Out of the Woods

Instead of peppering posts with Her Ladyship sporting a hospital gown and  medical technology, I decided to add a few cheery shots around the time of the centennial birthday parties. So here she is at the Ashram with her new Bestie, Pope Francis.
The decision was made last night to move Tashie to a cardiac unit for continuous monitoring, as her pulse was hovering in the low 30s, and her blood pressure diastolic was also in the low 30s. The only hitch was that there was no available bed in the cardiac unit, so we went to the Interventional Radiology Unit. Although some fine points were missed, the RNs seemed really good, and assured me that they were ICU nurses, and were more than competent to deal with any emergency that may arise. The lounge/sleeping chair is probably from the 1950s. Without functioning brakes, it would slide across the floor without warning. And when I pulled the lever to raise my feet, it lowered my head first, so it was sort of like doing the yoga bridge pose on a Barcalounger. Not to sound ungrateful - I was glad to have something to settle into, but it was kind of funny.
I think all the manoeuvering and monitoring of changing rooms was a bit irritating, as all she wanted to do was sleep. The ice applied to her eye has been miraculous in the speed with which it reduced the swelling. Her pain is well controlled. A bed became available in the cardio unit this morning, so while we were waiting for transport, she listened to Jack Kornfield on head phones - a good prelude to the jostling of moving and resettling. She would like some custard, so with surprising energy, she instructed me in creating the perfect custard. Then Bruce arrived, bearing treats from the Bake Shop. Tashie couldn't generate interest in the Bake Shop items, but she perked right up and smiled when he mentioned that there would be cracked crab for dinner tomorrow night. A few more custard questions: stir the eggs? whisk them? 250 degree oven? 300? 325? strain the eggs? ratio of eggs to milk? And then I left to have a sleep and bake a wildly successful custard with no bubbles! Bruce is with her now, and I'll go back tonight bearing ramekins of bliss. Thanks for all your wonderful messages, emails, blog comments. She loves hearing from all of you, and is convinced that all that positive energy had (and has) a distinct bearing on her getting through this so well. I agree.