"...And the whole world's gonna be mine! o/~"

[annathepiper]

Oh my gods, what a day, folks.

spazzkat and I have traded off hospital watch with risu, but as of this writing, solarbird has been transferred into a general room at Harborview. She is in room 375, in the Neuro ward, and we left her in the hands of a nice night nurse named Mo! She's still shaky and weak, getting back general motor control, and so very very pissed, but definitely coming back online. So hopefully sometime in the next few days, she'll even be able to come online and tell you all about it herself.

There's been some swearing. And some snark. She told us all about how she was in Woodinville, and then dreaming she was in Germany (possibly because of being surrounded by blonde nurses), and then she was in Mexico, and then she was in the hospital. She also, when one of the doctors came in and introduced herself as Dr. Lipke, mumbled about our friend Joby Lafky. The doctor said, "No, it's Lipke, it's German!" And Dara promptly whipped out the sieg-heil salute.

Today's day nurse was Betty again, and she was really, really cool, chatty and friendly and very grateful to us for looking after Dara so closely while she was busy with the new patient in the room next door. And as the dude with the gurney (his name was Ben) showed up to take Dara upstairs, she told us with a big warm smile that it'd been delightful to meet us and now she never wanted to see us again--at least in her ICU. ;)

Tonight's immediate no-questions-asked addition to sainthood is auntmonkey, who showed up at Harborview tonight with SUSHI for Paul and me, onto which we fell like a pair of ravenous wolves, because OMG SUSHI. She brought us tuna and salmon and yellowtail and unagi rolls.

I am more physically drained and exhausted than I can remember being in a very long time. It's exactly that I've been so wound up all this past week, and suddenly every fiber of my body has relaxed at once. I am utterly thrashed. But it's okay, because the worst part is over. Now we just have to work on convincing Dara to stay put long enough so she can come HOME!

ETA 10:27pm: And oh yes: information on how to email Harborview patients as well as how to send gifts can be found here!

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Unagi! Yep. I vote for instant canonization. Because, well, UNAGI.

And, YAY! Woo hoo!

What shift you taking tomorrow? I could be over there 6ish...

'course, they're liable to throw her out in a couple of days if her lungs stay OK and all she needs is rest... she can do that hella better at home...

*hugs* it's good to see things work out....

Hadda be the sparklers. :)

[annathepiper]

They've got to do another swallow test on her tomorrow morning to make sure she can keep fluids down and that they actually go into her tummy rather than her lungs. Her throat and voice are still pretty thrashed, so they're not entirely sure things are okay in there yet. But things are starting to look way, way, WAY better!

I'm still taking day shift and will probably be doing so for the rest of the week, until things settle down enough that I can go back to work with a clear conscience or until Dara comes home, whichever comes first. Regardless, if you'd like to come by tomorrow, do call my cell!

[raise-a-jar.livejournal.com]

Fabulous, fabulous news, luv! Here's hoping you can get some real rest now :)

Tell Dara my fingers are crossed for a speedy recovery. Wish there was something more I could do than send good vibes, but that half-a-continent thing tends to put a damper on even the best intentions :D

::hugs to you both::

[annathepiper]

Very fabulous news! And last night's sleep was definitely the best I've had in a week. The release of tension was unbelievable, and I spent much of yesterday evening yawning vociferously!

[mamishka.livejournal.com]

Sorry I couldn't be around to do anything - work all day and all night makes Mimi a tired, and absent!, girl. :) I'm glad things are progressing so well and will call you tomorrow to chat about dropping by and bringing dinner or something. :)

[cheryl-f.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link to the email. I think it's so cool that the hospital facilitates all us techie geeks. Take care of yourself.

[annathepiper]

You are very welcome, and yeah, the email link is mighty, mighty groovy!

Thank you much, it's helping me a lot to have all you folks out there pulling for us. And the kindness of all our friends bringing us food is beyond measure. Paul and I have decided that in addition to working three miracles and dying in the service of God, the lesser-known path to immediate sainthood is to bring your friends in the hospital food!

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

YAY and more YAY!!! I'm so very, very glad.

I used the nifty-snifty form and sent an email, so hopefully she'll get that, and I'll send another wallop of healing energy for the both of you.

Relax. Smoke 'em if you've got 'em. You've earned it.

[annathepiper]

*hugs a bunch!* Your email came, I saw it in the pile of printouts she was given today! YAY indeed! :) :)

[kitchengrrl.livejournal.com]

HOORAY!!!!!!!

I've had people down here sending all the goodness your way too. But I agree, the sparklers must have put it over the top. So very happy to hear that she's awake and feisty. :)

[annathepiper]

Just the sheer mental picture of a bunch of people singing a GBS ditty while holding sparklers for Dara makes me tear right up all over again. :~) Thank you much for your all's contribution to the healing magic, though!

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

Good news!! YAY!

[annathepiper]

YAY indeed! :) :)

[young-spaniard.livejournal.com]

Yes, YES!!!

Wonderful news! ^^

[annathepiper]

OH. MY. GOD. ALAN ICON LOVE. That pic is gorgeous, I hadn't seen that one before! What a way for me to see you on LJ, and welcome! :) :)

[young-spaniard.livejournal.com]

It's a screencap Janet took from the Lukey video. =) Thanks a bunch for the welcome!

[annathepiper]

Right, the Lukey vid! I should have recognized it! And you are most welcome! Especially if you have more icons where that one came from. ;)

Glad to hear the good news.

[(Anonymous)]

Anna,

My wife has been keeping me posted of recent news and I finally had time at work to get online and read your LJ. I'm so happy that things are looking up and tubes are out and Dara will hopefully be coming home sooner than later. Sounds like you have plenty of peeps for rides, food, and the like but if you need anything please post and a second tier of friends you never knew you had will come running. Best wishes from me and mine to you and yours. I'm a little bummed that I don't get to meet you at the upcoming GBS shows but maybe next time.

- Morgan & Kikki

PS: I'm the guy who told you about the Raiders movies at the Bay. :-)

Re: Glad to hear the good news.

[annathepiper]

Hello there Morgan! Glad and very touched to make your acquaintance! :)

We're doing pretty well all things considered and we're going to see how things progress through the course of this week. We don't know for sure yet when she'll be coming home, but we're starting to get good feelings about it being soon!

As for the forthcoming GBS shows--keep your fingers crossed. I don't think we'll be able to make Malkin Bowl, but if things go well I may at least be able to show up for Bumbershoot. And right now, I could seriously use me a GBS show! ;)

[brombear.livejournal.com]

I am so glad to hear that she's awake and cranky! Last surgery I had, they left the breathing tube in when I awoke, and it took literally three interns to hold me down while they pulled it out. I can believe that Dara's going to be cranky...she'll probably kinda "freak" when she finally realizes how long she's been out, so it's going to be kinda rough over about the next couple months, so bear in there! Here's hoping that I'm wrong about the next couple months and that she bounces back soon. *HUGS and SNUGGLES to you, Dara and Spazz*

[annathepiper]

We were telling her how long it's been today and helping her get oriented. She doesn't remember anything of what was going on in the ICU, and she's still a little spacy! But she's also got a calendar in her room, so she's quite clear on the date. There was a rehab chick in a day or two ago who was doing a cog eval on her, and she asked Dara the date--to which Dara pointed out that she'd be cheating answering that, since the calendar was on the wall in front of her. ;) *bunches of hugs!*

[pookfreak.livejournal.com]

Apparently [Unknown site tag] knows her sushi because everything she brought you is what I'd pick if I only had 3 or 4 items to pick.

yum and glad to hear things are going well.

[annathepiper]

Heh, well, actually she's a sushi newbie, and had to ask me what Paul and I like. ;) So I told her we like those things, and to get something in maki form because that would be easier to eat in the waiting room. She says that she went in, relayed these instructions to the waitress there, and they made us up a huge tasty batch of maki involving those four types of fish!

[chipmunck.livejournal.com]

Since I haven't read the friends post I haven't heard untill I called Kathryn!

I'm very sorry to hear about Dara in the condition that she is in, but sounds like there is good road to recovery!

My thoughts and love go out to Dara!!

[annathepiper]

Oh, honey, it ain't like you haven't had a huge other distraction going on in your life with that small person that just popped out of you! ;)

But yes, the last two days have brought wonderful progress. *hugs!* I will tell her you were asking after her!