To my friends and family, so very, very sorry for being out of touch for so long but finally I can explain! Of course, I feel terrible for my lengthy absence but in no condition + no phone, PC, etc. Just realized I was going to send a note but it looks like a short novel, I must be improving (chuckle๐)! I have been blessed with great luck with health for my 74 years and once again cheated death. At the very end of June, I had a terrible attack of Afib (atrial fibrillation) and Gordon called an ambulance right away. I was told I would die if I didn't go immediately to the hospital so directed them to take me to Advent (https://www.adventhealth.com/h....ospital/adventhealth a cut above all others in the Ocala area. My name, of course, was in their computers as they took super care of my stroke 3-4 years ago so was rushed to their I.C.U. I was out of it so didn't feel their probing but think I could answer their questions as I always try to cooperate as best as I can. When the nurse woke me the next day I looked around at my beautiful huge room equipped with tons of equipment if I needed any device! They thoroughly studied me and I was very surprised when told I had a WEAK HEART! I felt perfectly normal but I did live with little exercise but couldn't believe I only had 15% of my heart pumping. For weeks before this attack, I tried almost daily to use a rollator to walk at a good pace for a long block & back. This had me breathing a little hard + my heart pumping but was normal shortly after I stopped. No clue there was anything wrong with me.
So after 2 1/2 weeks, they discharged me on a gurney by ambulance to Timber Ridge Rehab Hospital (https://www.timberridgerehab.com/) & (https://www.timberridgerehab.com/amenities/). I settled into a comfortable bed with a nice view and of course bedridden. I did have a great physical therapist at Advent but here it was full-time with wonderful nurses 24/7 who took care of my every need, they would shower me in a chair. bring me warm blankets and even the three meals a day were surprisingly tasty, filling, and nicely served. Both hospitals had a large board at the foot of my bed with nurses' info so I knew all their names 3 shifts a day and space to post my goals! Right from the get-go at Advent, I simply stated "I want to walk again" period! So here they had a huge rehab gymnasium and Wendy, my head therapist, was so sweet picking me up by wheelchair around noon and we would go a long way through the huge 1 story facility. So then Wendy and others would put me through my paces in many ways and slowly I was improving a little bit each week. For smokers, they had a group of us meet every 2 hours in a large open Gazebo with a big ceiling fan, and the friendly guy would hand us our smokes and lighter which he kept in a special case. I only went once a day but they were a great bunch of mostly seniors, loved the conversation. This was sensible, reasonable and so unlike Canadian hospitals where you had to go out to the sidewalk. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, we would drive by healthcare facilities with Drs., Nurses, and patients suffering to have a smoke at -50 below zero F. CRAZY! God bless America! So I was improving slowly, even being able to make the 4 steps to my bathroom so no more bedpans! I just lay on my back watching TV day & night enjoying classics like "Gunsmoke" with Marshall Dillon (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0....047736/?ref_=ext_shr y'all remember "Chester" Dennis Weaver!
Finally, after over 2 months costing my health insurance a fortune, it came time to be discharged to my home. I was still bedridden all the time except during rehab but brother Gordon came for me and he pushed me out in a wheelchair. When we arrived home he helped me onto the front porch where I sat down and told him the biggest thing I missed was when he called beer-o-clock we shared beer, smokes, and timeless conversations about anything in the universe! That was SPECIAL!
So a new world started the next day when my in-house Nurse arrived to check me out, another woman who was 1 of 2 Therapists (O.T & P.T.) Occupational and Physical, started me easily putting me through my paces
