Thursday, November 26, 2009

October 2009

October 13 was a lucky day for me. I had my uterus and four pounds of fibroids taken out. I stayed one night at the fabulous Sutter Hospital in Santa Cruz. I call it the Hilton of Hospitals because I had a huge suite to myself, with guest bed for Andre if he'd chosen to stay, a TV with all the channels and a choice of movie videos, the food was as good as any hotel room service, the staff is so nice and helpful....but best of all, no loud speakers paging doctors and nurses all night, so I slept really well.




In the evening we practically had a party in my hospital room with Andre, of course, plus Moy and his wife Lety and their children Erik and Janette, and our Oaxacan neighbors Ana and Antonio and their children Vianny and Xhunaxhi. By the next morning I was off the IV, off painkillers, and ready to go home. My recovery has been incredibly fast and easy. I can't believe the difference between today's hysterectomies and the old days when they cut open your whole belly.


Here I am modeling my friend Linda Sage's handmade stone jewelry. If you'd like to see more samples you can email her at jewelrybysageofberkeley@gmail.com. Andre continues to study flute, Spanish and English at Cabrillo College.



The neighbor girls, plus our friends Shasta and foster daughter Mariah, enjoyed making masks at the local community center.


On October 30 we accompanied our friend Lynn to the airport to pick up her fiance Mohamed. They met in Guinea when she was studying West African dance. Lynn wanted our company, but also everything went easier since Andre and Mohamed are able to communicate in French. Mohamed speaks two African languages, but only completed 2nd grade, so his French is limited. He seems really smart and eager to learn English, so I think he'll have a good life here in Santa Cruz. He's already started teaching some dance classes.



Poor Mohamed was so tired after two days of traveling, and starving because the airlines don't feed you anymore, so we stopped for Thai food on the way home. Andre wore his rasta cap to welcome Mohamed who has real dredlocks.






Andre still has four doves, but would like to find a new home for them. With his busy American lifestyle he doesn't have time to enjoy them like he did back in Haiti.

1 comment:

ijuslai said...

So happy to hear that you've recovered so well after the surgery. Sounds like you had the laparoscopic procedure?
Love to be following your colourful life through this blog. My best to Andre too.