Maggie and Florence, Mama

Maggie and the kids had to leave Wilmington, NC on Thursday of last week because of the hurricane that made landfall the next day. She was willing to stay but was strongly advised to leave by almost everyone. Finally, the Coast Guard ordered her to go.  Though she is not technically under their command she was told (according to Maggie) that headquarters would send a police escort to relocate her and the children to a designated shelter if she did not voluntarily leave. So, she left. She and the children went to Charlotte, NC. I assume that is far enough inland that it was an acceptable safe location to weather the storm. She and the kids spent a night or two in a hotel until Mama hooked her up with a family she and Victoria knew through Kira’s puppies. Seriously. This couple bought a pup about eight months ago and have stayed in touch through a couple moves that finally landed them in the Charlotte area of NC.

I am pretty sure relocating was the right thing to do since Wilmington has been hit hard by flooding. Those conditions will persist for a week or more until all the rain that dropped in the upstream areas makes its way to the sea as creeks and rivers return to normal levels. I am not sure where Maggie and Aaron’s apartment is located in Wilmington, but it is better for her and the kids not to be there until power and other services are restored. I will have to consult with Mama to see where she is now, but I know she had to leave the couple who was housing her, Katheryn and Walter because they had to attend a church function the end of last week.

By an unexpected turn of events, I ended up in Charlotte International Airport late Friday night on my way home from Huntsville, Al. My direct flight to DFW had been cancelled. There were only fourteen people onboard as we flew the 450 miles from Huntsville to Charlottte. I called Maggie from the airport as I was making my way across the entire length of the airport to catch my flight home. She and I were only about 30 minutes from each other. Sadly, my flight out was due to board within a few minutes. I ended getting to DFW a little after midnight. It was a long day concluding a long week.

I am way behind on the news having spent last week in Alabama. Saturday, I caught up to things on the farm. Sunday, I rested, and Monday I was swamped with the paperwork from the classes I had taught while in Alabama. All day yesterday was spent with Mama as the doctor helped her to bend her leg. Mama and I got to the hospital about 6:30 for the procedure. The expectation was that the entire procedure would not take more than twenty minutes. Getting to the point that they took Mama back to the OR as a patient was the long part. Although Mama was a willing patient, she did not cooperate when it came to giving the nurses a good place to insert an IV. One nurse stuck her twice before going for help. The second nurse chose a location that would not normally be an option but because the time Mama would need the IV was relatively short, they put the IV in the bend of her elbow on her left side arm. When it came to getting the blood for a procedure that required 60 ml – I am not sure what that was all about – they tried several times while Mama was awake and finally gave up. The doctor drew the blood from a vein on her ankle while Mama was anesthetized. She has bruises up and down both arms from the failed attempts to draw the blood and insert the IV.

As far as the procedure to bend her knee. That went as well as could be expected. The doctor told me she did fine but that she was “very stiff”. Much more so that he would have liked. He remarked that it took a while to get her anesthetized, again, more than he was expecting, but there should be no complications from that. He did fully bend the knee, so he accomplished what was required for her to enable her to finally use the joint properly. Recovery took quite a while. Mama does not react to anesthesia. When she was fully awake, we were discharged. Mama was so cold from the IV and the temperature in the hospital that her teeth were chattering as I helped her get dressed. Once outside it did not take long for her to warn up. The ambient temperature was 95° F. I had the a/c going full blast a few minutes after she was in the car.

We went to lunch. Drove to Decatur for physical therapy. Picked up some items from the school and headed home. I took a short nap. Mama took a long one. We finished the day doing research for an auction coming up on Monday of next week.

One we are planning to attend.