#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends from a busy week

This past week or two has been one huge blur. I am floundering, trying to keep up with email and blog posts and notifications and everything else coming at me, all at once...! 

• First, being sick -- for more than a week now. :p  It started with a very sore throat, and proceeded to sneezing, a full head and loose cough (which is still hanging in there...). I am feeling better overall, but definitely not 100% yet. I have not been out of the house in more than a week. :p  I was so looking forward to getting out a bit, now that my surgeries are over and I'm recovered from those. No such luck...! 
• I took another rapid test for covid this morning -- which, like the previous two, earlier on, was negative. But I'm still obviously sick. :p  Bah humbug. :( 
• Last week, I had to switch my follow-up appointment with the surgeon who did my gallbladder removal surgery from in-office to over the phone. I was supposed to see my optometrist tomorrow as a follow-up to my eye surgery (and possibly get some new glasses), but I called this morning to let them know I'm not well, and now that's been postponed until late October. Sigh. 
• Second, it was World Childless Week. (You can find all my related posts for this year's WCW tagged "WCW 2022".)  I have waded through about three of the seven days' worth of amazing submissions on the WCW site so far, managed to catch several of the webinars live and watch a few more after the fact. All WCW content from every year since it began is archived on the WCW site. 
• Third, of course, the Queen. I was up at 5 a.m. this morning to watch the funeral, and barely budged from my chair for the next seven hours until the last royal disappeared through the gate into the castle after the service of committal at Windsor. Adding to the fun, I spent several hours live texting with my penpal of the past 45 years (!!) from New Zealand (where it was late at night), as we have done for the last several royal events (plus an Oscar ceremony or two, lol). My cousin in Manitoba -- half Scottish on his dad's side, and a retired police officer -- also texted me when he realized I was up -- he was watching too. 
• NOBODY does pomp and ceremony better than the Brits!! 
• I teared up a few times. I got the chills when the Westminster Abbey choir started singing "I am the Resurrection and the Life..."  But I didn't lose it until the long walk up to the chapel at Windsor, when the BBC announcer helpfully pointed out the Queen's pony Emma, patiently waiting near the gates for the coffin to pass by. And then the two corgis, which totally finished me off. ;) 
• Did anyone else notice the Google logo on the search page was totally black today in honour of the Queen?? 
• Every now & then over the past few days, I clicked over to YouTube to watch a few minutes of the live feed of the Queen lying in state and the people who waited hours and hours (and hours!) in "the Queue of all Queues," filing past (and also to check out the live updates on how long the queue was). Many people paused to bow/nod their heads -- but I saw others doing full from-the-waist bows and curtsies. One man dropped to one knee and crossed himself. I saw one middle-aged woman bow her head & then, with a sad smile on her face, blow a kiss at the casket. That one got me teary.  
• Fourth, dh's aunt (his mother's sister) passed away on Friday. She was 89. It was one of those deaths that was kind of a blessing, in a way -- her quality of life has not been good the last few years, especially since the pandemic began -- and we haven't been able to see her in quite some time, because of that (although dh & his brother got to see her one last time in the hospital last weekend, before she died). 
• (His mother's youngest sister lives near us. She's 77, and is the last of her siblings.) 
• Visitation is tomorrow (two hours in the afternoon and then two in the evening, with a two-hour break in between), and the funeral is Wednesday. I've been debating whether I should go, because of my cold. As I said, I've tested negative for covid, but it's still been a bad cold.... but not going at all seems unthinkable. Dh thinks we should go for the afternoon tomorrow, pay our respects and say hi to everyone, and then we'll just go home. I will certainly wear a mask -- I would even if I didn't have a cold (but I am willing to bet I'll be one of the very few people wearing one). (Most of the cousins will likely be staying for the whole six hours -- the daughters have ordered food for the family for in between the sessions, to be served in the funeral home's reception centre.)
• When dh's mother died, 40 years ago, both sides of the family rallied round dh, his younger brother and their dad -- none of whom knew anything about cooking or keeping house. This aunt had them over for dinner just about every single night (and she was an excellent cook! -- dh said that out of all his aunts, her cooking was the closest to his mom's), did their laundry and cleaned the house regularly, on top of her own. They all adored her. I did too, once I met her -- 39 years ago, in the summer of 1983. 
• I'm sure I wasn't exactly what she had in mind for a wife for dh -- I wasn't Italian! -- but she never made me feel anything less than welcomed and loved. Dh's dad asked her to help set things up in our apartment while we were on our honeymoon -- I hadn't been there since we signed the rental agreement a few months earlier, and we did NOT have much stuff!  He gave her some money and she bought sheets & a bedspread and had the bed all made up, and stocked our kitchen cupboards and refrigerator with some staples. 
• I remember her visiting for the first time after we got back, and exclaiming over how clean and neat everything was. "She's obviously not looking too hard...!"  I muttered to dh. 
• We had many meals at her house over the years, especially in the early years of our marriage -- always leaving with leftovers or baking or a jar of tomato sauce. 
• We will sure miss her. 
• On a related note: it's been quite a while since we've had to dress up for anything (pre-pandemic, certainly! -- and we certainly don't dress up very often at all since we both left work in 2013-14) -- so we pulled a few things out of our closet yesterday to try on before dh's aunt's funeral events -- to make sure they still FIT, for one thing! (lol).  
• Yes, they fit -- BUT! OMG... the DUST!!  lol  When I took my pants off the hanger, you could clearly see a line where the dust had settled! And dh's dress shirt -- one of the few he has left -- was slightly (but not too noticeably -- I hope...!) yellowed on the collar.
• Needless to say, everything went into the washing machine. I got out the ironing board and pressed it all this afternoon while watching highlights from the Queen's funeral all over again. 
• Time is zooming along. A week from Friday is our cottage weekend with BIL, SIL & dh's cousins, and then the weekend after that, we'll be heading "home" for (Canadian) Thanksgiving to see my family. And we have a LOT of things that need to get done before then...!  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

Pandemic diary/update: August was Month #29 (going on #30 -- the 2.5-year mark) of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Our provincial government continues to take the attitude of "move along, nothing to see here." Early in August, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health declared that Wave #7 had peaked.  Yesterday (a full month later), he admitted that Wave #7 is still ongoing, but it has plateaued. He also admitted the province can expect to see more cases in the fall (duh) -- school is starting (no masks required), boosters for children aged 5-11 were only announced yesterday, colder weather is on the way, and once it arrives, we'll be moving back indoors. 

Not helping matters: nearly all restrictions are gone. Fewer and fewer masks are being worn voluntarily wherever we go. Also announced yesterday: the province is dropping the mandatory five-day isolation guideline for people who test positive for covid. You "should" stay home until you're feeling better, and wear a mask for 10 days, but nobody's going to be enforcing this. 

The province's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table -- a volunteer group of independent scientific and public health experts who advise the government on its response to the pandemic (and who have repeatedly urged the government to take the pandemic more seriously) -- is being disbanded as of Sept. 6th, along with its covid information dashboard, which includes readings of virus levels in the province's wastewater. These readings are one of the very few concrete, non-anecdotal measurements left to tell us just how much covid virus is circulating in the community (and thus help people assess their personal risk levels). (This opinion piece by Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star -- written before the official announcement was made -- provides some background and analysis. Here's another good piece by Andre Picard of The Globe & Mail.) 

Meanwhile, hospitals have been swamped and understaffed all summer long, emergency rooms have been forced to close, and we continue to hear about friends, relatives and friends of friends getting covid, many for the first time. (A University of Toronto epidemiologist I follow on Twitter noted that "covid hospitalizations in children < 10, and in elders over 70, are currently far higher than they were in summer of 2020, or summer 2021.")  

But sure... the pandemic is over...  :(   ("It's just a cold," one of dh's cousins breezily assured me when we saw her recently....) 

As of June 16th, the government has been reporting covid data weekly (on Thursdays) instead of daily, making it even harder to tell just what's going on. :(  The Toronto Star (my main source of covid data) has started a brand-new weekly stats tracking page -- but not all data categories that were previously reported are still being disclosed there. :(   If you look at the charts for the past two months/over the course of the summer (they start on July 1st), most of the categories tracked either show an increase in numbers, or have remained more or less the same over the course of the summer ( = there has not been significant improvement). 

Among the latest stats (last updated Aug. 25th): 

• New case numbers & test positivity rates are no longer reported (on the Star's page, anyway -- not that they've been very accurate anyway, since PCR testing was limited/cut back at the peak of the Omicron outbreak in late December/early January). 

• Hospitalizations (people in hospitals testing positive for covid) decreased slightly over the month, from 1,433 on July 1st to 1,354 on Aug. 25th (up 1.3% over the previous week). Peak was 1,498 on Aug. 3rd.  
• There were 150 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario's ICUs testing positive for COVID-19 or there for COVID-19 related illness on Aug. 1st, and 146 on Aug. 25th, up 6.6% over the previous week. Peak was 154 on Aug. 2nd. 
• There were 0 deaths on Aug. 1st and 19 on Aug.25th. Peak was 33 on Aug. 4th. The 7-day average was 12.7, up 58.9% over the previous week. (Total pandemic deaths reported: 13,958.) 
• On Aug. 25th, 86.8% of Ontario's total population has had at least one vaccine, 83.5% had at least two, but just 51.2% had received a third dose. (No stats provided for fourth doses, which only became available to adults under age 60 in mid-July.)  These numbers have hardly budged over the past couple of months. 

With a population of just over 14 million, Ontario has logged 1,39360 (officially counted) cases of covid and 13,828 deaths (the Star reported 13,958). For Canada as a whole (population 38 million), those numbers are 4,143,709 cases and 43,617 deaths. (These numbers are from The Globe & Mail, as of Aug. 25th.) 

On the personal pandemic front: Despite the almost complete lack of both mask mandates and voluntary masking hereabouts, dh & I continue to wear masks when out in public, and have remained (mostly) socially distanced -- particularly while recovering from my eye surgery on July 25th, and before/after my gallbladder removal surgery on Aug. 15th.  On top of dh's weekly (masked) trips to the supermarket for groceries and for occasional takeout lunches & dinners: 

• We visited SIL & Little Great-Nephew at BIL & SIL's house 3 times, including once to stay with LGN for an hour while SIL had an appointment. He continues to be such a joy...! 
• We returned to our Old Community on Aug. 3rd to see our family doctor about prescription renewals and visit our Katie at the cemetery, in advance of "her" day on Aug. 7th. 
• We went through the drive-through at Dairy Queen on Aug. 7th, then sat in the car in the parking lot and toasted Katie with Blizzards (Skor for me, Oreo for dh -- a traditional activity/food for us on this day/weekend, lol).  
• We were back at a downtown hospital the next morning (Aug. 4th) to check how my right eye is healing, post-July 25th surgery (superficial keratectomy), and back again for another checkup on Aug. 25th. 
• En route home on the 4th, we stopped at our usual local drugstore to fill my new prescriptions and pick up a few sundries. 
• We walked to a lab near our condo building on Aug. 11th for bloodwork for our family doctor. 
• My gallbladder removal surgery was on Aug. 15th at a new hospital close to where we live. 
• We had coffee at BIL & SIL's house with them, BIL & dh's aunt, her two daughters (dh & BIL's cousins) and their husbands (Saturday, Aug. 20th). 
• We had haircut appointments back in our Old Community on Aug. 26th, and stopped at the drugstore on our way back home to pick up some prescriptions and other things. 
• BIL & SIL had lunch at Younger Nephew & his wife's townhouse last Saturday (Aug. 27th), and they called us over for coffee & dessert. We walked -- it's less than 10 minutes away.  :)  
• On Aug. 30th, we went for gelato, browsed in the (very busy) bookstore (where, aside from another couple in line for the checkout, we were the only people wearing masks), and stopped at the drugstore. 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 5 books in August (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged  "2022 books").  Not bad, especially considering that I have been rather preoccupied over the past month or two, and the vision in my right eye, for several weeks post-surgery (on July 25th), was less than optimal!  

• "Exit" by Belinda Bauer (the Gateway/Lighthouse Women book club's August pick; discussed at our Aug. 21st Zoom meeting).  (My review.) 
• "Arrow Through the Heart: The Biography of Andy Gibb" by Matthew Hild. (My review.) 
• "Don't Stop Believin'"  by Olivia Newton-John. (My review.) 
• "Anna and her Daughters" by D.E. Stevenson (summer read for my D.E. Stevenson fan group). (My review.) 
• "Sarah Morris Remembers" by D.E. Stevenson (for my upcoming D.E. Stevenson group discussion in September. I'll count this as a re-read once our group read is done). (My review.) 

This brings me to 36 books read so far in 2022, which brings me to 80% of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway) 7 books ahead of schedule. :)  

Current read(s): 

• "Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin (the Gateway/Lighthouse Women book club pick for September). 
• "The Menopause Manifesto" by Dr. Jen Gunter. 

Coming up: 

Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and listing them here helps me keep track of what I should be reading next. ;)  

• For the Gateway/Lighthouse Women book club: 
• "Bewildered" by Laura Waters (October) 
• Within the private online Gateway Women (now called Lighthouse Women) community, we have two groups discussing Jody Day's book, "Living the Life Unexpected" -- one group that's more conducive to UK/European/Australasian time zones, and mine, which is mostly North Americans. Since January, we've been meeting on Zoom to discuss one chapter per month. I missed our seventh call, on July 17th, to discuss Chapter 7, and we'll be discussing Chapter 8 in mid-September. If/when we complete the full 12 chapters, I'll count it as another re-read. :)  

A few recently purchased titles (in digital format, mostly discounted ($5.99 or less) or purchased with points): 

• "Great Circle" by Maggie Shipstead 
• "This Will Not Pass" by Jonathan Martin & Alex Burns 
• "Everything I Need I Get From You" by Kaitlyn Tiffany 
• "The Marlow Murder Club" by Robert Thorogood 
• "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner
• "Madam Speaker" by Susan Page 
• "Bright Burning Things" by Lisa Harding 
• "The Palace Papers" by Tina Brown 
• "Bittersweet" by Susan Cain 
• "All In" by Billie Jean King 
• "The Hollow Sea" by Annie Kirby 

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Watching: A whole lot of reruns...!  (Not much on TV lately...! and I just can't seem to get in the habit of using our Netflix subscription...) 

(Still) Waiting for season 2 of "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" to resume on CNN on Sunday nights... 

Listening: I never got into Wordle, but I've been having fun with the daily Heardle challenge!  I am pretty good at identifying anything from the 1960s through 1980s (and maybe even some of the 1990s), but I suck when it comes to anything past the year 2000, lol -- which, unfortunately, has been the bulk of featured songs lately. (Although I did get Carrie Underwood "Before He Cheats" with just two clues a while back, and I correctly guessed that it might be Billie Eilish last week, although I couldn't name one of her songs to save my life.)  

Curiously, I have different stats, depending on whether I look at my laptop or my cellphone??  On my laptop: my current streak stats are 7/25 or 28% correct (maximum streak: 0:2). On the phone, I'm at 10/30 or 33.3% correct, and my maximum streak is 0:3 (as of Aug. 31st).  

Eating:  Theoretically, I should be able to eat anything I want now (post-gallbladder surgery) -- although the nurse I spoke with, pre-operation, warned me that most people find that fast food "goes right through them," at least at first, until their body adjusts to the absence of the gallbladder. (And of course, having lost about 18 pounds over the past year as I coped with all my various medical issues, I am reluctant to put any of it back on again...!)  

I've been trying not to tempt fate too much yet, but we had takeout fish & chips on Saturday night, and that went well. I'm hoping to slowly start adding some of my former favourites back into my diet, at least occasionally -- like crockpot roast beef, casseroles with ground beef and onions, hamburgers and french fries from our favourite local fast-food joint, and cheese!  

Drinking:  Not much lately (in terms of alcohol anyway!), because of my surgeries and all the various medications I've been using.  

I know the pumpkin spice lattes are available now at Starbucks. I've never quite "got" the appeal. Personally, I've been craving an iced mochaccino lately, lol.  Maybe on our way out of the bookstore next time we're there...? (Haven't indulged in a Starbucks since the pandemic began.)  

Buying (besides books, lol):  Plane tickets to see my family in October!  (And crossing: all crossables that we don't experience any problems...!)  

I haven't been doing much shopping lately, in store or online. I did pick up a couple of necklaces and a pair of earrings in an Instagram sale by my favourite sterling silver jewelry artisan this month. 

Wearing: Loose, comfortable clothing that doesn't irritate my incisions, including drawstring shorts and yoga pants. NOT wearing: a bra!! (lol)  (The band would sit uncomfortably close to my largest incision, so I'm using that excuse for a few weeks! ;)  ) 

Noticing:  The back-to-school photos seem to start earlier and earlier every year... I was seeing some in my social media feeds in early August! and I know they won't stop until sometime in mid-September. The dragged-out timeline makes it harder, I think... 

Appreciating:  My dh, who has thoroughly spoiled me over the past month before and after my surgeries :)  (as if he doesn't spoil me most of the time anyway!  lol).  ;)  

Enjoying:  Not having to constantly put drops in my eye anymore! (Just regular over-the-counter drops, four times a day.)  

Wanting: A few more gelato outings before the cold weather sets in. :)  

Hoping:  To get out and about a little more and enjoy what's left of the summer, now that my medical procedures are done!  

Prioritizing: My recovery, even though I'm feeling pretty good now, and trying not to overdo things for another few weeks yet. (I was told no lifting anything more than 20 pounds, etc., for at least four weeks post-surgery, which would bring me to mid-September.) 

Waiting: For my follow-up in mid-September with the surgeon who removed my gallbladder; for my other follow-up with my optometrist (also in mid-September); for our cottage weekend with BIL, SIL and dh & BIL's cousin & his wife (scheduled for late September);  and for Canadian Thanksgiving in October and a long-awaited trip "home" to see my parents & sister!  

Wondering: Whether I can fit everything I want/need for my trip home into a carry-on?? (to decrease the odds of losing our luggage...!).  Theoretically, I should be able to do it -- we're only staying for a week, and I will have Mom's washer & dryer at our disposal, plus I already keep a stash of toiletries there, so I won't have to stretch my carry-in liquid limits too much...  

Loving: Those rare days lately when the heat & humidity subside enough that we can open the balcony door and let in some fresh air! 

Feeling: Relieved to have my summer surgeries behind me (and that they both went well). Sad that they consumed almost my entire summer. :p  Grateful that my recovery to date has been pretty good. Looking forward to seeing my parents & sister in a few weeks' time!  

Odds & ends & links to check out

• Medical update: Since last Friday's blog post, I decided to try sleeping on my left side (as well as my back). I'm staying off my right side for now, as that's where the gallbladder is located, as well as a couple of the incisions. I'm still waking up a few times a night, but getting better about being able to get back to sleep again, and I feel like I'm sleeping more deeply/soundly when I do sleep. Progress!  
• I also removed the steri-strips/tapes over my incisions on Sunday morning (Day #7), as per my discharge instruction sheet. Three of the incisions -- one slightly left of centre, mid-abdomen, and two on my lower right side -- are relatively small (like, about half an inch long) and seem to be healing well (the one in particular looks more like a scratch than an incision!). There's one just above my navel/belly button, also about a half inch long, that's a little deeper/darker red looking, but also appears to be healing well. 
• The largest incision is about 1.5 to 2 inches below the midpoint of my breasts, at the bottom centre of my rib cage -- the exact place where I always felt the most pain/discomfort when my gallstones were bothering me. It's about an inch long, with a lot of bruising around it, and the scab that's forming over it is slightly raised and a bit itchy from time to time. (I'm told that's a sign that it's healing.)  That's the one I'm most concerned/protective about, and I'm sure it will take the longest to heal. 
• Tip from a friend: A friend suggested I should use pantiliners (I still have half a box left!) on the inside waistband of my yoga pants to provide extra cushioning for some of the incisions and absorb any bleeding/leakage. Aside from a few very small red spots right after I removed the gauze pads and showered for the first time (with the steri-strips still in place) -- which I am pretty sure was probably just dried blood coming from the steri-strips after the shower, and not from the incisions themselves -- there's been nothing, which is a relief.  
• On a different/related note: I'm back downtown again later this week to check in with the opthamologist about my right eye (three weeks after my last visit, and 31 days after my eye surgery!).  
• BBC Women's Hour, a UK radio program with a large audience, devoted a segment this week to the growing issue of ageing without children. (I wish this subject was even REMOTELY on the radar of politicians and policymakers here in North America... a girl can dream, I guess...??)  
• World Childless Week is fast approaching (Sept. 12th to 18th -- yes, it's almost September, already!), and the deadline for submissions is less than a week away (midnight, August 28th).  Check out the website for details on this year's topics and submission guidelines. (I'm still waiting for inspiration for a submission;  whether or not I get one done, I will continue to promote WCW here!) 
• The lovely Lucy is looking for CNBC women to take part in a new project she's organizing!  Check out her website/blog and Instagram account to meet "The Twenty Percenters" -- your fellow fellow childless sisters -- and consider submitting your own photo and answers to her questions for future publication (perhaps eventually in a book, as well as online).  How-to-submit guidelines are on the website.
• She is looking for help in getting the word out about this project -- its success will depend on getting people to participate -- so please consider giving it a plug on your own blog and/or social media too. 
• Also check out Lucy at Pretty Much Studio on Instagram and Etsy. Among other things, she designs and sells greeting cards and affirmation cards aimed specifically at the CNBC market!  :)
• I am often shy about this sort of thing, but I am considering my own submission soon. :)   
• I recently attended (via Zoom) a fun "hangout" session organized by Katy of Chasing Creation for members of her Childless Collective and the Lighthouse Women community (formerly the Gateway Women private community).  It was a cooking class with Sher Castellano, a professional chef and food writer and "one of us" (childless not by choice via endometriosis). Sher blogs at With Food & Love and also has an Instagram page, and demonstrated how to make a vegetarian polenta dish. I just watched and took notes, but some people were actually cooking along with her (and eating by the end of the session -- which left me feeling very hungry, lol).  Check her out! 

Recuperating :)

The tl;dr:  I did indeed have gallstones -- but they won't be bothering me anymore (lol) and while I am very tired, I am doing well, post-surgery.  :)    

Longer version: My surgery was at a new (opened last year), state-of-the-art hospital near here (about a 20 minute drive away) -- first time we'd been there. Very impressive, and the staff were all uniformly awesome. It was spacious and airy and not at all crowded, which was a relief from a covid perspective.  

I had to register and then head to the pre-op unit by 7:45 a.m., with surgery scheduled for 9:45-10.  Dh was able to come in and sit with me until they took me down to the operating room, and then waited in the waiting area outside. There was a big screen on the wall with patient numbers that he could check to see my status and where I was (in surgery, in recovery, discharged, etc.)!  

The nurse weighed me and took my blood pressure, etc., went over my medical history & medications again and I updated her on the prescriptions (pills and drops) I've been taking post-eye surgery. Was given some antibiotics to take as a precaution, and a gown and hairnet to put on. I had a visit from the very affable anesthetist and from the young surgeon I'd spoken with on the phone earlier this spring. This was the first time we'd actually met, which was a little weird (although I guess I wouldn't have met him if I'd needed an emergency removal either, right?), but I'd checked him out online and he was well rated. I heard him chatting with several other patients after me... sounded like he was doing several gallbladder removals that day, one after another after another.  

The one jarring note of the day:  He asked me if I'd be willing to allow a photographer in the operating room during my procedure for some hospital PR shots... I would NOT be seen in the shots, and I was under no obligation to say yes. I hesitated -- it's one thing to have all the medical staff seeing me sprawled out, half-naked and unconscious in a vulnerable position, but a guy with a camera? I said I didn't think I was comfortable with that and he said "no problem." That was the end of it -- or so I thought. 

9:45 a.m., the nurse came to get me to take me down to the OR. I put my phone and glasses in my purse and they took my purse and clothes (bagged and tagged) for safekeeping, and started wheeling me down the gleaming white hallway on the bed. Dh followed us as far as the door to the outside waiting room where he'd be during the operation, squeezed my hand and said he'd see me soon. 

Sooner than either of us anticipated. Got down to the stretcher bay just outside the OR, and the surgeon told them they had the WRONG PATIENT (!) -- that they were going to do the patient scheduled for 12 noon first, because SHE had said okay re: the photographer. I guess he was only there for a certain amount of time, and needed to get his shots done. 

The nurses all looked blankly at each other, checked with their supervisors, and eventually, someone wheeled my bed back down to the pre-op area.  Now *I* was scheduled for around noon -- another hour & a half to two hours to wait. I was more annoyed than mad.  They did apologize. I asked them to please bring me my purse so I could retrieve my glasses & phone while I waited, and could my husband be allowed back in to sit with me (again)? -- because he'd be worried about me if he didn't hear from me as expected. They were only too happy to comply, lol (and dh was surprisingly calm about the change in plans and the delay). Needless to say, if I'd KNOWN that saying no to photos was going to set me back another two hours, I might have answered differently. (But maybe not.)  

Anyway, around 11:45, they came back for me (again -- take 2!!). Back down that gleaming white hallway (lots of white, glass and natural light, which was nice), and then into the OR. I saw a big screen over the door and even though I didn't have my glasses on, I could make out my name on it. Rolled off the bed onto the operating table, they took my vitals and the nurses started trying to find a vein in my hand where they could hook up the IV to deliver the anesthesia. Of course I am blessed/cursed with narrow veins (eyeroll). The left hand proved to be inadequate and so my right hand wound up getting stabbed as well. Ow. (That one was more successful.) 

As they began to administer the drugs, the anesthetist suggested I envision myself on a beach somewhere... or maybe snuggling with that cute little great-nephew I'd been telling him about. ;)  I chuckled and said that LGN isn't the cuddly type (too busy!!). But I did get a vision of snuggling up on the couch with Older Nephew's miniature dachshund (lol), and that was what I was thinking about when I drifted off. :)  

I woke up coughing. (I'd been warned by the anesthetist that I would be intubated and that my throat might be sore. It wasn't, but it did feel slightly irritated/ticklish, and continued to feel that way for a few days afterward, although it's mostly better now.)  I could make out by the large clock on the wall that it was 1:45 p.m. The (male) nurse in charge of me told me everything had gone well and offered me some ice chips, and then some apple juice, and I peeked under my gown to check out the gauze bandages over the FIVE incisions on my abdomen. (I was expecting three or four, so that was a surprise!)  My abdomen was also alarmingly awash with red, but the nurse quickly explained to me that it was NOT blood, it was antiseptic. (It washed off in a flash in the shower a few days later.)  He called dh to let him know I was OK too, and told him that so long as I was feeling all right, he could meet me downstairs with the car at the main entrance at 3:10 p.m. -- some 90 minutes after I first woke up! 

Sure enough, just before 3, he brought me my things, including a prescription and instructions from the surgeon on my recovery. I got dressed as best as I could, and then he returned to helped me put on my yoga pants and sandals, get off the bed, stand up and then get into a wheelchair. A volunteer appeared to wheel me down to where dh was waiting with the car.  We stopped at the pharmacy near our house to fill my prescription for heavy-duty painkillers before heading home. I'd told the anesthetist that I did NOT do well with codeine, so they gave me something else (I wanted to ensure I'd have something on hand, if I needed it) -- but it was not necessary. I did take Tylenol alternating with Advil for the first three days, according to a schedule in the instructions they gave me when I was discharged, but that was good enough, and I'm not taking anything now. 

I dozed for the rest of the afternoon, got up around 6:30 for some soup & toast (the first food I'd had all day) and turned into bed early, feeling very tired and groggy. I didn't sleep well that night -- or really any night since then,  to be honest. The dr didn't give me any specific instructions about sleeping positions, but I assumed tummy and side (especially the right side) would not be a good idea, for the first few days at least. I am NOT a back sleeper, even with a second pillow!  (I will probably attempt sleeping on the left side within the next day or so.)  I was very sore in the abdomen (felt like I'd been doing crunches!) and especially through the shoulders (& especially the right one) for the first day or two, from the air they use to inflate you. .. my hairdresser told me to use a heating pad which helped (as does movement -- another friend suggested a rocking chair can be effective, but alas, we don't have one!). It was more discomfort than outright pain, though. 

But I woke up Wednesday morning feeling much better -- and the day got better still when I was able to remove the gauze bandages from my incisions and take a shower, 48 hours after my surgery (woohoo!).  The incisions still have tape on top of them -- I was told it would likely come off in the shower (so far, it hasn't, although it's lifting around the edges in spots) and, if not, I can remove it after 7 days. No baths or swimming pools for 2 weeks, no heavy lifting, etc., for 4 weeks. 

I was very tired and somewhat cranky yesterday (Thursday) -- a combination of lack of sleep and (sorry, TMI) constipation -- which was resolved by afternoon, thanks to a leftover OTC laxative that was left over from our colonoscopy prep, lol.  I am still very tired today, albeit I had a slightly better sleep last night. That's probably my biggest complaint -- fatigue.  I am still a bit achy in spots (particularly if/when I move in certain ways), but overall, I think I'm doing pretty well. Beyond those initial few days, I haven't needed to take any more Tylenol &/or Advil (acetaminophen and ibuprofen). I should probably be out walking more (reduces the chances of blood clots and pneumonia, as well as constipation, lol), but it's been frickin' hot and very humid outside (current humidity indoors, with the air conditioner running non-stop, is 63%!) -- although I'm getting some exercise just getting up & down and going back & forth to & from the kitchen and bathroom, putting in eyedrops and taking pills, lol.  I've had to set up a schedule on my phone calendar with reminders to keep it all straight and make sure I fit everything in...! We also did some housecleaning today.  I didn't put as much effort into it as I usually do, but I did some dusting and cleaned the bathroom sinks,  while dh did the kitchen and vacuumed the floors. 

I have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon in mid-September, but yesterday morning, I got the report that he sent to my family doctor, as well as the pathology report, through the hospital app. All written in medical lingo, of course. From what I can decipher, I definitely had gallstones (largest was 1.6 cm) but the tissue was normal, which is a relief.  (I appreciate that they are giving patients access to this information now -- and it's certainly our right to have it -- but I think it needs to come with a translation into lay person terms...!)  

On a somewhat related note, my eye is doing better too. No irritation, and my vision is somewhat clearer too, albeit not perfect. I will still probably need new glasses, but I was expecting that (it's been 8 years since I got my current prescription). As mentioned above, I am still taking pills and eye drops (both prescription and over-the-counter) for that too. I'll be back downtown later next week to check in with the opthamologist again. 

Thanks again for your advice/tips and good wishes! Sorry I haven't updated before now, but last night was the first time I'd been on my laptop since Sunday (and instead of actually having it on my lap, dh is insisting that I sit at the desk in our library/office, lol -- which you can see behind me in the photo below!).  I have been on my phone constantly, but typing anything substantial on there just takes way too long...! 

Me (selfie) on Wednesday afternoon, after removing the gauze bandages
and taking my first shower, post-op. There's still tape over the incisions. 
Can you spot all five of them?? 

Pre-surgery odds & ends (& jitters!)

• My gallbladder removal surgery is tomorrow (Monday, August 15th). I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Aside from having my wisdom teeth out when I was 30, and the d&c I had two years ago for fibroids, and my recent eye procedure -- all relatively minor examples -- I've never had "real" surgery before. Recovery from my recent eye surgery/procedure has been longer and more involved than I had anticipated (albeit I am doing better all the time) and I've found myself thinking, "WHY did I sign myself up for this?? (And so close to my other surgery too!)"  But then I remember how absolutely miserable I was last fall, and several other times before that over the past 20 years -- and other times when I wasn't in outright pain but wasn't feeling great either. Hopefully this will help (crossing all crossables...!).   
• Adding to my qualms, I can't help thinking about my great-grandmother, who died of complications following gallbladder surgery... 94 years ago, in 1928. She was just 44 years old.  :(  She was also, it should be noted (UNlike me...!), the mother of NINE children (!) (plus at least one more stillborn that we know of), ranging in age from 25 down to 11, including my grandfather, who was 16 at the time. (As my mother said, "No wonder the poor woman died young...!")  I'm not sure exactly where she had her surgery, but they lived on a farm in rural Minnesota -- it definitely wasn't at a newly built, modern big-city hospital, like the one I'm going to be at. And gallbladder surgery techniques (and medicine generally) have come a LONG way since then...!  
• Unless there are some surprises along the way, it should be a "keyhole"/minimally invasive procedure, and I will be home later in the day. (My mother thinks it's criminal how quickly hospitals release patients these days -- but then she spent two weeks in the hospital after I was born...!  Different times...!) I'm told most people would take two weeks off from work to recover (not an issue here, thankfully), and up to four weeks to fully heal. I will have to stick to a low-fat diet for the first while afterward, but in most cases, the body eventually adjusts and you can eat pretty much whatever you want without suffering (which is what most people who have had this surgery tell me). Here's hoping...!   
• Wish me luck!! 
• I have a #MicroblogMondays post ready to autopost tomorrow morning. I didn't think I'd have the time to post from my laptop before we leave for the hospital (or the savvy to do it on my phone later...!). 
• My sister & her partner bought a new house!!  They have been looking longer than we've lived in this condo  ( = six years!) but as in so many other Canadian cities, the market has been ridiculous lately, and even when they've bid on houses in the past, they have lost out in bidding wars. Their current house is tiny -- smaller than our condo unit, about 600 square feet -- and they have been wanting something a little larger for a while now -- in part so that they can host future family celebrations, given that our aging parents just can't do it like they used to. Possession will be in early September, so I should get to see it next time we head there to visit (which will hopefully be in October for Canadian Thanksgiving). 
• I've already been seeing back to school ads and posts on social media from friends in the U.S. (primarily the southern states) for the past week or so.  From past experience, I know this will continue through mid-September (schools here generally start the day after Labour Day, but junior & senior kindergarten classes sometimes start a week or so later).  Bracing myself for the onslaught...!  I have several friends sending kids off to to college/university for the first time this fall too. 
• On Medium, Yael Wolfe asks "Why Does Everyone Want Us to Feel Sorry for Mothers?" Sample passage: 

There are few tangible social supports that hold women up in this culture. And that includes mothers who get the benefit of the cultural clout that comes with motherhood but little else. It’s important to me not to diminish the challenges that mothers face in a society that only pretends to support them.

However, it’s also important to me to highlight — at every opportunity — the fact that single, childless women like me have even less social supports...

...no one is stepping up to offer to help us. No one asks if we need assistance changing the batteries in that smoke detector that is too high for us to reach. No one asks if they can bring by a bag of frozen dinners when we are sick. No one offers to come help us for a day here or there, altering their own schedules to fit into ours.

No one makes any effort to know — to really know — what it’s like to be a single, childless woman. And god knows, no one is asking anyone else, on our behalf, “Don’t you have so much sympathy for her, now that you know what her life is like?”

...how about we all stop feeling sorry for each other and just help each other, instead?

• In the Washington Post, this opinion piece caught my eye: "I was a foster child. Foster care adoptions won’t solve the end of Roe." Here's the opening paragraph: 

With the fall of Roe v. Wade, anti-choice governors have advice for what to do with unwanted children: Give your newborns to the foster care system, and they’ll be adopted. But if these governors had even the barest understanding of their states’ foster systems, they would know that adoption is not the true purpose. I’m certain of this because I grew up in the system myself.  

Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

Pandemic diary/update:  June was Month #27 (going on #28) of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. Wave #6 appears to be on the wane -- but the medical/science experts are already warning about new variants on the rise and an expected resurgence of the virus in the fall (if not earlier)... 

Unfortunately, the same provincial government that mishandled the pandemic (along with many other things...!) won another (increased!) majority in the June 2nd election -- so I am not hopeful that overall, things will improve dramatically anytime soon. :(  

Most of the few remaining mask mandates -- on public transit and in medical facilities -- expired on June 11th and were not renewed (although virtually every hospital in the province announced they will retain mask mandates for the foreseeable future). The only places where masks must still be worn are long-term care homes and retirement homes. 

Then, starting June 16th, the government cut back its covid data reporting from daily to weekly (on Thursdays). :(  It has also stopped reporting data from schools and long-term care and retirement homes. As a result, the Toronto Star (my main source of covid data) has had to change the way it reports covid numbers. It has archived its daily stats trackers covering the past 2+ years, and has started a new stats tracking page that's updated weekly, beginning with data from May 6, 2022.  Not all stats that were previously reported are still being disclosed there :(  although there are probably other places where that data could be found (if you hunt for it...!). 

So -- here are some daily stats for June 1 to 16, and then (where available) some weekly stats from June 16th to the 30th. 

• There were 1,030 new cases reported in Ontario on June 1st, and 777 on June 16th.   
• Caveat:  The Star notes that "given new provincial regulations to limit testing that took effect on Dec. 31, 2021, case counts are no longer considered an accurate assessment of how widespread the virus is right now. Daily reported cases in 2022 should be considered under reported."  (Scientists are (still) saying that the true number of cases is likely 10 times higher than what's being reported. (!)  And some provinces have stopped reporting daily new case numbers altogether, leaving citizens entirely in the dark.  (It sounds like it's a similar situation in the U.S., according to this Washington Post article.)  

• Test positivity was 8% on June 1st and 6.9% on June 16th.  
• Hospitalizations declined from 722 on June 1st to 491 on June 16th, then increased to 585 on June 30th (up 20.4% over the previous week). 
• There were 127 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario's ICUs on June 1st, declining to 109 on June 16th and 95 on June 30th.  
• There were 24 deaths on June 1st and 6 on June 16th, 16 on June 29th and 9 on June 30th (up 115% over the previous week). 
• On June 30th, 86.3% of Ontario's total population has had at least one vaccine, 83.2% had at least two, but just 50.5% had received a third dose. These numbers have not budged much over the past couple of months. 

With a population of just over 14 million, Ontario has logged 1,315,224 (officially counted) cases of covid (as of June 16th) and more than 13,421 deaths (as of June 30th). As of June 18th, for Canada as a whole (population 38 million), those numbers are 3,913,975 cases and 41,566 deaths. 

On the personal pandemic front:  Despite the fact that masks are no longer required just about  anywhere (and fewer and fewer people seem to be wearing them), dh & I continue to wear them when out in public, and remain (mostly) socially distanced -- although we were out a bit more than usual this past month. On top of dh's weekly (masked) trips to the supermarket for groceries and for occasional takeout lunches & dinners: 

• We visited SIL & Little Great-Nephew at BIL & SIL's house 5 times.    
• We voted in the provincial election on Thursday, June 2nd. The place where we vote was not too far from where we lived, there was no lineup when we went (around 2 p.m.), and we were in & out of there in minutes. (We later learned that voter turnout was the lowest in any federal or provincial election in the past 100 years! -- go figure??)  
• We had haircuts back in our old community on Saturday, June 4th. 
• We went to Canadian Tire, the bookstore and the drugstore on June 9th.  Back to Canadian Tire on June 22nd. 
• We were back at the drugstore on June 14th, as well as a trip to the gelato shop. :)
• Dh went to our condo corporation's annual meeting of owners on June 15th. (They requested only one person attend per unit, to help with social distancing.) Of the 31 people there, only 3 people wore masks (including him).   
• Dh took the car in to the dealer for regular servicing on June 16th, something he hadn't done in more than a year. (Of course, the car hasn't been driven much over the past year either...!) 
• Dh had a colonoscopy on June 20th, at a clinic near our condo building, and I walked over and escorted him home when he was done. 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 4 books in June (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged  "2022 books"): 

• "These Precious Days" by Ann Patchett (the Gateway Women book club pick for June)(My review). 
• "Rachel's Holiday" by Marian Keyes. (My review.) 
• "Again, Rachel" by Marian Keyes (the sequel to "Rachel's Holiday" and the Gateway Women book club pick for July). (My review.) 
• "The House of the Deer" by D.E. Stevenson (re-read;  chapter-by-chapter discussion with my DES online fan group, which began on April 25th). (My review.) 

This brings me to 29 books read so far in 2022. At the mid-year point, I'm at 64% of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books, and I am (for the moment, anyway) 8 books ahead of schedule. :)  (I'll be doing a mid-year check-in post on my reading goals shortly.) 

Current read(s): 

• "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery, the next book for my LMM Readathon Facebook group -- the 1908 classic that started it all!  (We begin our chapter-by-chapter discussions on July 4th! -- if you're a fan of Anne and you're on Facebook, come join us!) 
• "The Menopause Manifesto" by Dr. Jen Gunter. 

Coming up: 

Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and listing them here helps me keep track of what I should be reading next. ;)  (Prioritizing these books right now and trying to read as many as I can before my eye surgery on July 25th -- my sister, who had a similar surgery last year, has warned me that I won't be able to spend much time on screens for a while after that...!) 

• For my D.E. Stevenson fan group:  
• "Anna and her Daughters" (starting July 11th and ending in late August).
• "Sarah Morris Remembers" (likely to begin in September, after we finish "Anna & Her Daughters"). 
• Within the private online Gateway Women community, we've formed a group to discuss Jody Day's book, "Living the Life Unexpected," one chapter per month, in a live Zoom call. (There are actually two groups -- one that's more conducive to UK/European/Australasian time zones, and one mostly for North Americans.) Our sixth call, discussing Chapter 6, was on June 19th, and we'll discuss Chapter 7 in mid-July. Completing all 12 chapters will take us a full year.  If/when we complete the full 12 chapters, I'll count it as another re-read. :)  

A few recently purchased titles (in digital format, mostly discounted ($5 or less) or purchased with points):  

• "The Unthinkable" by Amanda Ripley
• "Black Cake" by Charmaine Wilkerson 
• "Left on Tenth" by Delia Ephron 
• "The First Kennedys" by Neal Thompson 
• "Truly, Madly" by Stephen Galloway 
• "Flesh and Blood" by N. West Moss 
• "Jesus and John Wayne" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez 
• "The Premonition" by Michael Lewis 
• "Northern Spy" by Flynn Berry 
  
• "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus 
• "Unthinkable" by Jamie Raskin 
• "Watergate" by Garrett M. Graff
• "The Beauty of Dusk" by Frank Bruni 

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Watching:  We've been enjoying season 2 of "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" on CNN on Sunday nights, but it hasn't been shown much this month -- they aired a documentary mini-series about Watergate in that time slot instead on a couple of Sunday nights (almost exactly 50 years after the break-in that started the whole thing). (SIL wants to know when Tucci's going to visit Calabria -- where his family, hers and dh/BIL's comes from!)  

We did watch and enjoy CNN's series about Watergate -- an event I remember from my childhood/early teen years. (I was 11 when the Watergate break-in occurred, and 13 when Nixon resigned.) (See my review of "All the President's Men" by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who figure prominently in this program.) 

I've watched most of the January 6th committee hearings on CNN to date (which were a LOT more interesting to me, at 61, than the Watergate hearings were at 12-13! lol). 

As I wrote here, I got up at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. on June 2nd to watch the Trooping of the Colour ceremony live from London on CBC, celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. No matter what you think of the institution of monarchy itself, I don't think anyone can say the Queen has not served her country and the Commonwealth extraordinarily well for 70 (!!) years. This was history in the making -- a never before, never again (certainly not in my lifetime) event -- and I decided I had to make the effort to watch. I am glad I did. :)  

Listening: To some great podcasts, including several new episodes of New Legacy Radio and The Full Stop (both relevant to the childless community). 

Dh has been listening to a comedy station from Hamilton (Ontario, about an hour away) on the radio when we're in the car. He loves it. I enjoy it, to a point, but not as much as he does. I don't enjoy all the humour (some of it on the misogynistic side) and the frequent yelling, and it gets kind of monotonous after a while. Plus it's an AM station so the sound quality is not great -- even before you factor in the static...! I'd much rather listen to our usual classic rock FM station. (Although some of the DJs there can be kind of lame too. The regular morning show was recently put on hiatus after a human rights/harassment complaint was brought against the host by a former (female) co-host.)  

Eating/Drinking:  Iced tea on the balcony, several times, when it wasn't too hot and humid outside... ahhh!

Buying (besides books, lol):  We bought a handheld mini-vacuum at Canadian Tire, for small, quick jobs (this one) and two smoke/CO detectors to replace the ones originally installed in our condo. At the drugstore: a pulse oximeter for our first aid kit.    

Online shopping/home delivery: I ordered some essential oil roll-ons and blends for my diffuser from Saje, and a couple of new tops/T-shirts from Old Navy.  

Wearing: Capris and sandals (with great satisfaction, lol)  ;)  and more recently, tank tops and shorts (especially outside on a hot day!).  

Mourning: My cousin, who died far too young on June 2nd. :(   

Wanting: More hours in the day lately, to cram in everything I want to do and read...!  

Enjoying: My freshly washed windows.  :)  (Although I've noticed that, by month's end, they were already starting to get dirty again...!) 

Being able to leave the balcony door open for most of the day when the weather is nice (not too hot/humid).  

Spending time on the balcony with tea (hot or iced) and a good book.  :)  (See "Eating/Drinking," above.) 

Appreciating:  Air conditioning, on the days (and nights) when the weather is hotter and more humid. 

Enduring:  Seasonal allergies. :p  (Grass, tree pollen, etc.)  Late May/early/mid-June has always been the worst time of the year for me in this respect, and this year seems to be one of the worst in years.  (The downside of having the balcony door open all day...!)  Dh has been suffering lately too.  Thank goodness for Claritin! (my longtime go-to antihistamine... The allergist I saw several years ago told me there were better ones out there now, and suggested I try Reactine, but I did not like the spacey way it made me feel and switched back to my old reliable). 

Noticing:  More sunsets, now that the days are longer. I once posted a photo in the spring saying, "Sunsets are back!" and someone cracked, "They never left!"  Maybe not, but they do seem to be more noticeable (and spectacular!) in the summer than in the winter! 

Waiting: For my two surgeries later this summer, now scheduled for July 25th (eye/cornea procedure) and August 15th (gallbladder removal). 

Hoping: For a fall trip home to see my family, once I've recuperated sufficiently. And that the current mess at the national (and international!) airports (and Toronto Pearson in particular...!)  clears up by then....!  (One good thing about not travelling right now, I guess...!). 

Trying: To get some of the household tasks that don't get done frequently (e.g., cleaning the shower cubicle -- my favourite (NOT), lol...!) scheduled and completed before my surgeries. 

Loving: Spending time with Little Great-Nephew. :)  We stayed with him for a few hours on Wednesday morning while his grandma went for an appointment.  Just guess who had the most fun, lol. 

Feeling: A little nervous about my upcoming surgeries. Tired (SO tired!!) of living with and dealing with covid (-- but even more tired of people who think it's all over and don't take any precautions against getting or spreading it -- and of the government's cavalier attitude toward it all).  

Wondering: How is it July already??!