sleep on, or we can discuss other sleeping apparatus ideas. Tom lives in a nice-sized studio with lots of light in Galisteo.  If you know of anyone who may be interested in helping out, please give me a call at 820.7735 or e-mail me at melissac@mothering.com. Tell me what you’re rate is and what nights you think you may be able to help. We will also need people to check in on Tom during the day this coming week.

I know it seems that we should be able to hire folks through the hospital, but when we asked both the nurse and the social worker about this, they literally laughed in our faces (not in a mean way).  From their perspective, Tom is far too young and doing too well, relatively speaking, to warrant professional at-home care. On the one hand, it’s great that they think Tom is doing so wonderfully. On the other hand, its pretty scary to have your heart yanked out of your chest and go home six days later to an empty house. The staff said that 70- and 80-year-olds routinely go home without help, but I doubt many of those folks live alone. I am not going to be available very much next week because of my pretty heavy duty work obligations.

In light

Melissa

Tom took a huge walk around the entire floor this aft, and his blood pressure and O2 levels have held. The nurse says he’s back on the road. There was just a bump in it.

Andrea the Goddess brought us Anapurna kitcheree, quinoa & fruit, and chai this morning.   Tom & I were so appreciative for the aurveydic cuisine, and the chai. Yum.

Yesterday, Tom, Andrea, and I were talking about his choice for Top Nurse.  There’s been the Russian, the Southern Belle, and the Kickboxer, as well as the others I don’t have nicknames for such as Jessica and Phoebe. Besides have her shit together, Tom’s two criteria at the moment are:

Does she like to make the bed?

(If she doesn’t pay attention to the bed, then it ends up getting grimy.)

Does she care about the wires?

(Tom is hooked up to so many monitors that he starts to feel tangled up and trapped. So having an eye for disentanglement is a great assest.)

So how about the Russian? “She’s tough. She’s good. And she cares about the wires.”

The Russian is in the running.

Jessica? (Her playful, no-nonsense ways make her my fave.)

“I like her. But she doesn’t like to make the bed.”

Too bad, Jessica.

The Southern Belle?

She’s not on my list. As an introduction to herself, she apologized for being discombobulated and then announced,  “It’s my first shift at this hospital.” Gulp.  When Tom had his angioplasty, “It’s my first day” seemed to be in every staff member’s comedeic repertoire. But she wasn’t kidding. She was a traveling nurse, and just getting used to this new assignment. And she called Tom “Darlin’.'” He’s not big on terms of endearment. Especially that one.

Surprise. Mary, the Southern Belle, wins the Top Nurse prize.  “I felt very cared for by her,” Tom said. Turns out, she paid close attention to the wires. And she liked to make the bed.

Thanks, Mary.