And Then Everything Changed

In March Daphne's mom went to the doctor for some back and hip pain. Eventually Deb was given a bone scan, and the results shocked us all.

Deb is 57, an alumnus of several RAGBRAI weeks, and a nonsmoker. She eats right and exercises daily. She's a model of what you should do to take proper care of your body. No one would have guessed she would be diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. How does that even happen? No one knows, but Deb's cancer is not curable. We are all reeling from the news.

Although she doesn't understand what's going on, Charlotte has learned a new prayer, "Dear God, please help Grandma Deb. Amen."

Deb's been on the oncology floor at Mercy hospital since March 30, and we've been spending a lot of time visiting her. After a few visits, Charlotte has really warmed up to the hospital, and she's been having fun exploring the building.

Right now it's pretty cool to push the right elevator button.

The elevator is equipped with side rails, and Charlotte likes to say, "Hold on tight, everybody." If a rider doesn't take her seriously, she'll look at them and repeat herself until they do.

After a few minutes in Grandma's room, Char's ready to hit her favorite spots. She's already named the fish on level 4. I think the white one is Jill, but I'd have to ask to be sure.

On level 3 there are animal pictures on the wall, and the buttons are supposed to trigger the proper animal sound.

It doesn't always work out that way, though.

The oncology floor has a rooftop deck that doubles as a garden when the plants are in bloom. The deck is a great place to get some fresh air without leaving the hospital.

One of the garden's decorations is a cow, which I believe was painted for a previous Iowa State Fair.

It doesn't take Charlotte long to figure out what's bolted down and what's not.

I found half of a plastic Easter egg on the deck, and we take turns hiding it from each other. Char doesn't quite grasp that hiding something is like keeping a secret. As soon as you open your eyes (after counting to ten), she leads you to the egg, "It's right here Daddy, by the fence."

As soon as Charlotte could walk she has been attracted to ramps. I think it has something to do with the speed of running down them, but she has just as much fun running back up.

After running the ramp, we head over to the fountain to drop in a few wishes for Grandma Deb.

Char likes how the fountain drops water from far above us.

Back on the 8th floor, we stop by to see Grandma, and then head to the patient lounge to watch some IPTV. Here's Char lost in an episode of Busytown Mysteries.

Besides a TV and a PC, the lounge has a library of sorts. It's an odd collection of books that were presumably left by past visitors.

I'm intrigued by some of the titles, like George Plimpton's Paper Lion and Preston and Child's Brimstone, but I don't think Char will give me much time to read anything of depth, but you never know. Maybe I'll slide a bookmark in there and see how far I can get in fits and bursts.

I did find this magazine, and I learned that short order cooks use mayo instead of butter to make the outside of their grill cheese sandwiches glow with a golden brown.

Speaking of food, maybe we'll tackle the hospital fare in my next blog post. We'll see what Char thinks of it.

Oh, and if you think of it, I believe Charlotte's new prayer would work if you said it, too. Thanks.