After three uneventful days in the step-down unit, biding our time until Fred was ready to make his escape, I was casting about for things to sketch when it suddenly dawned on me that it would be fun to document all the paraphernalia that was an integral part of his day-to-day life there on the sixth floor.
I love doing composite sketches. Selecting subject matter, figuring out how to squeeze everything in, doing loose, sketchy line drawings, adding color – it’s all fun, and the resulting pages always rank among my favorites.
There was plenty of subject matter for me to record in Fred’s room, so this sketch kept me busy for hours.
I did a rough layout first, then finalized the drawings and inked them. Roughing things in in pencil first gave me the freedom to move things around, resize objects, and play around with ideas. After the drawings were all done, I painted everything.
I finished these pages at home in my studio, after we had returned from Cleveland. My stash of gel pens came in handy for adding white text on the heart pillow and lines on the chest tube drain, phone, and those snazzy non-slip socks. A neon green gel pen was the perfect choice for drawing that all-important heartbeat on the electronic monitor that I watched every day for a week.
Day 6 began with some happy news. Fred’s blood pressure, heart rate, and weight had all come down, and his lungs were sounding better.
They planned to release him that day.
You know how it goes in hospitals, though. It ended up taking all day to get things finalized for his release.
There were lots of tests to be done, prescription meds to be ordered and picked up, plus meetings with doctors, CNPs, and social workers, but finally the wait was over, and he was free!
I’ll be sharing the last few pages of my heart journal tomorrow. Hope you’ll stop by for the rest of the story.
8 Comments
Loved reading about your journey. So glad Fred is doing well. We had a similar situation – my husband had extensive back surgery on Oct. 25th, then to a horrible stay in rehab, back home, then a blood infection a few weeks later, so back in the hospital for another week. I tried documenting his “ordeal” in my journal, but his hospital and rehab rooms were too small for me to work in. I love your pages, as always!
That sounds awful, Debbie! I hope he’s okay now. It sounds like he’s been through the wringer. I think we’ve been very lucky so far, but you just never know what other problem will crop up. Keeping my fingers crossed that our lucky streak continues.
This is so wonderful Leslie…. Thank you for sharing this with us… So happy to hear Fred is doing so well. What a journey.. what a relief..
Love,
Beverlee
Such a touching journal. I’m sure your kids and grandchildren will appreciate reading it. You’ve set a good example for us all!
Amazing journey. 6 days for that miracle to happen, with lots of expert help. Thank you again for taking us along.
Leslie, this is such a wonderful loving record of a hard time – and SO beautifully done. Thank you for sharing it.
Best wishes to you and Fred in the new year!
♥️ Sue
Leslie, thank you for the wonderful journaling of Fred and your journey through the heart procedure. So glad he is doing well and you also. I am now journaling re: my experience of dealing with my husbands short term memory loss and every day is a new adventure. Thank goodness for the therapy of putting it down on paper.
That must be very hard, Betty. If you ever want to share your sketches with me, you have my email. I’m glad you’re using your journal to help you deal with your changing life situation. I always loved your sketches.