Much of the time during those early weeks in TCH was
spent trying to learn to stand up - counting one, two, three and then standing up with the support of two nurses. Once I could stand I was able to walk with
support to sit in a wheel chair.
One day, two male nurses came with a trolley
to take me for a CT Scan. I was so proud that I could stand up and then lie on
the trolley. I remember thinking I don’t know these two, they could be aliens
come to abduct me. So, I lay on my back, relaxed and watched the overhead signs
pass, trying to read them, to familiarize myself with my location. The nurses
took me into the lift and once it opened, they wheeled me out along a corridor
with blue lines on the floor. "What a good thing", I thought, "I should be able to
follow the blue lines back if I get lost". Eventually we arrived at the X-ray Department;
I was able to stand up and then lie down and push myself under the machine. I
was a little frightened, as this was a new experience for the conscious me.
Mark had earlier told me that I’d had a cardiac arrest while having a CT scan
in Sydney. The
radiographer was very cheerful and quickly put me at ease. Soon it was all over
and I was transferred with support from the nurses, lying back down on the
trolley and safely returned to my familiar ward bed. Later that evening I told
Mark and Louise, “aliens” had abducted me. They both laughed and I enjoyed the joke.
At that time, I thought of
another joke. Michael, the previous Principal of the school, would regularly
say to me when I was working late: “Go home or you will turn into a
pumpkin”. I thought the joke is on me
because now I have turned into a pumpkin. I will have to tell Michael if he
comes to visit. The next time he came I did tell him and he roared with laughter.
There was a television monitor opposite my bed in the ward and once I
was able to sit up and watch, Mark organized TV service. There were many visitors. A friend provided a diary for them to record
their visits and comments. Mark brought in some books, including Caleb’s
Crossing, which my book club friends were reading. Each time someone visited they read a section and then passed it on to the next visitor.
One friend recorded
that I seemed to recognize her when she visited. Once she brought a gift of some zucchini
muffins for Mark. I felt that life was very rich; I was blessed with such wonderful family,
friends and colleagues. One dear friend brought some poetry to read. Later when
I thanked her for that kindness, she recalled how my pupils had grown bigger,
while she was reading.
Literature and reading has been a great source of
pleasure for me throughout life. I had always loved sharing books with children
when I was teaching. A favourite
childhood memory I have is of a time when I was very young, standing behind my
grandmother’s chair at the family farm, with my older brother and looking over
her shoulder while she read to us. I remember the lilting cadences of her
slight Irish accent as she rolled the “r”s. We laughed at the image of the emu,
which had forgotten its toothbrush. I found the idea of an emu needing a
toothbrush, very funny, as I had never seen any teeth in their beaks.
To be continued...
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