In the morning we excitedly woke up and called the hospital to see if the doctor had made his rounds and dismissed Kim, but he had not come by, so we called back an hour later, but he still hadn't come by. The kids and I headed up to the hospital and had to sneak one-by-one into the ward where Kim was because it was a women's ward and visiting hours didn't begin until 2:00 PM. By that point the doctor had come by and said he would release Kim from the hospital if she felt "fit to fly" but that she needed to stay in London another night before flying, so we had to find a place to stay.
Thus began the search for the book with the nearby places to stay and the quest for some kind person who would "authorize" an outside line to make the local phone call for a room. In addition to that, I spent a long time on the phone (mostly waiting for a real person to pick up) with British Airways letting them know we would not be flying today and the lost luggage office trying to find out if my phone had been found.
While Kim was disappointed that we would not be flying that night, she agreed that she needed more rest and recovery before making the 8-hour transatlantic flight. We found a place to stay at a nearby bed and breakfast and Kim received permission to make a phone call to her mom to let her know that it would be another day before we made it to the States. Meanwhile, the ward where Kim was staying was moving to the complete opposite end of the hospital, and she was one of the last patients to still be in the room. Shortly after Kim spoke with her mom, my mom called and I talked to her for the first time, but in the middle of our conversation one of the nurses said she needed the phone just as Mom was trying to tell me how the funeral for my brother-in-law Kyle's dad had gone, so we had to cut it short. Shortly after that, the kids and I made the trek with Kim and a few nurses to the newly-renovated ward where Kim would spend a few hours before her release. The entire time, Kim was ready to be released but had to wait on the doctor to make his rounds and dismiss her. During this time, the kids and I found something to eat in the hospital for lunch and visited the PALS, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, office to see if they knew anything about internet access in the hospital or nearby because my previous attempts to ask both nurses and at the information counter were met with confusion and a general lack of knowledge, which meant that I had not been able to communicate with anyone except my mother-in-law (and that on rare occasions) to let people know what was going on. In the PALS office, two kind women reaffirmed what had been previously said that there was no public internet access in the hospital and that they also did not have any computers available for patients or family of patients. As I left the office and reprimanded the kids for their boisterous behavior in the hallway during my two-minute conversation, the older of the two women invited us back in and said that I could use one of their computers to check email. They were great with the kids and it was the first time in two days I had been able to connect with anyone in the outside world and let people know what was going on. I also decided to check if anyone had been using my phone since it hadn't shown up, but the roaming charges from another country are not updated immediately, so I couldn't find that out.
When the doctor, actually the surgeons who performed the surgery, showed up to clear Kim for discharge from the hospital, they left her with medications and two syringes to give herself a shot just before and after the international flight to prevent blood clots. If you know my wife, you know she is no fan of shots, but the idea of giving herself a shot was more than appalling. I could see in her eyes that she was not even for a moment willing to consider this, and I think the surgeons noticed it too; they said I could administer the shot, which was only slightly more comforting to Kim. She had already received a similar shot earlier that morning and did not like it one bit. However, she was willing to do whatever to get to fly. She also received some the newest fashion in "help your blood circulate through your legs" stockings to wear while she slept that night and for the international flight.
Upon leaving the hospital, a cab took us to the bed and breakfast. When the man who ran the place took us to our room, it had two twin beds. This was of little concern to me and of even less concern to the kids because it had a trampoline in the back. The man was not overly impressed that we had requested a room with only two (twin) beds and was unwilling to give us extra blankets and pillows. What he did not realize is that when I booked the room over the phone, I did not know how big the beds were and thought we could certainly make a room with two full/queen beds work. Kim, on the other hand, was thinking this is not going to work.
Kim had her own bed. Carli offered to sleep on the floor, so we made a pallet for her. The boys offered to take the other bed, which meant I would either be sleeping with the boys or on the floor next to Carli. The idea of a bed sounded better, so I began the night between the boys but quickly realized that: best case scenario, Caleb would be smelling my feet in his face the whole night or worst case scenario, one of the boys would fall out of the bed. So, I moved to the floor for a restless night's sleep.
We were just thankful to be one step closer to getting on a plane out of London and to the U.S., which was our plan for first thing the next morning.
Thus began the search for the book with the nearby places to stay and the quest for some kind person who would "authorize" an outside line to make the local phone call for a room. In addition to that, I spent a long time on the phone (mostly waiting for a real person to pick up) with British Airways letting them know we would not be flying today and the lost luggage office trying to find out if my phone had been found.
While Kim was disappointed that we would not be flying that night, she agreed that she needed more rest and recovery before making the 8-hour transatlantic flight. We found a place to stay at a nearby bed and breakfast and Kim received permission to make a phone call to her mom to let her know that it would be another day before we made it to the States. Meanwhile, the ward where Kim was staying was moving to the complete opposite end of the hospital, and she was one of the last patients to still be in the room. Shortly after Kim spoke with her mom, my mom called and I talked to her for the first time, but in the middle of our conversation one of the nurses said she needed the phone just as Mom was trying to tell me how the funeral for my brother-in-law Kyle's dad had gone, so we had to cut it short. Shortly after that, the kids and I made the trek with Kim and a few nurses to the newly-renovated ward where Kim would spend a few hours before her release. The entire time, Kim was ready to be released but had to wait on the doctor to make his rounds and dismiss her. During this time, the kids and I found something to eat in the hospital for lunch and visited the PALS, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, office to see if they knew anything about internet access in the hospital or nearby because my previous attempts to ask both nurses and at the information counter were met with confusion and a general lack of knowledge, which meant that I had not been able to communicate with anyone except my mother-in-law (and that on rare occasions) to let people know what was going on. In the PALS office, two kind women reaffirmed what had been previously said that there was no public internet access in the hospital and that they also did not have any computers available for patients or family of patients. As I left the office and reprimanded the kids for their boisterous behavior in the hallway during my two-minute conversation, the older of the two women invited us back in and said that I could use one of their computers to check email. They were great with the kids and it was the first time in two days I had been able to connect with anyone in the outside world and let people know what was going on. I also decided to check if anyone had been using my phone since it hadn't shown up, but the roaming charges from another country are not updated immediately, so I couldn't find that out.
When the doctor, actually the surgeons who performed the surgery, showed up to clear Kim for discharge from the hospital, they left her with medications and two syringes to give herself a shot just before and after the international flight to prevent blood clots. If you know my wife, you know she is no fan of shots, but the idea of giving herself a shot was more than appalling. I could see in her eyes that she was not even for a moment willing to consider this, and I think the surgeons noticed it too; they said I could administer the shot, which was only slightly more comforting to Kim. She had already received a similar shot earlier that morning and did not like it one bit. However, she was willing to do whatever to get to fly. She also received some the newest fashion in "help your blood circulate through your legs" stockings to wear while she slept that night and for the international flight.
Upon leaving the hospital, a cab took us to the bed and breakfast. When the man who ran the place took us to our room, it had two twin beds. This was of little concern to me and of even less concern to the kids because it had a trampoline in the back. The man was not overly impressed that we had requested a room with only two (twin) beds and was unwilling to give us extra blankets and pillows. What he did not realize is that when I booked the room over the phone, I did not know how big the beds were and thought we could certainly make a room with two full/queen beds work. Kim, on the other hand, was thinking this is not going to work.
Kim had her own bed. Carli offered to sleep on the floor, so we made a pallet for her. The boys offered to take the other bed, which meant I would either be sleeping with the boys or on the floor next to Carli. The idea of a bed sounded better, so I began the night between the boys but quickly realized that: best case scenario, Caleb would be smelling my feet in his face the whole night or worst case scenario, one of the boys would fall out of the bed. So, I moved to the floor for a restless night's sleep.
We were just thankful to be one step closer to getting on a plane out of London and to the U.S., which was our plan for first thing the next morning.
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